Luambo Makiadi Franco Remembered

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I could not resist publishing this here. Aggrey Mukasa, a Mwiri OB of mine sent it to one of our online networks, and I thought it befitting to run it here again for wider audience. Aggrey, thank you very much. Stephen Kaduuli and John Nandigobe, mpige miziki mizito!

It is 20 years, yesterday that Luambo Luanzo Makiadi popularly known as Franco, the Father of Rhumba, passed away at a tender age of 51, right in the prime of his illustrious musical career. This career actually started way back in the late 40s, hence spun over a period of 30 or so years. I remember that Franco’s music ruled the world when  we were youngsters with the likes of Ngai Marie Nzoto Ebaba, Gare a Toi Marie (in the 60s), Mado, Cedou ( in the 70s), Pesa Ngai Position, Arzoni, Suite Lettre, Tres Mpoli, Farceur, Mamou and of course the famous Mario (the 80s). For your information Franco, ‘Le Grand Maitre’ or the Great Teacher released over 1,000 songs and over 150 albums – quite an earful!

Some interesting facts that I recently came across which I never knew include the following:

·         Franco never liked school and hence dropped out early. He was therefore not that highly educated for a man of such great achievements

·         He ran his band the T.P. O.K. Jazz with great professionalism which made it dominate the music scene in the region at that time. Up to now, very few musicians can lay claim to this type of fame

·         He trained many musicians in his band who went on to be successful in their own right – e.g. Simaro, Josky Kiambukuta, the late Pepe Kale, Sam Manguana etc

·         He had a love hate relationship with the then President Mobutu Seseko Wazabanga, for whom he sang many songs of praise, e.g. Oh….Zaire, when the latter decided to change the name of the country from Congo Kinshasa to Zaire . He was also thrown in prison for singing songs that were interpreted as critical or too lurid

·         Franco got married in 1958, but never had children for 8 years. It was initially rumoured that he had sacrificed his manhood for the sake of wealth. However he later on went ahead to have 19 children. The amazing fact is that he had a whopping 18 daughters and only 1 son! The song Matata ya Mwasi was sang questioning God why he only gave him one son and so many daughters!

·         Franco was a ladies’ man. This was probably the reason it is suspected he died of AIDS. His last song was warning to us about the disease.

·         Franco’s music is still popular in several African countries such as Nigeria , Cameroon , Malawi , Ivory Coast , not to mention East Africa , with both the young and old as his fans

N.B. The BBC has been featuring a series on Franco both on the Swahili service and on the Africa Service. For the IT savvy chaps, there is podcast of the latest African Perspective you can download and listen