365 Days #138 - This Is Joe Cutajar (mp3s)

MP3:
01. Love Goes On (3:23)
02. Got To Have You By My Side (2:58)
03. Sing With Me a Happy Song (3:04)
04. Adios Amore Mio (3:50)
05. I Want To Sing (2:46)
06. Dejjem Ghall Xulxin (3:39)
07. Minghajr Imhabba (2:58)
08. Barbeque (4:13)
09. Dak Kien Zmien (3:46)
10. Xewqat Sbieh (3:56)

This Maltese easy listening effort is one of those well meaning, but deliciously inept albums where the singer is let down by the quality of the production. Joe Cutajar was a big name in Malta and first found fame as one half of Helen and Joe who warbled the Maltese entry L-imhabba (The Love) for the 1972 Eurovision song Contest. It came bottom. This was the last Malta entry to be sung in Maltese, all subsequent entries were in English. But Joe compromised and sings in both Maltese and English on this 10-track album, which, being from 1977, is awash with Moog synths, wah-wah guitar and a particularly unpleasant Salina string machine.

The latter is so over-used it suggests that they had hired it for the day and were getting their money's worth in the limited studio time. The Moog was also clearly on loan and in most cases is as loud, if not louder, than poor Joe's vocals. I love the way it keeps going off on little trips of its own which have nothing to do with the tune the rest of the band are playing. On Got To Have You By My Side it sounds like a demented cat mewing away in the background, while by the time it reaches Sing With Me A Happy Song it has turned into a particularly unhappy car alarm.

Joe's not a bad crooner, a bit like a cross between Britain's Tony Christie and Neil Diamond, but as English isn't his first language some of his pronunciations are a bit odd. For example "It's the need deep inside me" becomes "It's the knee-deep inside me" on Got To Have You By My Side. While on the peace anthem Sing With Me A Happy Song he enthuses "All those birds cannot be wrong, try your door and leave us a lock". Also check out the way he sings the word "people" on the strangely demonic I Want To Sing where we also learn "How they look but they just stares, They minds are lost elsewhere,What happened to the swirl?"!

There are lots of moments to enjoy here. Love Goes On features so many mad Mini Moog counter melodies it's like we've wandered into a fairground, with the whining synth really setting your teeth on edge. And don't overlook the Maltese-language epic 'Barbeque' on side two where it's not only the food that was on fire. A splendid wah-wah guitar-driven rhythm, a funky flute, electric piano and an extended, screaming, guitar solo all compete with Joe's reverb-drowned vocals to create a unique sound. There's something especially naff about a MOR crooner doing a disco number but when it's sung in Maltese with such a dodgy backing it's in a league of its own!

But save room for the ballad Xewqat Sbieh (Best Wishes) that has the lot! The ubiquitous string machine turned up to 11, a discordant flute, a badly dubbed narrator and a superbly out-of-tune children's chorus. Watch out for the point when the flautist and the kiddie chorus both hit splendidly bum notes.

The cover shot says it all. Joe squats nervously floating on a sickly orange background, sporting a hideous headache-inducing striped sweater and a forced grin as though he knew he was on to a loser. But his loss is our gain...

NB: the sleeve credits reveal that Joe also played drums on the album. If he performed these songs as a live act (and the sleeve photo on the back suggests that he was in-house entertainer at the Malta Hilton), then the dule role of singer and drummer in a cabaret setting must have been hard to carry off, but wonderful to watch.

- Contributed by: David Noades

Images: Front, Label

Media: Album
Label: Sunray
Catalog: SR 7001
Credits: Lyrics by Alfred Sant, Music by Raymond Agius. Recorded at Smash Studios, Malta. Musicians: Tony Barbara (Drums), David Lucas (Sax, Flute), Joe Cutajar (Drums), Ray Agius (Piano), Godwin Cachia (Moog), Wilfred Buttigieg, Freddie Scicluna (guitars).
Date: 1977

Comments

[Dan]

Wow, listening to it is like having a tension headache without the pain. Strangely enjoyable.

[Joe]

Does the intro to "Dak Kien Zmien" (probably the least worst song on the record) remind anyone else of "Knights in White Satin"?

[Corey K.]

"What happened to the swirl?"

Ah, I remember dancing "The Swirl" with my girl back in the 50s as a young Joe Cutajar crooned in the background. Forget hoppin' and boppin' to the Crocodile Rock, we loved "The Swirl." It was kinda scandalous, at least by 50s standards. My sister was a nice girl and wouldn't admit to it, but I'm pretty sure she danced "The Swirl" with her boyfriend. Out of my window I could see them in the moonlight, two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate. Now hardly anyone remembers "The Swirl." What happened to our youth? Why don't the Beatles get back together? Why don't nobody sing of romance? Oh baby, all I wanna do is dance.

[Bann johanson]

Cutajar and my mom worked with each other years ago at the Stardust in Vegas - he has a performer, she has a waitress

never knew he had an album
beautiful stuff!

Bann

[jonp72]

I'm still looking for Beatles cover versions in Maltese. Anybody know where to find them?

[Richard Brandt]

Wow. Maltese! Just like Robert Palmer!

[David Noades]

I have since found two superb clips of Helen and Joe performing L-imhabba on YouTube. The first is the Maltese promo filmed on the location in Malta, the second is the actual performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in Edinburgh in March 1972. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku2hVMcJE-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxej9Wr7ejo&mode=related&search=

[John Ball]

Where is Joe now Veronica used to dance to his music and singing until 2006 at the Suncrest hotel in qawrra but we seem to have lost contact can anyone help

[pauline (ENGLAND)]

hi i met joe several years at suncrest had great evenings myself husband and daughter also went on a great boat trip george musican was also on there we also spent new years eve 2000 at the suncrest fantastic night

[John Mifsud]

Joe is today well in his late sixties but still going very strong. He still performes almost on every day of the week at several venues in Malta mostly Hotels. He is still the best on the Island and very far away from that stated by the critics on this page. Besides being a very good mature voice full of energy and experiance he is also an outstanding entertainer who keeps his audience alive all the time, he is versitile and sings in English, Italian and Maltese sometimes in Spanish too depending on the song he is interpreting. Besides all this Joe is a fine gentleman and a very pleasant personality. I never tire listneing to him sing . I reccomand a night out to were Joe sings to everyone who likes to hear an outstanding voice and dance to melodies we all like to keep dancing to .

Good luck Joe , we all love you . God bless you and keep you strong as ever to keep going on entertaining us your very loyal
fans

John Mifsud
8/5/2010

[Michael Boe]

I spent a happy 3 weeks in Malta in 1990 with my friend Phil Olivant and his wife Shelia who were good and personal friends of Joe's, Saw several of his shows and must say although his music is not really my taste he is a great singer with a lovely personallity, Great to know he is still around...