Radhames Aracena

Radhames Aracena died on December 11, 1999, at the age of 69, and his Radio Guarachita was closed after its heirs sold it to Dominican businessman Juan Lopez. When a person in the Dominican Republic turns the dial to 690 AM, they tune into Disney’s ESPN radio.

After Trujillo’s assassination in 1961, Radhames purchased recording equipment and licenses to launch a new radio station, and in 1964 he created Radio Guarachita. Radhames, along with DJs Cuco Valoy (who later became an internationally famous salsa and merengue singer) on Radio Tropical, and Jose Tabar Asilis (popularly known as Charlie-Charlie) on La Voz del Tropico, was amongst the first to give bachata any air time.

When he was in his early 20s, Radhames Aracena was already making a name for himself as a popular radio personality. By 1955, while still working as a radio host, Radhames opened a record store called Discos La Guarachita (diminutive of guaracha, a popular type of Cuban music) near one of the most popular streets of Santo Domingo. He had been able to get local distribution rights for Pedro Infante’s Mexican record company, Peerless, as well as some other Latin American record labels such as Panamerica de Discos, which controlled the catalog of the famous bolero singer Lucho Gatica. A few years later, he got distribution rights for RCA and CBS.

Radhames Aracena (13 May 1930 – 11 December 1999), was a Dominican radio host, music producer and businessman who helped change the musical landscape of the Caribbean island during and after Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Aracena was able to bring the traditional Dominican bachata from the brothels and saloons to every radio set in the country. Aracena created Radio Guarachita, one of the first radio stations to cater to bachata music, and subsequently began recording, producing and promoting bachata artists.