On a flight to Comino, two men are excited about the pristine beaches, palm trees and coconuts they expect to enjoy after winning the lottery and booking a trip to the island. 

But their hopes quickly turn sour after they smell the odours from the island’s pig farm. 

“We should have gone to Filfla-on-the-rocks,” one of the two remarks.

Joe Demicoli and Augusto Cardinali released their album Kemmuna Airways 25 years ago this month.

“I think around 50,000 original cassettes were sold in the first year aside from the [pirate] copies,” Demicoli said.

Together with a self-titled track, Kemmuna Airways had 12 other parody songs about Maltese life in the late 1990s. 

In Sejjaħli Ċittadin, Demicoli sings about bad roads, high energy bills, inefficient hospitals and shopkeepers who do not declare their sales.

“The mayor’s road is like marble and mine reminds you of the Vietnam war,” goes one line.

A Morris Minor that “beats the speed of sound” is the subject of Issirx Numru. But the song’s chorus reminds listeners to drive carefully.

Cardinali remembers the album being immensely popular. 

“I know that every family in Malta and Gozo either had a CD or cassette,” Cardinali said. Many were pirate copies.

“Forget about copyright laws, everyone would copy [the original] and sell it,” he continued.

The duo would go on to perform extensively on television, radio and live shows. 

“You can say that there wasn’t a television or radio station, performance hall, band club or village square in Malta and Gozo that we didn’t visit,” Cardinali said.

“At that time, we were the kings of Malta and Gozo. We always had a phenomenal audience.”  

They would also make waves among Malta’s emigrant communities in Australia and Canada and performed in those countries.

We were the kings of Malta and Gozo. We always had a phenomenal audience

Demicoli remembers how audiences would greet them warmly when they went up on stage and how the crowd would laugh, cheer and applaud while paying close attention to lyrics.

“Shows in Australia and Canada were classics,” Demicoli said.

Two articles on the Maltese Herald, an Australian newspaper for the Maltese community, reported on their concerts Down Under.

“Many Maltese attended the concert, and they were not disappointed,” Alfred Zahra wrote in September 1999.

“It is true that some of their jokes were slightly vulgar, but I saw with my own eyes that even those who would usually be scandalised were laughing out loud and praising them.”

When plans were made to distribute the Kemmuna Airways cassette in Australia, Charles “Baby Face” Curmi, who was responsible for the duo’s overseas engagements, discovered that many Maltese in Australia already had a copy, Demicoli said. 

“It was sent to them by their families (in Malta).”

Album came after TV appearances

Most of the songs in the popular album were each written, recorded and performed on television within a week.

Demicoli and Cardinali would perform a new track every Sunday on the programme Għidli Xi Jmiss on Super One TV.   

“Generally, I would write the song that week and we’d then record it on Saturday morning,” Demicoli recalled. 

Demicoli wrote the lyrics and Cardinali adapted the music and produced the songs.

The tracks would eventually form Kemmuna Airways.

A KullĦadd newspaper article described it as the “album of the summer”.

“Many were asking when Augusto Cardinali and Joe Demicoli would publish their collection of positive songs that they were presenting each week on the Super One TV programme Għidli Xi Jmiss,” the article says.

“The cassettes literally flew off the shelves, so much so that KTA productions had to prepare another batch of the MC (music cassette).”

Aside from Sejjaħli Ċittadin, which had original music, the tracks on the album were based on popular songs. 

Shows in Australia and Canada were classics

The title track Kemmuna Airways used the music of Typically Tropical’s 1975 hit Barbados, for example.

“When we met in the studio we discussed the song, decided who sang what, and agreed on musical arrangements, sound effects and backing vocals,” Cardinali said. 

But some lyrics had been written by Demicoli before the two started working together. 

During the 1997 Għaxaq carnival, Demicoli dressed like Maltese rock singer Freddie Portelli and parodied several songs of his and other artists. 

Among them was the late Enzo Guzman’s Żeppi u Grezz. 

Demicoli’s parody of the song Freddie u Eddie satirised the then MLP and PN leaders and would eventually feature on the album.

Reflecting on the album’s success 25 years on, Cardinali said that fame brought lack of privacy, physical exhaustion and stress from frequent shows. 

“Having to be mindful of your behaviour and words during shows and interviews and keeping a good rapport with the public who weren’t always respectful, even in moments that weren’t appropriate, was not easy,” he said.

“But it was a glorious time that I can never forget.”

The feeling of performing to a passionate crowd and the friendship between the Demicoli and Cardinali was “magical”.

What worked best for their success was that the songs’ words were politically neutral, so they were welcomed everywhere, Cardinali said.

“I admit that the songs were aimed at a mature audience, but children learned them by heart. Still, I am sure that the lyrics were subtle enough and not too direct and vulgar.”

As Kemmuna Airways celebrates its silver anniversary, people still often mention the album for one reason or another, Demicoli said.

“A mix of humorous songs, TV exposure, the chemistry between myself and Augusto, a lively stage presence and good timing were the reasons for success,” Demicoli said.