De Leon caught his big break when he got the attention of Martin Rosales in 1955.
"At that time, Martin Rosales started working at KGBT as the program director, and he heard about my dad," Juan De Leon, his son, said. "The (KRGV) show (that De Leon was hosting) was getting a bit popular so he offered my dad a show at KGBT and my dad took it at 4 o’clock in the morning. That’s where Martin coined the name ‘El Gallito Madrugador’ (The Early Morning Roster)."
De Leon had a long career in radio broadcasting, spanning from the 1940’s to the late 1980’s. He not only worked at KRGV (Weslaco) and KGBT (Harlingen), but also found work at KXEX (Fresno, California), KIRT (Mission), KSOX (Raymondville) and KIWW (McAllen).
I met De Leon once at the San Juan Nursing Home, thanks to Lupe Saenz. Saenz also provided me with this video he shot and edited. QEPD, he will be missed.
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