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NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 JANUARY 2025 NEWS Funk diplomacy: When Malta grooved Malta's relationship with Muammar Gaddafi went beyond mere diplomacy. From propping up the country's social security fund to backing local music projects promoting his political ideas, the Libyan leader's inf luence on Malta in the 70s and 80s is explored through the voices of the artists involved and the ongoing effort to preserve this unique cultural legacy FEW national leaders are as pe- culiar as Muammar Gaddafi. He rose to power at just 27 years old through a military coup, went on to nationalise the oil industry, and implemented a raft of social programmes to improve hous- ing, healthcare and education levels. However, his revolution al- so had its dark side. He led an authoritarian administration and was accused of various hu- man rights violations. Gadd- afi remained firmly in power until the Arab Spring in 2011, when he had proclaimed that he would rather "die a mar- tyr" than leave Libya during the protests. He went on to be killed while in hiding that same year. Throughout his leadership, Malta maintained a cosy re- lationship with Gaddafi. He was not just a neighbourhood 'tyrant' with whom Malta was forced into a rapport. He ad- dressed Labour Party mass meetings; his Green Book was distributed by the thousands during the Malta Trade Fair. When Dom Mintoff issued an ultimatum to British troops to either pay higher rents for mil- itary facilities or quit the island altogether, it was Gaddafi who bankrolled Malta to the tune of about $3 million to replenish the government's diminishing social security fund. But it wasn't just Malta's so- cial security fund that was being bankrolled by Gaddafi. During the 70s and 80s, some of Malta's biggest music stars were brought together to re- cord a series of albums pro- moting Gaddafi's political ide- as. Joe Cutajar sang about the September Revolution, and Bayzo about the Jamahiriya. Mary Rose Mallia sang about the Green Book, and Rena- to about Gaddafi's belief that sports should be for everyone. Some of these songs have appeared online over the past year, sparking an interest among enthusiasts of funk and disco, lost music, or political history more generally. Mean- while, in Malta, LPs and cas- settes of these albums are lying in old storage boxes, relics that tell the story of Malta's modern history with neighbouring Lib- ya. To understand this renewed interest in the music, and the place these albums hold in Malta's cultural-political his- tory, MaltaToday spoke with the artists that brought these albums to life, and to a Danish researcher putting these al- bums back online so they will never be forgotten. Malta's superstars, Gaddafi's message Alfred C. Sant and Ray Agi- us are a lyricist-composer duo that need little introduc- tion. If you have never heard their names, you have certain- ly heard their biggest works: 'L-Ewwel Tfajla li Ħabbejt' or 'Fjura fil-Kantina'. Their mark on the Maltese music scene has been indelible, and it must have been a no-brainer for the Libyan authorities of the time to pick them to write and com- pose some songs about Gadd- afi's ideas. According to Sant and Agius, there had been a call for local songwriters to promote the Libyan message. It all start- ed from a radio station, Voice of Friendship and Solidarity (Leħen il-Ħbiberija u s-Soli- darjeta), intended to spread the theories of the Libyan govern- ment in Malta. It was stationed in Rabat and transmitted to Malta and beyond. "The managing director asked for me and Alfred, and we met with him. The idea was to cre- ate an album of pop and con- temporary songs with their political message; to do some- thing professional and send a message through music," Agius told MaltaToday. One of the biggest obstacles to do this was the fact that Malta had no proper recording studios. The few that existed at the time were far behind the technology available in proper studios abroad. "I told him that we'd need to go abroad to do this, and he said it's not a prob- lem," Agius said. "We went to a studio in Rome to record the first album with some of the best singers in Malta at the time – and they left a good impression," Sant told MaltaToday. "This oppor- tunity was very welcome. It was nice to have someone invest in your talent." Artists had access to a full orchestra, a 36-track recorder and some of Italy's finest mu- sicians. "At the time, we could only dream of these studios; just see them on television. I couldn't pass up the opportu- nity," Agius said. Three Maltese artists featured on the first album titled 'Jama- hiriya': Tony 'Bayzo' Camilleri, Joe Cutajar, and Mary Rose Mallia. Camilleri and Cutajar have passed away, but Mallia is alive and well, and remembers every detail of this project. "We had so much fun. The song recordings were outstand- ing – it was like heaven hearing the musicians play, they were precise. Moreover, we had full access to the studio to stay as long as necessary to record the music because they [Libya] were funding everything them- selves – and they paid us well," she told MaltaToday. A little-known fact is that Re- nato was also asked to feature in this first album, but could not make it due to commit- ments singing at the Preluna. However, a couple of years down the line, Renato and Mary Rose Mallia recorded an