I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got

About 19 years ago I met Fijian broadcaster Apakuki Coka in London. We were both BBC trainees. He was a very impressive character who was about 15 years older than me. In my typical Maltese manner, I used to tease him by saying that one day soon he would be the head of the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation. Some years later he became Fiji's top radio man, but we lost touch soon after and I never heard of him again.

Strangely enough, this afternoon I googled him. I honestly don't know what got into me. I was quite shocked when I discovered that Kuki died in July 2002 from a heart attack at the age of 51.

I'm only bringing this up on my blog because I can't think of a better place to do so. I emailed my old roommate Angelo Fernando, who was also a BBC trainee with us in London back in 1988 and is now settled in Arizona. I wonder if he knew about this. I don't think he did. He probably would have told me, just like I told him a few minutes ago. I apologize for this public moment of grief, but I really didn't know how else to start processing Kuki's premature passing...especially since he's been dead for almost five years already.

I always feel strange whenever people I know die. I guess it's inevitable. I feel even more strange when acquaintances I haven't seen for many year pass away, especially when they pass on before they can enjoy most of their lives. I don't want to get all morbid on you, so I'll leave it here for today, if that's OK with you.

Saturdays are podcasting days for me. So, if it wasn't for this, today I would just be blogging about the latest edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor. This week it's number 56 in the series and features material I found through MySpace in the last few weeks.

Kristina Casolani is someone I had heard of before but her name never clicked in my head as someone to include on my podcast. This changed the instant I heard her songs on her MySpace page. She's just finished recording an album, which I presume will be released sometime soon. I've picked to play a song she performed on TV as a guest at one of the Song for Europe contests about four years ago, Wanna B Me. I don't think English-language pop music from Malta can ever be better than this.

I'm also pleased to discover Explicit through their MySpace page. Their song Games features an outro, which I believe is quite a rarity these days. I'm looking forward for more from this band. Stephanie Chetcuti is an excellent rock singer and I'm wondering if she moonlights as a singer away from the band like Stillborn's Diane Castillo.

Speaking of Stillborn, their former bass player, Jean Paul Galea has released a couple of solo home-recording on his new MySpace page. I really like the track Return, which I've included on this week's podcast. He is currently looking for new collaborators and I don't hesitate to say that if I lived in Malta I'd be exploring at least one jam session with him. Alas, I'll leave that privilege to those who can catch up with him more often that I would from this self-imposed exile I chose for myself all those years ago.

To close up this week's podcast I've chosen to play a song by one of the bands that debuted on my radar during last October's Battle of the Bands. They're a raw trio called Cable35 and if their song It's Over is a sign of things to come I'll certainly be looking out for more recordings from this band in the coming months.

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