He became famous in Philadelphia as part of WMMR's Morning zoo, along with former WLIR co-alumnus Mark "The Shark" Drucker. He was number one in the morning ratings through most of the 1980s and was a popular figure in the city of Philadelphia before being overtaken by "The Howard Stern Show". After WMMR dropped DeBella, Stern made sure he worked at exactly the same station he did. Every year he would host the "DeBella DeBall," which was held on December 7, the date was emphasized in promos with Franklin Delano Roosevelt saying "a date which will live in infamy.". DeBella's favorite musician was Peter Gabriel and he enjoyed discussing Gabriel's many hits on the air. Throughout the mid 1980s, DeBella did on-air promos for the morning and afternoon cartoon blocks on WTAF Channel 29.