Lesson two

That's all for today, goodbye from me, take care of those children for me, whoever and whosever they are, ciao, adios..."

Associate Joe Tanti with charm and magnetism. Tune in to his show and you won't just get a DJ with a pleasant voice or a musical choice straight out of the master's hat; you'll get a man who has lived his life, learnt his lessons from it, and is ready to share his experiences. On air.

For Joe Tanti's radio shows have involved short bouts of literally everything, from brief histories of Fleetwood Mac and their habit of writing songs to each other, to the issue of setting up a tent for carriage horses in Valletta, or from his beloved Inter's defeat against Barcelona to his new fitness regime. Anything which is (or should be) on the headlines is discussed during his show with fast-paced verve and humour, while keeping common sense and intelligence well within arm's reach. But you don't just get him chatting to himself or delivering condemnations like many others do: he involves listeners like no other DJ has ever managed to do, while churning out the tunes which have made him a favourite among many (thanks to him I can get tunes from The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, even Audioslave, during a traffic jam). Or perhaps, it's the other way round, because Joe loses relatively little time in talk and lets the music take over most of the programme.

For long years I have tuned in to Joe Tanti, absorbing his musical knowledge and finesse of choice. He's the one who, together with the 'godfather' Brian Micallef, literally taught us what rock music really is. It's thanks to them that today acts like Blue Oyster Cult, The Who, Supertramp, Black Sabbath and countless others are clearer in our minds.

While Brian has bravely soldiered on with Grinta and Rock Express, in the face of bureaucracy and pointless accusations of aging (remember my motto about older wine tasting better?), Joe has been at six radio and three TV stations. Let's go back, therefore, to the opening gambits of his career.

"Oh, this is the most boring question ever," he says without petulance, perhaps understanding that exploring the cobwebs of the past is often part and parcel of anyone doing my job.

"It was wonderful. I was scared stiff - but determined. Although how I started off is not as important to me. I don't even know why radio, I just love music... I've always loved music and that's about it. I involved myself in everything which had to do with music - write, study, compose, play, DJ. It's all a part of it."

This is one of the strangest places where I ever carried out an interview: we're in the Baystreet Studios of Calypso FM, four in the afternoon, during his drive-time show. I ask my questions (and get my answers) in between a Good Charlotte song, typical 180 second Calypso FM ad-breaks and, of course, him talking on the mike, faders full blast and bottle of water close at hand.

He won't tell me how many mistakes he's done first time on air, but refers me to Toni Sant: "Ask Toni Sant about that, he used to come into the studio yelling at me with the microphone still on, I think he did that to me three or four times. Back then I was at Radio Malta 2, around 17 years ago. I used to do quite a number of mistakes - and I still do!"

So, a younger Joe Tanti introducing his first ever show on the radio. What did it sound like? "Once I was playing with a band and before the Christmas gig at the youth centre in my hometown I went onstage and told the people 'Ladies and gentlemen, this is not Pink Floyd...' and the gig started there. But on the radio I think the first word I ever said was dry and not original at all... think I spoke out as they asked me to do, something like the usual 'good morning, how are you' and so on. It took me around two years to learn to be really myself on air. For some time I was quite a prototype DJ. And that's boring."

Joe's musical upbringing is also worthy of notice. As in the story of Aerosmith, whose roots are indelibly grounded in their respective hometowns - scattered around Boston and its beehive of colleges - Joe Tanti finds his own in Santa Lucia (Malta, not Caribbean) for the way he was brought up as an authentic music lover. "The music scene in there was fantastic. If you have a look at most of the bigger bands in Malta you'll notice that most of them had some sort of connection to St Lucia - like the Characters, Fragile, Limestone Kick. It was the place where we used to meet in the square every Saturday night with our guitars and just have a good time jamming. We were brought up with that music; every song now has its own memory, much more than the clothes we wore at the time."

Most people have often asked themselves for which reasons Joe has migrated from one radio station to another. His tours have taken him from Radio Malta, to Bay Radio, the now defunct Island Sound, Smash Radio, Radio 101 and now to a somewhat downtuned Calypso FM led by a less than swashbuckling Fr Effie Masini.

"Let's say I'm versatile, and I hate doing the same thing for quite a long time. Apart from that I was quite lucky because I worked with the best radio stations around, and like in football, it's better to play for four big teams than for two small ones." And Joe Tanti sure isn't one to start from the bench.

The pre-pluralist radio scene in Malta is something I hardly remember myself, save perhaps for the very distant memories of a few newscasters' names back when the news bulletin's signature tune was ELO's "Here Comes the News." It's harder for me, therefore, to imagine who guided Joe through a scene which has today developed into a business minefield with political party radios, corporate semi-giants, middle rung outfits and village minnows competing with each other for a share of our ears.

"Norman Hamilton is a person I admire for his maturity, then I also like Ray Bajada's openness and Toni Sant's intellectuality. I think those three people were pillars on the radio at the time and have been quite influential."

Toni Sant, ensconced in NY but firmly in contact with Malta through his maltamedia.com job, has a very fond memory of what was once his pupil. He says:

"Joe Tanti is someone I actually introduced to radio. I had known him for several years because he wrote about rock bands and musicians in The Times since the early Eighties. He was invited to do an interview or some slot on someone else's radio show around 1989 and when I heard his natural voice on the radio I thought he would make a good radio presenter. This was back when Radio Malta was the only radio station in the country.

He received his first training in radio broadcasting from me at Radio Malta 2. I must admit that he did not disappoint me in the early years, even when he moved to Bay Radio and had an evening rock show. However, later on he adopted a style that is slightly different from what I had hoped he would develop into. Still, Joe is a good guy... and he has managed to turn himself into a household name."

A believer in change and one who has seen the drastic shift in the 'mainstream' rock from Led Zeppelin through U2 to something like Puddle of Mudd, Joe Tanti still holds a very healthy interest in what goes on locally. I ask him for favourites (which we don't get from most other DJ's in an overkill of political correctness).

"I see a great future ahead for Paula, she's one of the best singers. I am still hoping for the return of Ray and the Characters so I'm keeping my fingers crossed; there's obviously more ahead for Winter Moods, and I also think Toby's going to be great in the dance scene. He's going to take Malta in a new era..."

Foreign favourites: he'll talk of his passion for the Eagles and Led Zeppelin from the oldies, and for Live from the modern ones.

Apart from being on the radio, Joe Tanti has also had a few stints on TV. Wonder whether a seasoned radio navigator will prefer the blind medium to the telly. "Radio is magic. It's a form of art which allows the listeners to imagine. The TV picture is there in front of you and you can't change it from what it is. Radio is something you can create, there's room for the listener's fantasy. It can put you in a good mood, it can put you in a bad mood, and it can make you happy..."

Just think that, for the last years, Joe has dispensed advice to people, friends and not, on and off the air. Some ask him about relatively trivial issues (one such listener even relied on his choice for which sofa colour best matches a peach living room). Many are those who have found comfort in his words when family troubles or ill health struck.

How come?

"I have no idea. I do enjoy the fact that many people trust me. I don't really know... but I think that when you talk sense people will trust you. If you're on the radio talking crap the result will be completely different. Sense in, sense out. But on the whole I think it's much easier to give advice than to accept it!"

Let's talk world politics now.

"A person you dislike from international politics?"

"No one".

"A person you like from international politics?"

"No one... Politics is just a joke to me, it's a big industry, once you get beyond loyalty and the ignorance in being loyal, then they're not bothered anymore. Ultimately that is what the European Union has done; it has undermined the power of politicians and moved it more towards the people."

Being someone who has studied music, Joe also makes one fine musician apart from a DJ.

Toni Sant recalls a particular collaboration with Joe. "Back in 1989 I was working on a theatrical production of Oedipus Rex with John Suda at the Manoel Theatre. I had composed some original music for the play and asked Joe Tanti to play my music on the flute.

Perhaps very few people know how dedicated Joe was to his flute at that time. He spent more time with his flute than doing radio until he joined Bay. He did a good job with my music, even though the flute was little more than a hobby for him, because he understood that theatre music is not about technical virtuosity but flexibility and ensemble work."

There's a whole host of things to say about Joe Tanti - although he himself doesn't seem to have too many anecdotes in mind, and after all, I'm not here to write a biography. Toni Sant, however, provides one from across the Atlantic:

"Joe's middle initial is "C" for Carmel or whatever, but one day while I was doing one of my live radio programmes on Radio Malta I introduced him to my listeners as Joe "Cocker" Tanti... earlier he had mentioned that his middle initial was 'C'. This was just before Joe Cocker came to Malta for his concert at the Marsa Sports Ground in 1991. I believe Joe liked this little 'joke' very much because he was a Joe Cocker fan."

In their song Lesson One, Winter Moods wrote: "And I stand so tall / I will take what life would show anytime / But I don't pretend to be someone / no one but me, no I don't..."

No surprise they chose Joe Tanti as a backing vocalist on this one. The lyrics fit perfectly with him (maybe he can't stand that tall since he's metres shorter than Sergey Bubka) and he sings them out with trademark enthusiasm and gusto. And probably, the entourage at Temple Studio did have a few laughs when the recording was taking place.

That is Joe Tanti, a mix of humour, intelligence, sensibility, music and, another 'C' as middle name, charisma. With charisma, more than money, you can make the world go round.