The Fret Spots

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The Fret Spots was a Maltese guitar and mandolin trio active between 1970 and 1971. The original members were Amante Sant, Maryrose, and Gianmarie Muscat. They rehearsed and played for some time in Sant's Dhow Bar in Sliema and appeared in the show Varjeta' ta' Talent Malti at the Viceroy Theatre in Paola on 27 March 1971. They also played in a similar show produced by George Farrugia and John J. Tellus at the Jhansi Hall in Marsa.

Muscat and Sant also played together on various other occasions, both at the Dhow Bar and at The Luzzu in Qawra, where Sant was the head barman. Sant's guitar playing was featured in a supplement in The Times on 16 July 1970 where he was described as The Guitar Playing barmen. A picture of him sitting on a bar stool with his guitar appears on page II with the caption: ""Monty" Sant, the Head Barman, especially on an evening and after some encouragement, can be persuaded to entertain his customers on the guitar.

Tony Camilleri and Philip Fenech have fond recollections of these musicians, because they encouraged them to pick up a guitar and learn to strum their first chords at the Dhow Bar, where guitar and mandolin music was played regularly throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s. Toni Sant, Amante's son, was raised in this environment.