THE BIGGEST MOB HIT IN YEARS

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“Who’s Jimmy Buffett?” she wanted to know. I don’t know how the Rogers and Parton show went, but Jimmy was tremendous, playing acoustical guitar with another local guitarist who backed him on rhythm, with a few dozen people at the Beach Bar in Freemantle, Australia. [See photo below] A few nights later I was having dinner with a friend in this Italian restaurant when the waiter brought us over a bottle of champagne, saying that it was compliments of the gentleman at a nearby table. I look over and it’s Jimmy sitting with an older man. “Jimmy Buffett,” I say. “Jimmy Buffett?!” the waiter exclaimed “I didn’t recognize him.” “Yeah, that’s Jimmy,” I said, but as soon as I said it I knew it was a big mistake. Sure enough, the waiter asked Jimmy if he sign an autograph, pose for a picture and then would he sing a song. Jimmy politely signed the menu, posed for a picture but then declined, saying he couldn’t sing without a guitar. The waiter said he played acoustic guitar and said he even knew a few Buffet songs and started asking Jimmy questions about music. Then he asked if he would sing a few songs if he got him a guitar, he had one in his car, and a few minutes later the waiter was back, guitar in hand, and Jimmy was serenading a dozen people and the staff of the restaurant. I thought how lucky I was to get two free and intimate Jimmy Buffett shows in as many nights. Later on I apologized to Jimmy for breaking his cover as I knew he didn’t like the attention, but he shrugged it off and said he really likes the Australians. He then introduced me to the older man he had dinner with—his dad—saying that he was glad he got the opportunity to sing a few songs as it made the night a little more special, especially for his pop. The next day, I was walking across the Stars & Stripes compound when I came across Jimmy and his dad going the other way, thanked them for the bottle of champagne and impromptu performance, and stood back and took a picture of them together. Two decades later, I was really surprised to hear in the news that Buffett was going to turn the Trump Marina into a Margaritaville Hotel and Casino. When that deal went sour, I thought that was the end of it. Instead, I was really, really surprised to learn that Jimmy was opening a Margaritaville beach bar on the Boardwalk at Resorts. Resorts had already adopted a 1920s motif to go with the age of the hotel and capitalize on the popularity of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, so I was wondering how the Buffett style would fit in with the 20s motif. Jimmy and his dad in Freemantle, Australia I showed up for the press conference on the boardwalk when the deal was officially announced and was surprised again that Jimmy was there himself. For a guy who now owns hotels, bars and restaurant chains and puts on multi-million dollar concert tours I was surprised that he bothered to show up himself, when his minions could handle something like this. Knowing Jimmy however, I figured he wouldn’t stick around too long with the stiffs in suits, so instead of standing with the other reporters in front of a makeshift stage on the boardwalk, I waited for him out back, leaned against his limo and had a smoke with his driver, Al, a young Italian kid from Chicago. Al was telling me that Jimmy doesn’t just plan on opening up a Margaritaville Bar and Restaurant on the Boardwalk—he has bigger ambitions. He wants to hold a week long music festival like they do in New Orleans, to have a bar bands bonanza like they have in Austin, Texas and to bring America’s Cup boats to Atlantic City and hold the races right off Resorts so you can watch them from the hotel rooms. “He’s excited and he’s got big ideas,” Al was saying when Jimmy came out of the stage door of Resorts. Al opened the back seat door for him. Jimmy’s wearing shorts, a green shirt, brown baseball cap and sunglasses. “Hi Jimmy,” I said, “Remember me from Freemantle?” “Sure Ned,” Jimmy said with a chuckle that didn’t quite make a laugh, “I remember you from the Caribbean Club in Key Largo.” “You’ve come a long way since then,” I said. “Welcome to Atlantic City. Al’s been telling me you got big plans.” “Yea, I’m the New Nucky Thompson,” he grins with another fake chuckle, punching his fingers to his chest. “I’m in a hurry and gotta go right now,” he said, “but maybe you can show me around town sometime.” “Sure, Jimmy,” I said, “but will you do me a favor?” “Whaddya want?” he said with a reluctant sigh. “Sometime down the line, when you have the free time, will you do a benefit show for the local Marine Mammal Stranding Center?” “Sure thing,” he says. “Anything else?” “Well, for me, Jimmy, Atlantic City is my backyard, and if you’re the new Nucky, I’d like to have a small piece of the action, like how about the Island Shirt concession?” Then snapping his fingers and pointing at me, he cracks a real smile and says, “You got it!” Then the limo door slams shut and Al jumped in the front seat with a wave and they drove off. Just then the stage door opened and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sticks his head out saying, “Is Jimmy here?” I point to the limo driving off down South Carolina Avenue. Dressed in black suit and pink tie, the governor has a piece of paper and pen in one hand and a camera in the other, and wipes the sweat off his brow with his arm while saying, “Shoot, I wanted to get his autograph and a picture of us together.” “You’ll get another opportunity for that. He’ll be back,” I said, before suggesting, “You know governor, you’d be a lot cooler and look a lot more comfortable in an island shirt.” Bill Kelly’s Jersey Shore Nightbeat Column can be read here jerseyshorenightbeat.blogspot.com/ WHAT ARE YOU LOOK<strong>IN</strong> AT? This Irish American comedian, born and raised in South Philly, was well known for his vaudeville humor and had a statue erected in his honor in 2003 on the same place where his nightclub once stood. The nightclub which entertained thousands to packed houses on summer weekends was a staple of the “old school” Jersey Shore, which exists now only in our memories. Born Thomas Francis, he was better known by shore goers by his stage name. His shows were hilarious and when his club closed he even went on to do shows at the old Sands Casino and the Trump in Atlantic City, where you might have heard this one—“A cop found a dead horse in the road while on patrol, but while filling out his report he realized he couldn’t spell Moyamensing Avenue, so he drug him to Second Street’. To find the answer, go to BoardwalkJournal.com Image by Constance McNelis The Boardwalk Journal | May 2013 | 59
politics by Harry Hurley, Political Editor of The Boardwalk Journal The Law of Unintended Consequences: Langford will prevail in June & November & in the process he may deliver Balles Victory Lorenzo Langford is the incumbent two-plus term sitting Mayor of Atlantic City and yet he finds himself seated in Column C in the fast approaching June 4, 2013 primary election. On its face, this is utterly ridiculous. Langford defeated his opponent (outgoing Atlantic County Freeholder) Charles Garrett by a 3-1 margin in the March, 2013 vote of the Atlantic City Democratic Committee. Only in bizarro world could Langford be denied the Regular Democratic Column A election ballot placement. However, State Senator Jim Whelan, D-2 and Atlantic County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Schroeder had other diabolical ideas in mind. They had long ago promised Garrett that he would receive the party line. They made Garrett sweat for a while, but in the end they kept their word. Garrett was expecting to receive the formal endorsement at the Atlantic County Democratic Convention. However, this did not occur. They endorsed no one at this meeting. This left some wondering, would they double-cross Garrett? Whelan was hearing from many Atlantic City residents who were very displeased with the way he was treating Langford. Whelan blinked for a moment, but he didn’t balk. He stayed true to his hand-picked guy (Garrett) and as they say in political terms, he has now made his bed and he must lay in it. Harry Hurley is Political Editor of The Boardwalk Journal. Hurley is the president of Harry Hurley Consulting and Communications, LLC. He hosts the daily talk radio program “Hurley in the Morning” 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Townsquare Media, WPG Talk Radio 1450, where he also This sloppy decision may prove to be one of those moments of truth that happen during a campaign that actually ends an electoral career. Langford left nothing to chance and he formally bracketed his slate of candidates with Atlantic County Clerk Ed McGettigan prior to Schroeder making his selection of Garrett public. Langford will be joined in Column C by incumbent Councilman at Large, George Tibbitt, Mo Delgado and Frank Gilliam. This is also a huge development because it now makes Column C look like the regular Democratic Column. The incumbent slate will be almost impossible to beat. They remain popular and the voters of Atlantic City know dirty insider politics when they see it. Adding to Garrett’s upcoming electoral woes is the Mayoral candidacy of former Atlantic City PBA President David Davidson. Davidson is running a highly professional campaign. He confirmed on-air (“Hurley in the Morning”) on WPG Talk Radio 1450 that Whelan had asked him to leave the race. This is both corrupt and desperate. Well-placed sources have advised that the Whelan camp has just about resigned itself to the fact that Langford can’t be beaten. However, this inconvenient truth will not stop their aggressive attempt to try and unseat him. They badly want him out. Whelan has never gotten over the fact that Langford vanquished him from office a dozen years ago. Any votes Davidson earns on Primary Election Day would have gone to Garrett. Langford benefits greatly by Davidson’s candidacy. It splits the anti-incumbent votes. Some people think that the Garrett candidacy can capture political lightening in a bottle the way Bob Levy was able to defeat Langford in the June 2005 Primary. The present circumstances couldn’t be more different. First, Levy’s pre-packaged story (before I broke the news that he had stolen honor and that he was falsely posing as a United States Special Forces Green Beret) was straight from “central casting.” Levy was a popular life-long Atlantic City figure. And, the political powers that desperately wanted Langford out of office in 2005 had raised more than $1 million dollars on Levy’s behalf. Most importantly, Levy benefited by being hand-picked by Craig Callaway, who wanted to be Mayor himself, but, the federal criminal sting operation called “Operation Broken Boards” halted Callaway’s electoral ambitions. Yet, in the end, it was Callaway’s once mighty and vaulted political get-out-the-vote machine that powered Levy to victory. Levy would be inaugurated as Mayor, but wouldn’t make it two years before resigning from office in disgrace after being federally prosecuted. serves as the senior programming consultant. He has hosted various programs for local television and is the editor and publisher of his news and information website, www.harryhurley.com. Send comments to HarryHurley@aol.com. Langford was returned as the duly elected Mayor following the results of a special election and he has held the seat ever since. The Langford-Garrett election is not in doubt. Langford will win. However, Whelan must soon prepare himself for the law of unintended consequences. Langford has already confirmed publicly on “Hurley in the Morning” that he will not run in the Regular Democratic Column in the November 5, 2013 General Election if he wins the June Primary Election. This could be the difference in Whelan’s upcoming election versus Atlantic County Sheriff Frank Balles. Balles faces a surprise June Republican Primary state senate election himself versus Marybeth Bennett. Balles will have no problem prevailing in his Primary Election. With Langford, Tibbitt, Delgado and Gilliam all running away from Whelan in November, this could hurt Whelan’s margin of victory over Balles in Atlantic City. It will also prove very damaging to Longport Mayor Nick Russo and Northfield Mayor Vince Mazzeo’s campaign for the New Jersey General Assembly versus popular Republican incumbents John Amodeo and Chris Brown. Democrats running in Atlantic County need a huge voting plurality coming out of Atlantic City in order to win Countywide. And, while Atlantic City consistently votes monolithically (for any Democratic candidate), the blatant disrespect show to Langford by Whelan and Schroeder will negatively affect them in the November General election. The inside political baseball being played against Langford by Whelan is about as dirty as it gets. In the end, Langford will prevail on June 4th in the Primary Election by a wide margin. And, Langford will win by an even greater margin on November 5, 2013 in the General Election against the Republican Nominee Don Guardian, who serves as Executive Director of the Atlantic City Special Improvement District. And in the process, Langford may defeat Whelan again. This time without even running directly against him. Harry Hurley The Voice of South Jersey Weekdays 6am to 10am 60 | The Boardwalk Journal | May 2013
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THE BIGGEST MOB HIT IN YEARS. Now A
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PROUDLY SERVING ATLANTIC CITY SINCE
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table of contents VOL. 5 ISSUE 5
Page 9 and 10: PokerStar’s bid for the Atlantic
Page 11 and 12: hello my name is Will Pauls WILL PA
Page 13 and 14: Caesars executives Warren Bader and
Page 15 and 16: NaNcy adler NutritioN It’s not a
Page 17 and 18: By Danielle Davies Almost 40 years
Page 19 and 20: fashion by Raina Tallent, Fashion E
Page 21 and 22: 20Questions: Nynell Langford Nynell
Page 24 and 25: Kenneth M. Warren Jr., Esq. My pare
Page 26 and 27: Allen Thomas If you know Atlantic C
Page 28 and 29: Anthony’s Out to Lunch Atlantic C
Page 30 and 31: Popovic, wife of Peter Popovic. It
Page 32 and 33: Lloyd D. Levenson’s - “Life at
Page 34 and 35: Peace of Neuroradiology Mind. Advan
Page 36 and 37: They were lined up down the Boardwa
Page 38 and 39: casino is now in bankruptcy. The st
Page 40 and 41: ut amoral political operative. Arra
Page 42 and 43: The diving horse didn’t really di
Page 44 and 45: Quadriceps Sparing Knee Replacement
Page 46 and 47: you should be here accepting them.
Page 48 and 49: Dennis and his friend and martial a
Page 50 and 51: known Dennis Gomes simply, as “Da
Page 52 and 53: speaking at UNLV, I worked in retai
Page 54 and 55: Of course, he did not do all of thi
Page 56 and 57: y Nancy Adler, Nutrition Editor of
Page 58 and 59: • Trademark & Copyright Registrat
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