Early Life
Gabilondo was born in the city of Orizaba, Veracruz. During his childhood he read the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, as well as the adventure stories of such writers as Jules Verne and Emilio Salgari. He also taught himself to play the pianola. In 1928, he entered the National Observatory of Mexico to study astronomy but, unfortunately, his studies were cut short by a lack of resources. Before dedicating himself to music full-time, he practiced boxing, bullfighting and swimming. He also worked for a time as a linotypist.
When he was 25 years old, he began performing as a professional musician, interpreting humorous subjects of his inspiration. At first he played in public bath houses. He entered the new radio field to become one of the main figures in the "Golden Age of Mexican Radio," beginning with humorous and social criticism programs, using the sobriquet El Guasón del Teclado (The Joker of the Keyboard). He used the experiences of his childhood to write some children's songs, and on October 15, 1934, he appeared, for the first time, on Radio Station XEW in Mexico City, singing many of the songs he had previously written. This marked the first performance in his persona as 'Cri-Cri'. The first songs to be played were "El ratón vaquero," "Los mosquitos trompeteros," "Negrito Sandía," "Cucurumbé" and "La Muñeca fea.".
Between 1941 and 1944 he served in the Mexican merchant marine travelling around South America. He returned to Radio Station XEW in 1944 and continued his shows there for the next 28 years. He retired in 1962
Despite never finishing his astronomical studies, he maintained a lifelong passion for the field, being inducted into the Sociedad Astronómica de México (Astronomical Society of Mexico) and having an observatory built in Tultepec. A film about his life was made in 1963 called Cri-Cri, el grillito cantor starring Ignacio López Tarso and Marga López.
In 1984, he was honored in a special ceremony dedicated to him, where he was just accompanied by the piano. Francisco Gabilondo Soler “The Singing Cricket”, died on December 14, 1990, of cardiac disease, at the age of 83 years.
Read more about this topic: Francisco Gabilondo Soler
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