e had a small warm voice, within an alto-tenor range, as it was common then, plus a feature that made his voice unmistakable: his vibrato, which he was unable to avoid, at least in his early years of heavy recording work. Later, with a greater experience he disguised his vibrato excess and he was showcased in the United States and with the Julio De Caro orchestra between the years 1943 and 1944.

His first recording was for Juan Bautista Guido´s orchestra, in December 1927. Later he worked with Ricardo Luis Brignolo, Pedro Maffia, Antonio Bonavena, Osvaldo Fresedo, Edgardo Donato, Roberto Firpo, but he was essentially the refrain singer for Juan Maglio, recording around 150 renditions.

He was an indefatigable traveler, he made numerous tours throughout Latin America, especially Brazil, and the United States, until he finally joined the Julio De Caro orchestra. With this aggregation he released five recordings, two of them in a duet with Héctor Farrel.
His true name was Miguel Rice Treacy, he belonged to an Irish family. He was born in Buenos Aires on April 15, 1903. His perfect command of the English language helped him to get a job at the railroad company —then run by British capitals—, and later in his artistic performances in the United States.

He was member with a group of friends, of a carnival street band led by, the later famous lyricist, Enrique Dizeo. His figure, his good-looking image and his way of dressing made possible his participation as mannequin vivant, by that time a fashionable job, at the main shop windows and on the downtown streets. His definitive artistic last name was born without that final “t”.

He was featured lead actor and singer in theater plays with the companies led by Elías Alippi, Marcelo Ruggero and others. He performed in a couple of movies that were not even released due to their lack of level. Another attempt, nearly a failure, was Noches cariocas shot in Rio de Janeiro in 1935 under the direction of Enrique Cadícamo.

His image is occasionally recovered on television when he appears on some of the movies that starred Luis Sandrini, for example, Un bebé de contrabando and as well on a scene of the live program conducted by the journalist Blackie, in which Pepe Peña (a sports commentator) plays the piano and Carlos Viván can be seen singing on a movie excerpt.

Besides being a vocalist, he was an interesting composer of widespread tangos: “Hacelo por la vieja”, “Cómo se pianta la vida”, “Moneda de cobre”, “Domani”, “Viviane de París”, “Se va el tren”, “Palomita mía”, “Amiga”, “Nuestra noche”, “El barco María”, “Dolor de tango”, “Milonga para Gardel”, “Triste mariposa”, among others less known.

As it was already said he worked several years as crooner and singer in the United States. That is evidenced through some recordings made by the Terig Tucci orchestra, among which “Lobo” outstands, a tango written by Ciriaco Ortiz and Luis Rubistein recorded on April 20, 1937.

In his late years in Buenos Aires, to earn his living, he sang nightly at venues imitating the jazz singer Al Jolson.

In 1955, he suffered a stroke from which he managed to recover. Those who frequented him were Juan D'Arienzo, José Razzano, Yaraví, Aníbal Troilo, Edmundo Rivero and also many of his passing girlfriends.

Even though he had a brief experience in marriage, he was a stubborn bachelor; the female singer Aída Denis was one of his love affairs.

He was a whisky heavy drinker, fond of women, he liked to eat well and, like any good tango lover, he had a devotion for his mother, whose demise caused a long period of depression in him.

He is remembered as a gentleman, respectful of friendship and loyalty towards his friends, that revered and honored women and had a great sense of humor.

In his later years he was helped by his friends, some of them were important officials in SADAIC (Sociedad Argentina de Autores y Compositores) (Argentine Society of Authors and Composers), that backed him up financially and when he was depressed. Among all of them Santiago Adamini stood out, the inspired author of “Trasnochando” and “A las siete en el café”.

He passed away at the British Hospital (Hospital Británico) in Buenos Aires.