Where Are They Now?

   
Ruben Fabello

I met Ruben Fabello in 1954, there he was, playing the Spanish hits of the day. Ruben sat in an air conditioned studio, that made an impression on me. We did not have air conditioning in our West Tampa home, we didn’t have much. Fabello was taking request calls from women on the phone, I liked that aspect. That did it, I was going to be a Disc Jockey, that’s what we called announcers then.

Ruben Fabello worked at a number of Spanish music radio stations including WSOL in that era from the late 40s to the early 60s. Fabello was the Mac Daddy of Latin entertainment, producing local variety shows at the Royal Theatre on Howard Ave. “Fiesta En Tampa” introduced many local acts like the Arena Twins, Jack Espinosa, Gus Quintero, Elpedio Bazo and Mary Cintra to the Tampa Hispanic market.

Fabello would take traveling shows to Havana, to entertain the islanders and tourists. He would feature some great acts and his shows were regularly sold out at the local Tampa venues.

Ruben paved the way for future Latin DJs like Woody Garcia, who had started out at Anglo radio stations. Later came Gus Quintero, “Puly” Sequeira, Mario Quevedo, and a host of others They owe their careers in part, as do I, to Ruben.






Copyright © 2002 By TEDD WEBB • All Rights Reserved