Sweet and Swing

Introduction

The programme would begin shortly after the conclusion of the previous music slot at 9:00pm. Howard Caine would commence each episode with the sentence; "A very good evening to you" and then play the show's theme tune, Slow Train Blues by Eric Winstone.

Howard Caine would continue by playing several records as a prelude to the show's main content, which was entitled Featured Artist.

Featured Artist

The Featured Artist segment of the show was recorded at the home of Jim Caine, often referred to by his co-presenter as "The Maestro" due to his encyclopedic knowledge of the artists and songs of the Sweet & Swing era. At one time Featured Artist would encompass the bulk of the transmission, however the format changed insofar as it consisted of a montage of previous recollections from Jim Caine recalling various artists.

Howard Caine would often refer to Jim Caine's house as either "Music Man HQ," "Maestro HQ" or "Maestro Towers" and until the change in format he would begin that particular segment of the show with a brief résumé of the past week's weather before that week's chosen artist was revealed.

Numerous artists featured over the history of the show, some of whom were known personally to Jim Caine (an accomplished jazz musician and raconteur in his own right). Such artists which featured included a diverse mix of repertoire ranging from the sounds of Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Ray Noble, Harry Roy, Geraldo, Tommy Dorsey, Ambrose, Ted Heath, and Jack Hylton, through the swing era to the modern era with the likes of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra and The RAF Squadronaires.

Solo artists also featured, including such people as Vera Lynn and Al Bowlly.

Of particular renown was the work of Joe Loss who spent several seasons playing at the Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of Man during the 1950s. Another artiste performing in Douglas during the immediate post-war years, and who was also acquainted with Jim Caine, was Ivy Benson. More later Bud Freeman became known to Jim Caine, with Freeman staying at the family home where he was introduced to the young Howard. Said to have been a keen player of the game Scrabble, Bud Freeman also left a token to the family consisting of one of his coats. The coat has been kept for posterity and is referred to as the "Bud Coat." Also known to the presenters was Humphrey Lyttelton, who used to receive Manx Kippers from Jim Caine.

Another regular feature of the playlist was what Howard Caine referred to as a "twofah:" two-for-the-price-of-one, where two recordings from a particular artiste or dance band were played in succession.

Conclusion

The broadcast would generally end with Howard Caine reviewing certain aspects of that particular night's show, whilst Slow Train Blues faded in the background. The edition was then available on the Manx Radio website to be listened to again for the following seven days.

The content of the programme was light-hearted, educational and informative. The programme had listeners as far away from the Isle of Man as The Philippines and New Zealand.

Whilst Manx Radio is a commercial radio station, Sweet & Swing was not interrupted by the playing of commercials.

History

The genesis of the programme came from former Manx Radio programmes of a similar genre such as Jim Caine's previous jazz show and Manx Radio's Big Band Hour, which was presented by former BBC Radio Controller, Mark White. Sweet & Swing based its format on a mixture of music from British dance bands of the 20s and 30s and from the Big Band Era. The show was originally presented solely by Jim Caine, but his workload was reduced following a bout of illness leading to some listeners fearing for the show's continuance. However Howard Caine, employed primarily as a Manx Radio journalist and newscaster, then began presenting the main content of the show.

During a broadcast on 16 December 2016, Howard Caine announced that the format of Manx Radio's 9pm Friday night music slot was to change from the beginning of 2017. Following the appointment of Alex Brindley as Manx Radio's Programme Controller, it was explained during the broadcast that a return to a more jazz orientated presentation would occur, more in resemblance of the previous Jim Caine's Jazz Show. However Howard Caine has stipulated that a return to the Sweet & Swing format is scheduled for spring 2017.

The final broadcast of Sweet & Swing was aired on Friday 6 January 2017. During the transmission Howard Caine stated that the programme would be replaced by a new programme called Jumpin' In which was to be jointly presented by brothers Howard and Chris Caine.

Caine Gang Christmas Party

During the run of Swwet & Swing, one programme during the course of the Festive Season was referred to as the Caine Gang Christmas Party. This would see the regular presenters joined by Chris Caine (Howard Caine's brother), and generally took the format of a jocular presentation with the presenters playing some personal favourite jazz numbers as well as recounting certain anecdotes.

Jumpin' In

Jumpin' In is a Manx Radio broadcast which replaced Sweet & Swing on the station's 9:00pm – 10:00pm slot on Friday nights. Jointly presented by brothers Howard and Chris Caine, the first transmission was on Friday 13 January 2017.

Like its predecessor, the show is broadcast on FM and MW frequencies as well as worldwide through the Manx Radio website. Jumpin' In takes its name from the title track of the 1983 album Jumpin' In by Dave Holland's Quintet.

Schooled by their father Jim "The Jazz" Caine, the brothers Caine individually and collectively contribute to the show, which offers a wide and rich variety of music from modern contemporary jazz across the spectrum to some lesser known music.