Joe Cutajar, the popular singer and entertainer, has taken his last bow, despite the hope that glimmered till the end.
I personally know how much he loved his wife Hilda, and his two daughters and son, and his two brothers, and can well understand their heartbreak, distress and sense of great loss Joe has left among them. It was his brother Frank who first broke the news.
Joe was indeed a dedicated family man in spite of his many commitments locally and abroad, but he was also a ‘people’s person’, someone who could get along with persons individually as easily as he could interact with his audiences.
He has now moved on to a better life, leaving a void, as it were. But he has left behind a vast legacy of hit songs (in three languages) on records, be they on vinyl, CD or cassette tape, which should make Malta proud.
Joe had a charisma of his own, whether on or off stage; he was a natural crowd puller
I believe that a selection of his many hit songs, in Maltese, English and Italian − and videos too − spanning at least 60 years, is worthy of being preserved and curated in the national archives, in liaison with his immediate family, of course.
As a crooner, Joe was a natural fan of Frank Sinatra, and many people identify Joe’s voice and style with that of the famous singer. But I believe it is a natural coincidence for he had that artist’s kind of timbre, so much so that in his rendition of New York, New York, Strangers in the Night, That’s Life and Chicago, people often mix him up with Sinatra. He was also highly successful in the Maltese idiom, such as with his Dak kien żmien, to name just one bestseller.
Joe also loved Neapolitan and Italian songs and he impeccably sang ll cuore è uno zingaro (of Nicola di Bari, a favourite of his).
In the 1972 Eurovision Song Festival he and Helen Micallef sang L-Imħabba, penned by the late Mro Charles Camilleri and Albert Cassola.
My dear friend of many years, Joe had a charisma of his own, whether on or off stage; he was a natural crowd puller. On stage, in particular, he was impeccable with the energy and elocution in his voice, the confident interpretation of his song, and he was always impeccably dressed ‒ a real professional.
Joe’s persona on the stage was, as the expression goes, larger than life. One could notice this, whether Joe was alone in front of a microphone or sharing the scene. He would inevitably stand out in the crowd due to his outstanding personality.
His recent performances at Pjazza Teatru Rjal in Valletta were a sell-out. I was there, as his guest, in one of those later shows, and he got a standing ovation.
Success abroad
Joe travelled far and wide in the heyday of his long career, including to the US, the UK, Australia and Japan, to name a few, where he always performed to large audiences in cabaret shows.
He spent around two years in London, in different circuits; and at Las Vegas he performed at a rather well-known venue where he was offered a very lucrative long-term contract as resident artist.
Joe told me once that it was a highly tempting offer, but he had to decide “there and then”. Being already happily married to Hilda and having started a young family, he turned down that “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. I remember him adding that, in return, the good Lord blessed him with a loving family and more success than he could have ever hoped for.
I am not at all surprised that the Las Vegas impresario got excited about the prospect of hiring the young Cutajar for his club, where competition between the gaming and entertainment venues is both fierce and constant… in view of that young man’s amazing voice and endearing stage technique.
‘Jiena Belti, taf!’
Joe grew up in a family of musicians and popular stage performers, bearing the well-known ‘Lucas’ name.
Though I always knew how popular Joe was, I never stopped being impressed by his enduring popularity, noting people from different levels of society stopping him to say “hi” to him in the street as we strolled together in Valletta, or offering him a drink or a coffee if we sat down at an open-air café.
I have known Joe as a friend and as occasional stage-fellow, and even professionally for so many years. I grew up in Sliema but spent my teens in Valletta until graduation, when the university had not yet moved to Tal-Qroqq.
Joe grew up in Valletta and was very proud of it. In later life, he was wont to tell me, when a ‘Valletta’ topic came up in conversation: “Jiena Belti, taf!”
He even played football with FC Valletta, and later also with other clubs.
Although we took different paths in life, in our teens we shared a love of music and song, and the excitement of the stage where sometimes we met during shows or concerts.
I remember Joe performing in various Valletta venues with popular bands, not least at the Café Premier, and later at the Las Vegas nightclub (opposite St George’s Square), associated with his maternal uncle Oscar Lucas, the celebrity band leader and lead saxophonist.
Joe kept growing in popularity in local festivals and shows and, for several years, compered his own cabaret nights as resident artist at the Hilton Hotel. Over there, he used to get his audiences raving at his commanding stage presence.
The epilogue of an entertainment career that spanned more than half a century, Joe’s farewell occurred in his former parish church in Valletta where a packed congregation led by his loving family paid a fitting tribute to his life and offered their prayers for his final rest in the Lord.
Farewell, Joe, go in peace, now, and thank you for all that you were to many!
Joseph R. Pace was also active as a singer in the 1960s and 1970s and went by the stage name ‘Ray Ritardo’.