Kinito Méndez
Kinito Méndez (born 1961) is a merengue music star.
In Mendez was responsible for the 1997 song "Flight 587,"[1] which pays tribute to American Airlines Flight 587, an early morning departure flight from New York City to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[2] Mendez partially wrote the lyrics, and he and Johnny Ventura sung the song, which was one of the songs in "Merenboom, Vol. 2."[1] Méndez himself had been a passenger on the flight. The song was later re-released as "The Plane,"[2] or "El Avion" in Spanish. Méndez said that originally the song was intended to be about happiness while traveling to the Dominican Republic for the holidays.[1] The aircraft on the flight crashed in 2001.[3] Papi LaFontaine, who once served as Méndez's manager, died in the 2001 accident flight.[3] Méndez said that he was considering writing a new song about the flight, "[b]ut it would be a slower song in tribute to all those who died."[1]
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Discography [edit]
- El Hombre Merengue (1995)
- El Decreto de Kinito Méndez (1997)
- A Caballo... (1998)
- Su Amigo (1999)
- D'Colores (2000)
- A Palo Limpio (2001)
- Sigo Siendo el Hombre Merengue (2002)
- Celebra Conmigo (2004)
- Con Sabor a Mi (2006)
- La Fábrica (2008)
Compilations [edit]
- Cachamba 96: The Unreleased Versions (1996)
- Los Éxitos de Kinito Méndez (1997)
- Solo Éxitos (1998)
- 20th Anniversary (1999)
- 12 Éxitos (2001)
- 20 Éxitos (2002)
- Éxitos de Kinito Méndez (2005)
- Vida (2009)
- Santo Merengue (2010)
Videography [edit]
- A Caballo... (1999)
- Ayer y Hoy (2005)
Web [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d Dominguez, Robert. "Joyful Song's Tragic Tug." New York Daily News. Wednesday November 14, 2001. Retrieved on November 11, 2011. "Mendez wrote "El Avion (The Airplane)" in 1997 as a Christmas song about the joy of flying home to the Dominican Republic for the holidays. Performed by Mendez and fellow merengue star Johnny Ventura, "El Avion" appeared on "Merenboom, Vol. 2," a holiday album featuring several merengue acts."
- ^ a b Kugel, Seth. "Now Boarding, Dreams." The New York Times. November 18, 2001. 2. Retrieved on November 11, 2011. "'Since everyone knows one other, from the beginning people start talking and talking,' said Kinito Méndez, the popular merengue singer who had made the trip so often he featured it in his and Johnny Ventura's song Flight 587, later released as The Plane.'" and "'The guy next to you says, 'Hey, we'll see each other there, we'll go buy some whiskey, a bottle of rum,' added Mr. Méndez, whose former manager, Papi LaFontaine, died in Monday's crash."
- ^ a b Smith, Patrick. "Don't blame the pilot for the crash of Flight 587. The truth is much more complicated." Salon.com. November 5, 2004. Retrieved on November 11, 2011. "In 1996, long before the accident, a merengue star named Kinito Mendez paid a sadly foreboding tribute with his song “El Avion.” “How joyful it could be to go on Flight 587,” sang Mendez, immortalizing the popular daily nonstop."
