Franchino was an Italian disc jockey and vocalist born Francesco Principato on 17 February 1953 in Caronia Sicily. He began his career as a disc jockey in 1970 at the Seven Eleven club in Montelupo Fiorentino, and later worked at Marciana Marina. Until 1987, he spent his winters in Brazil performing with a blues group in Arraial d'Ajuda. After visiting Ibiza in the late 1980s, he focused on live vocal performance and collaborated with DJ MIKI at the Club 64 in Portoferraio. In 1992, he began using sampled voices and sound effects during his performances at the Tartana in Follonica. Franchino collaborated with DJs including Francesco Farfa, Mario Più, Ricky Le Roy, Sandro Vibot, and Alex Neri. He released the single “Escandalo Total” (1993) on Interactive Test and the single “A Night in Tirrenia” (1994) on Holy Moly Music. He performed at clubs including Imperiale, Insomnia, and Jaiss and was a member of the Metempsicosi collective. His later studio albums included C'era una volta (2022) and La macchina del tempo (2023). Franchino died on 19 May 2024 in Milan following complications from a heart attack.
