Franco

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Franco was the stage name of François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi, a Congolese guitarist, singer and bandleader. He was born in 1938 in Sona-Bata and grew up in Kinshasa. As a teenager he was taught by older musicians and played for the label Loningisa. There, in 1954, the producer Henri Bowane gave him the name Franco. In 1956 he founded OK Jazz together with others, the band he would later lead for many years.

Music and breakthrough

In 1971 the band was renamed TPOK Jazz, the Tout-Puissant Orchestre Kinois de Jazz. In its day it was the most popular and influential band in Africa. Franco played Congolese rumba, with a flowing rhythm and a style of guitar playing all his own. He plucked the strings with thumb and index finger and gave the sebene, the lively guitar section, a place at the end of the song. That approach formed the basis of the so-called OK Jazz School. His early recordings from the 1950s, such as Joséphine Naboyi Ye, made Congolese rumba known across a large part of Africa.

Influence

Franco sang about love, marriage, rivalry and politics. In the 1970s he came close to the regime of President Mobutu and wrote songs in honour of its policies. In the 1980s the band remained productive, even when many members moved to Europe, with tracks such as Mamou and Mario. He died in Belgium in 1989. Note: in a text about album covers, School of Rock mentions the Spain of the dictator Franco, a different man. This page is about the Congolese musician.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 197620ème Anniversaire / 6 Juin 1956 - 6 Juin 1976
• 1976Ebale Ya Zaïre (1974 / 1975 / 1976)
• 1982Disque d'Or et Maracas d'Or 1982
• 1982Se Déchaînent
• 1985Franco Et Le T.P. OK Jazz Presents Madilu System
• 1985Mario
• 1985Mario 2
• 1986Le Grand Maitre Franco et son Tout Puissant O.K. Jazz et Jolie Detta
• 1987Animation Non Stop
• 1988Franco joue avec Sam Mangwana
• 198920ème Anniversaire 6 Juin 1956 - 6 Juin 1976, Volume 2
• 1989For Ever
• 1989Franco et le tout puissant o.k. jazz
• 1990Originalité
• 1991Omona Wapi
• 1995En Colere, 1979 - 1980 ( Volume 2)
• 2006Le folklore de chez nous
• ?Likambo Ya Ngana

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Magazine: The Album Cover Is Invented^NL Magazine

Mentioned in other articles

• Congolese rumba and soukous GenreIn 1960 Le Grand Kallé wrote Indépendance Cha Cha, the song of independence, and Franco led OK Jazz for decades.

See also

• Congolese rumba and soukous