X-Tend

X-Tend Biography: 1984-1999 Early in the golden days of the eighties, in the midst of the hypes and vibes of the New Romantic era of 1984, Chris Cassar, a wandering soul drumming his way across the universe, while plotting endeavours in the local rock scene, met DJ Godwin de Bono, sound producer extraordinaire. After living and sharing some turbulent teenage years and experiences in the same educational set-up, it was quite a surprise for the boys to discover they shared the same interests in the same genre of music. So it seemed logical that the next step would be to get together and rehearse some music written by Chris with a touch of production by Godwin Chris encouraged his then girlfriend Sandra to play bass on a Yamaha duo-phonic synth, and a couple of days later guitarist John Attard was strumming his guitar with the trio, thus giving birth to the first line-up of what became known as X–tend. However after a short period of time, John was forced to quit, due to other working commitments. “Voila” enter present guitarist Eric Ace. Chris, inspired by a catchy name on a local ironmongery store, named the group X–tend. After weeks of rehearsing, the band decided to record some of the material they were playing with. Through their common friendship with a working colleague, Vince Fabri [of Xarabank fame] X–tend were introduced to Charlie Dalli who owned a home–based studio ,and who immediately pointed out that the band lacked real punch, when it came to laying down vocals. X–tend took the hint, and went ahead recording some tracks with Dalli as lead vocalist, and with Eric as backing vocal, a combination that went on for twenty years and is still going strong today. A mini gig at the Hamrun Boys Scouts on the 26th of September was the first time X-tend got together on stage. After a number of small gigs within weeks of their first show, X–tend were invited to appear as guests in a very popular T.V. programme Arzella, hosted by Ray Azzopardi and immediately struck a chord with the audience with their fresh appearance, original approach and the new sound of their repertoire. Barely three months after their nationwide debut appearance on T.V., the band’s determination to make it big, landed them in San Remo, Italy. But not before going into a professional studio to properly record a couple of songs. Joe Baldacchino of Smash Studio and maestro Paul Abela along with the band took care of the production. After literally conquering the regional eliminations in Sicily, X–tend qualified to participate, together with other Italian and international competitors, in “Passaporto per San Remo” which was being staged at the famous “Ariston theatre”, in mid-December ‘84. With a spectacular performance, X-tend managed to achieve what many of their counterpart bands only dreamt of. They were crowned overall winners with their song “I can feel”, a punchy new wave melody with a bouncy rhythm. A modest Italian label, “San Remo Holidays”, the organizers of the festival, managed by Mr. Flavio Meraglia, immediately signed them up. In March 1985, they took part in the “Festival tal–Kanzunetta Maltija “for the first time, with the song “Gmiel” written by Vince Fabri. But although the band gave a very good show, they had very little control on the whole affair, and came out a bit disappointed, but the outcome was very positive in terms of publicity. In August 1985, X–tend, believing they had what it takes to make it, released “I can feel” coupled with ‘Love me’ as their first single, at the then Malta Hilton International, a master stroke engineered by manager Edwin Zammit, an astute perfectionist. The song was launched accompanied by a professional video, immediately hitting the Maltese Chart’s top spot. Mr Zammit proved to be a staunch disciplinarian and a workaholic, never ceasing to inject fresh ideas, to enhance the band’s approach. He was the difference between a professional and an amateur organisation and helped X–tend to progress in no small way. This sudden success was followed by a number of stunning TV appearances, concerts, and live performances all over the country and abroad and succeeded in projecting the band to another level of popularity. At this point a public relations office was inevitable as a source of communication with countless interested parties. This gave birth to the band’s fan club which was based in Valletta. However, a sad decision by Sandra, to call it a day, a few weeks prior to the album` s release, was received by mixed emotions, but injected more determination in the other members to strive on. And strive on they did……. The dream was coming true… Finally, after going through several ups and downs, working hard seemed to do the trick, and spending most of their time locked up in the studio polishing and finalising the end product, paid off. X-tend, released their first album – “Extend”, in December 1985, at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, with the same luscious organisation of the previous event. A legacy left by Mr. Zammit who by now decided to venture into more adventurous territory, dedicating more time to his profession, but not Finally, after going through several ups and downs, working hard seemed to do the trick, and spending most of their time locked up in the studio polishing and finalising the end product, paid off. X-tend, released their first album – “Extend”, in December 1985, at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, with the same luscious organisation of the previous event. A legacy left by Mr. Zammit who by now decided to venture into more adventurous territory, dedicating more time to his profession, but not before launching them on the right path or shall we say track. With songs such as the now popular “I Can Feel”, “Midnight Sun”, “Deadly Dreams” and “Glittering ” which were by now , becoming the fans’ favourites, “Extend” was an instant hit . The album spent several weeks topping the Maltese charts and is still one of the fans’ favourite albums today. March 1986, the band were invited to make a guest appearance in the “Festival tal-Kanzunetta Maltija” with the song “Nightmares”, and the show went down a storm. Early May ‘86, X-tend were invited to Italy, to make a special appearance in “Passaporto per San Remo” at the famous “Ariston”. At this stage Mark Abela (Hertz) was drafted in to play percussions and synths. The band took advantage of the situation and organised a mini tour, which would take them to northern Italy, Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Paris, were they began shooting the video of their next single “Boys of Tomorrow”. The song was released as a double A side record, “Boys of Tomorrow/Nightmares”, in October of that year and again topped the local charts for several weeks. The single was immediately followed by the release of “X –tend on tour”, a compilation of video clips, including some performances of the tour, shot on location in France, Italy and Monaco. The Band was determined to widen their horizon so they turned to experienced Mark Attard to play the piano and keyboards. Spurred by the single’s success, a second album – “Boys of Tomorrow” was launched in January 1987, a year that was to be as fruitful as it was demanding in terms of energy sapping, for the band. Following on the heels of “Boys of tomorrow” they were off to Turkey to participate in the “Mediterranean Song Festival”, after submitting a song “Forsi Ghalik”, the original Maltese version of “Maybe for you”, written by Alfred Borg and Ch. Dalli, and making it to the finals. Barely a week later, X-tend were playing in Frankfurt, Germany, at the “Euro Concert ’87”, doubling also as supporting act for top British band, ‘Wet Wet Wet’. They crowned 1987 with a glorious event, when at the Savoy theatre in Valletta; X-Tend were presented with the best band award in front of the island’s elite in entertainment. The evening was impeccably organized by S P D C. The band started playing with some ideas for their next album. They released the video of “Maybe for You”, shot entirely in the French and Italian Alps and Paris to much of the critics’ acclaim. They were working tirelessly on the new album, “Bits from the Scrapyard”, but the band was not ready to compromise their sound. Eventually the album was released in February 1988. Once more a number of tunes, namely the ballad “Maybe for you”, “Game of love”, “Don’t say no to Rock ‘n’ Roll” and the title track, “Bits from the Scrapyard”, were very popular, as they were being played on national radio. The album was a milestone in the band’s history as it marked the beginning of a change, shifting from the 80’s new wave sound to their more characteristic rock combined with some beautiful harmonies reminiscent of the classic 60’s. X-Tend were creating all this, at a time, when everybody else was doing very little or nothing The album was a milestone in the band’s history as it marked the beginning of a change, shifting from the 80’s new wave sound to their more characteristic rock combined with some beautiful harmonies reminiscent of the classic 60’s. X-Tend were creating all this, at a time, when everybody else was doing very little or nothing in the Maltese music scene. Gigs were rife and it was common practise for the band to make several appearances and shows during a week especially in summer. Following the third album, Mark Attard left the band but a number of experienced session musicians featured in the band’s line up, contributing to a constant musical development, maturing and changing with the times they were living. This all leads to the 1988 release of “Sbieh il-Milied” (Dawn of Christmas) Vol.1, an album which would become a top selling Maltese album , featuring the Christmas classic “Tini Tini Zmien il–Milied”. Apart from the band, special praise goes to Tony Scott and Phyllisienne Brincat who worked really hard alongside Charlie Dalli on the musical and vocal arrangements. Towards the end of the following year, keyboardist Noel, joined the band, who were at the time working on another FIRST! The first ever Maltese band to record an album on CD. Finally released August 1991, “Social Dancing”, featured another face of X –Tend. Full with fresh ideas and hard-hitting lyrics accompanied by punchy sequencers, layered on modern rhythmic beats. Social Dancing topped the Maltese charts for several weeks. Social Dancing was followed immediately within months by arguably the most popular piece of music ever produced by X-Tend. “Sbieh il- Milied” vol.1 and vol.2 was to be the first ever, Maltese speaking double CD in Maltese musical History. Just mention the song “Christmas Father”, and you are talking about a myriad of different generations, such was the popularity of this Christmas album. First in everything… After a 2-year stint on the road, X-tend got together again for their next release – “Let’s Have a Party” – a dance-music based album was released at The Malta Hilton, August 1993. Besides the hit singles “Let’s Have a Party”, “Techno Alphabet”, and the ballad “I Believe in You”, this album broke every previous record chart in Malta, by holding on to the #1 spot for 15 weeks. 1994, the 10th anniversary year, saw the release of “Chapter VIII: Collage”, the band’s fourth album on CD (and obviously the eight overall), recorded at X-tend’s new professional recording studios. The style employed by the band once more was dance-based, mixed with a retro-80’s inspiration as well as operatic and classical elements. It housed tracks like the popular “Everybody Wants to Have Fun”, “Dance Floor”, “Feed the Children of the World”, “The Art of the Common Love”, “Love is Forever” and the ballad “Since I’ve been losing You”. The Album saw the co-operative professional talents of top local artists such as Debbie Scerri, Marie Angie, soprano Joan Cassar, tenor Brian Cefai, and a children’s choir. In the first edition of the Malta Music Awards, the band, together with the album, were nominated for the “Best Sleeve”, “Best Album”, “Best Recording Engineer”, “Best Group”, and “Best Image” awards. In 1996, shortly after the departure of drummer Mark Abela, Chris, founding member and drummer in the original line-up, returned bringing back a new musical vision, and experiences accumulated after years playing across the UK. Once more, the band started working towards a new direction, radically changing styles from the previous albums, and experimented with new arrangements, and eventually adopted a more guitar orientated style, with a hint of psychedelic influence, Brit and Glam Rock. The socio-critical album Powerplay resulted from this change in styles. Powerplay was launched on the 13th of June 1997 at The Victoria Hotel in Sliema. Surrounded by around 400 guests, X- Tend seemed to have hit the big time again. The Evening was enhanced by the viewing of “Powerplay’s” video, directed by the late Mario Ellul, considered a genuine talent by the band. Also X- Tend launched their website, buzzing with interesting facts and music. The response to the whole project was fabulous, all 10 tracks on the album received rave reviews from critics and the general public alike, and ended up with a number of nominations for the 1997 Malta Music Awards. Eventually, the boys realised their dream, going home with the Best Album Trophy, a grand feat, considering that 1996 and 1997 were exceptionally prolific years for Maltese musicians, and X- Tend were in the company of the elite talent on the islands. 1998 was crowned by another “I did it first, sort of thing“ when X- Tend released “Big Boys Don’t Cry” on an interactive C.D. as a double A side single, accompanied by a video of the song, directed by the band, and produced by Chris Cassar, a photo gallery, 1998 was crowned by another “I did it first, sort of thing“ when X- Tend released “Big Boys Don’t Cry” on an interactive C.D. as a double A side single, accompanied by a video of the song, directed by the band, and produced by Chris Cassar, a photo gallery, and a host of other information about the band. The effort was a success, and praised by music critics for the professional innovation exhibited. X- Tend managed to crown an old vision, sharing their work and emotions with everybody. December 1999 saw the release of a much awaited compilation C.D. The Collection 1984 – 1999. The song Millennium Countdown was released from the same album. Similarly to the songs “Waiting for You” and “Mill-Garage”, “Millennium Countdown” was never published on an X- Tend record before. “The Collection” was the Band` s biography in itself. It takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the amazing years of X- Tend`s musical career. You can feel the passion in every recording, the mood in every lyric. Let` s hope “The Collection” is the epitome of things to come, not just the conclusion of something that happened.