I don’t think that the Malta Broadcasting Authority is to blame for most of the transgressions.

The biggest problem is that radio stations don’t choose DJs wisely. People think that if they are not shy about speaking in public and know a few songs, they can be DJs.

Some things should be basic and innate to people in broadcasting:

Good enunciation and pronunciation skills

A pleasant voice

An excellent grasp of the language being spoken (so many mish-mash Maltese and English without any rhyme or reason)

An encyclopaedic knowledge of the music being played

The common sense not to speak over songs and not to play music over one’s own voice

Keeping disruption by sponsors and callers to a minimum (dealing with most phone calls off air)

Only reading emails and messages on air when they interest the general listenership and when the messages are legible and concise. The rest can be placated with “Thanks for writing in. There’s not enough time to read all the messages.”

And so on.

Language usage aside, I don’t think the Broadcasting Authority can do much about all the other transgressions.

Sure, some of the things can be learnt and improved but most should come naturally. Some DJs are so amateurish that you get the impression that they have never listened to a professionally run, foreign radio station.

Daphne has outlined the problem quite clearly in a different medium: newspapers employing columnists whose expertise is simply being able to string a few legible sentences together. Sorry, but that’s just not good enough.

Radio stations, television stations and newspapers should all be more picky about who to employ. That’s the only way to really raise standards. Obviously, there must be radio station managers and editors who know what they are doing for that to happen.

Keep up the good work, Noel. I have listened to AllRockRadio a couple of times and it’s fine. The problem is that the station is not available on FM so it’s less accessible.

Standards on Radio 101 have plummeted since you left.

Bring back Rocknet FM.

He was undoubtedly a housewife favourite on Rediffusion and Radio Malta.

His best period was the late sixties and the early seventies as vocalist with Greek prog rock band Aphrodite’s Child. Their double album 666 is hailed as one of the best prog rock albums of all time.

At that time Demis definitely had left-wing sympathies. The band had fled Greece during the time of the fascist military junta and settled in Paris.

Thank you, Matthew S, for describing me as “öne of the few exceptions”. I was the last DJ on Rediffusion. The takeover took place at 7.38 am, while I was hosting the breakfast show. I can’t remember whether it was 14 February 75 or 76. The last song played was “When A Man Loves A Woman”, the great soul classic by Percy Sledge.

Maltese broadcasting, both radio and television, are in a terrible state. The Malta Broadcasting Authority has done nothing at all to raise standards and has allowed mediocrity to rule OK.

I suggest, if I may, an alternative “‘AllRock Radio”, a 24-hour Maltese rock station broadcasting on DAB + radio or allrock.malta.com

Nippreferi nisma lil Demis li jfakkarni f’ Mintoff minn Lou Bondi` bil-gitarra.

His voice had a particular timbre which you could either love or hate.

The fountain tritons are damaged and the basin has been removed, so definitely after March 1978.

When this old chap was around in the 70’s, the Maltese population regarded his songs like it was only thanks to Labour that they could enjoy such good music.

Cliff Richard was also a favourite.

Skype, OK so you dislike Demis Roussos – just stop there. I could insult fans of other singers but do not do so as I do not like hurting anyone’s feelings. I am a great fan of Demis and I am definitely not a Labourite.

1978/79?