Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Leon.
Hi Daniel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
First and foremost, I want to thank you for having me on your platform. I really appreciate you reaching out. My name is Daniel Leon, I host a weekly 2-hour oldie radio show called, The Tio Danny Oldie Radio Show. I chose that name because in New York, there’s an oldie DJ who goes by the name Cousin Brucie- so I thought, if there’s a cousin doing an oldie show- I’ll be the tio with an oldie show. I’ve been working on my show for over 5 years now. I play old blues, doo-wops, and classic soul; it’s music I like to call: “Old but Gold, Candy for Your Ears.” I started at a low-powered station. It was a good spot for me to get my feet wet and learn the in ‘n outs of radio: station ID, FCC rules and regulations, just radio etiquette in general. I don’t want to burn any bridges, which is why I won’t mention the radio station; I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity they first gave me to get on radio. I just feel my show outgrew that little low-powered station. They had an open call to the community for anyone with a show idea to come down to the station and tell them your idea. If they like it- one of the stations managers would work with you and teach you what you need to know to be air-ready. There were about 25-30 people at that first meeting, and I was lucky enough to be one of the people that they liked my show idea. Scott Kerr, Rest in Peace, was a station manager who really liked my show idea. He worked with me almost daily for 3-4 weeks. Working together he got to see my love and knowledge of the music. So, when I went in there, I originally planned on doing a request/dedications show, something along the lines of Art Laboe. I wanted to get into radio ever since I was in high school. I just never really pursued it, but I always envisioned myself doing a request/dedication format, but Scott convinced me to switch it up and make my show more about the history of the music. He would tell me 8 out of 10 oldie DJs do the same format. Doing it this way will make your show different from the rest. Every time after we would meet up, he would tell me, “I believe in your show.” Those are words I needed to hear because I wasn’t confident with what I was doing. I’ve since got picked up by a different station in town. My show also now is on Power 92 DB out of San Bernadino. I’ve gotten interest from stations in Australia, UK, and a few other stations throughout the country. My goal is syndication. Either state-wide, regionally, nationally, or global. I know that it’s no easy task so I’m bracing down for the long haul. But other stations are contacting me now, so I know I’m doing something right. One thing I take pride in is that all the music I play on my show is from my own personal collection. I’ve never played any music from YouTube or anywhere else from the internet. Before I did this interview, just out of curiosity, I counted up really quick how many songs I have in my collection, and my rough estimate is just under 60,000. I still remember the very first cassette I bought that started my collection- East Side Story, Volume #9, that was in the early 1990’s.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth? Not at all. My first station where I stated out at had old equipment that I never knew if the equipment was going to work or not. But even before I got into radio, I had a stroke twelve years ago, the stroke affected the right side of my body. That’s why on my show I go by “The Chueco Tio” (The Crooked Uncle). Having the use of 2 hands would have definitely helped me with fade-ins, fade-outs, setting up my voice over the music bed. Things like that. So now, I record my show at home, and that works a whole lot better because I can work on my show at my pace and not stress over popping in a CD, finding the correct track number, setting the volume correctly, either for the music, my voice, music bed, etc. all with one hand. It was all a little overwhelming.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What I get the most feedback on from listeners is that they love the history aspect of the music. I would say about 90% of the songs that I play, I drop a short sentence or two, tidbit about the song, group, record label, etc. People really seem to enjoy it. Just like I mentioned earlier, I really think it’s the music history that sets my show apart from others. I’ve traveled to Detroit to tour the Motown Museum; I visited The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the two popular studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Muscle Shoals Sound and Fame, I visited. I was lucky enough to do the Blues tour through Mississippi. Visited the National Museum of African American Music and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. The National Blues Museum in St. Louis. Then there’s the magical city of Memphis. I love that city. That city is so rich in the music scene, everything from STAX, Sun, Beale Street, the Memphis Blues Museum plus Memphis has plenty of music museums. I’ve been there twice in the last 5 years and still haven’t had enough time to see everything I want to see. I travel to these places for material for my show. Next year, I’m planning a trip to Philadelphia to check out their Music Walk of Fame. I also want to stop by Manhattan, New York, to see the Brill Building. The Brill Building is a famous building in music history because it’s where a lot of doo-wop groups in the 1950s would go to get signed. They’d hold auditions right then and there. I just hope they have the building open to the public and I’m able to walk those same halls where so many got their start.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Scott Kerr, he is the first one to truly believe in what I was doing, even before me. He passed away in November 2020. I still have an old text he sent me on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 5:05 p.m. where he said, “Your show is amazing.” That’s why I keep going and trying to make my show the very best that I can. I also want to thank everyone who listens, has listened, or now wants to listen after checking out this interview.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: tiodannyoldies
- Facebook: tiodannyoldies
- Twitter: tiodannyoldies
