Vinicio Franco — Vinicio Antonio Franco Rodríguez, born in Puerto Plata on 14 September 1933, died in Santo Domingo on 19 December 2020 — was a Dominican merengue singer, known as «Mambo» and as the Prince of Merengue. His 1957 recording of «Apágame la vela», by Bienvenido Brens, made his name; he went on to sing lead for the «Super Orquesta San José», for the «Combo Show» of Johnny Ventura and, for decades, for the orchestra of Rafael Solano, and left a repertoire of more than 450 recorded songs.

Nightclubs of Ciudad Trujillo

Like most popular singers of his generation, he learned the trade in the dance halls on the edges of the capital, then called Ciudad Trujillo, where club owners hired the best bands and singers to play every night; Joseíto Mateo and Francis Santana came through the same circuit. Franco began in 1952 at one of them, the «Recreo de Turismo». He was also a musician in his own right — a percussionist, pianist and a skilled güira player — and sang boleros and salsa as well as merengue.

«Apágame la vela»

His first record came in 1957, with the orchestra of Antonio Morel, for the «Guarachita» label of Radhamés Aracena: «Apágame la vela», by Bienvenido Brens, backed with the salve «Oye nena», by Alexis Camilo Morel. Both caught on, and «Apágame la vela» became the song most tied to his name, recorded again by groups across the continent in the decades that followed.

«La Voz Dominicana» and the «Combo Show»

When Joseíto Mateo left the «Super Orquesta San José», the house band of «La Voz Dominicana» directed by Papa Molina, Franco took over as its lead singer, appearing with it on television; in 1963 Johnny Ventura joined as a singer and güira player alongside him. He later sang in Johnny Ventura’s «Combo Show», and is on its recording of «Ah, yo no sé, no», by Johnny Ventura and Mundito Espinal, one of the records that earned the band its first gold disc. He also sang with the orchestra of Félix del Rosario.

Thirty-six years with Solano

Most of his career was spent in the orchestra of Rafael Solano, a close friend, with which he toured the country and abroad and recorded for «Kubaney». From 1971 he shared the vocals there with Rico López, and their version of Félix López’s «Siña Juanica», sung with Armando Beltré, was one of the orchestra’s hits. He also recorded merengues for the New York label «Ansonia», led his own group through a long residency at the Casa de Campo resort in La Romana, and performed in Venezuela, Curaçao, Colombia, Argentina, New York and Miami. Among the albums under his own name are «Merengues» (1960), «La salsa de Vinicio Franco» (1970), «El príncipe del merengue» (1970) and «Mangulinas» (1972).

Legacy

Vinicio Franco’s career spans the orchestras that carried merengue from the Trujillo era into the seventies, and he shared stages with Joseíto Mateo, Francis Santana and Alberto Beltrán. He died in Santo Domingo on 19 December 2020, at eighty-seven, after almost seven decades on stage. «Apágame la vela», «Oye nena», «Siña Juanica» and «Los algodones» remain the songs through which he is remembered.