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. |