that album, Santiago joined Tommy Olivencia's group for about a year and recorded tracks destined to appear on Olivencia's album "Sweat Trumpet Hot "Salsa"". During the recording sessions Olivencia found out that Santiago was still under contract with his previous label and had Simón Pérez re–record Santiago's vocals. Three tracks from those sessions with Santiago's vocals, "Que Dichoso Es", "La Pela" & "Del Montón", later appeared on Santiago's compilation "15 Éxitos De Marvin Santiago" released by TH Records in 1984. Famous arranger and producer Jorge Millet knew Santiago well and their friendship could be traced back to the late 1960s when they met while both lived in the city of Chicago. Millet was aware of Santiago's potential and as a friend wanted to lend him a helping hand by giving him the opportunity to record as a solo artist. As producer and talent scout for TH Records, Millet was able to provide the arrangements, musicians and artwork for Santiago's debut album with the label. The album, "Fuego A La Jicotea", was released in 1979. The album was very successful and considered a classic for many music fans. The album's title track, written by Cortijo, was a major hit in Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The song was a thinly-veiled ode to marijuana. Santiago's remake of a song from his days in Cortijo, "Vasos En Colores", was also a major hit from the album and remained in his live repertoire throughout his career. Other hits from the album were "La Picúa", a veiled homage to the female anatomy, and "El Mangoneo" (a Mozambique very much in the style of Cortijo's "Sorongo"). Santiago's follow-up album, "Caliente Y Explosivo", released in 1980, was another success. It also had Millet as arranger, piano player and musical director. Millet also designed the cover art for this album. The album contained the hits "Al Son De La Lata Baila El Chorizo" (Originally played by Ismael Rivera when he was part of Cortijo Y Su Combo), "El Tiburón De Agua Dulce" (Written by Millet and the longest studio track Santiago ever recorded at just over seven minutes with an amazing piano solo by Millet), "La Buruquena De Doña Inés" & "Esta Noche Sale El Lobo". Many of the songs in Santiago's solo albums were fast-paced, full of intensity and laden with humor and double entendres. Santiago was a master improviser that used "soneos" (rhyming verses common to Salsa