Strada Stretta was the seminal ground which gave birth to the night club scene in Malta according to Vinny Vella, who started playing down that famous alley in his teens.
Vinny Vella, who was speaking during the launch of George Cini’s latest publication Strada Stretta: Aktar dawl fuq it-triq li darba xegħlet il-Belt, said that the shrewd people who grew up along this strip knew how to meet the demands of the thousands of servicemen who used to throng the lively bars and ornate music halls.
“The Metro – where I used to play with my band in the mid- to late 1950s – was a fantastic music hall run by Ġanni Fiteni, whose father, Pawlu, owned the Morning Star Music Hall in St Nicholas Street. Ġanni’s sister Marie managed the Cotton Club in Strada Stretta.
During the launch of the publication, which was held at Michael’s Restaurant in Valletta, the writer explained how business-minded people – most of whom, back then, would be illiterate – learned the ropes and survived in a very tough environment.
“A string of outlets sprung up, including bars and music halls complete with live bands, barmaids and local and foreign entertainers. There were restaurants, lodging houses, barbers, a shop selling music records, a bookshop, tatooists, drag queens, singers, souvenir shops selling lace and tobacconists,” Cini said.
In this new book, the author takes a closer look at the families who consolidated their investment when they became connected through marriage. Another angle which he tackles was how most traders and shop owners in Valletta were bouyed financially by the steady stream of cash that rolled out of Strait Street when the going was good.
One of the chapters in the book shows how the system of bars and other outlets in Strait Street was regulated by the police, far from being the free-for-all that is the common perception. The chapter features a number of applications – dating back 100 years – by bar owners in Strait Street to the governor of the day to employ barmaids.
For more information contact the author on gcini400@gmail.com or by calling on 9943 0578.
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