Francisco Flamenque was born in Farcelona Spain. He is most
often referred to as the greatest Latin dancer that has ever
lived. But not only was he a great dancer, he was also an
excellent musician. He "tinkered" around with a variety of
musical instruments but his favorite instrument was the
maraca. He had even collected maracas from a number of
different countries throughout the world.
Francisco one day got the "brilliant" idea to perform at local
train stations. He just thought that he should perform anywhere
at which great numbers of people might be found. Then he got
the idea to perform on the trains themselves and went on to
entertain many an unsuspecting traveler. In those earlier days,
he was just a dancer. But things would soon change for him
after purchasing his first pair of maracas.
Francisco, in fact, began touring the world not long after
buying his first pair of maracas. He had just become more
confident since he had finally found something more to shake
than just his booty. Soon, with his special blend of Latin
dance and percussion, he was ready to conquer the world. He
released an album in 1989 called I'll shake it just for you.
Millions of teenagers throughout the world were shaking their
booties to a Latin beat. Maraca sales also skyrocketed, he was
an instant hit.
Unfortunately, the whole Maraca
craze fizzed out, dragging down his popularity with it. He went
from packing stadiums to playing airport lounges. Then, even
that fizzed out. Francisco was eventually forced to pawn his
extensive maraca collection. He was even reduced to living on
the streets of Dover, New Jersey. Actually, he was living in a
cardboard box beneath a bridge, near the local sweatshops, where
he begged the local factory workers for part of their lunches.
If they refused, he would hit them on the head with his only
remaining maraca, grab the food and hastily run away to eat the
ill-gotten meal.
They say that, sometimes at
night, as the train passes on it's way towards or from the Dover
train station, you can hear the haunting sound of someone
playing a lone maraca to the beat of the passing train. Then a
maniacal laugh, shrieking in the night.
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