If you were a weather nerd in the early 70s, getting your meteorological fix was not easy. You just had to know where to go for the latest and most accurate information.
One of the greatest sources for weather information was Joe Rumore on WVOK. He had a show weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. By the 70s, his show was broadcast from his basement at home. He had a NOAA Weather Wire and probably a news wire service teletype right there and was always on top of breaking weather situations, be they snow, floods or tornadoes. In fact, you could hear the teletype machines in the background, clacking away furiously, with bells ringing when there were bulletins.
Nobody did a better job of giving you the weather information straight than Joe Rumore.
Joe was a star of Alabama radio for over 40 years during the Golden Days of Birmingham radio. He started out on WAPI, but moved to the Mighty 690 WVOK. According to a wonderful website put on by Joe’s son Phillip, a survey of 500,000 Alabamians indicated that 361,000 were regular listeners to Joe’s show.
You felt like Joe was talking directly to you through the microphone. According to a wonderful website put on by Joe’s son Phillip, a survey of 500,000 Alabamians indicated that 361,000 were regular listeners to Joe’s show. So it was you and half million of Joe’s friends.
Some of the sponsors that Joe made famous included White Lily Flour (for fluffy white biscuits,) Golden Eagle Table Syrup from Fayette, Alabama for soppin’ those biscuits. (the Pride of Alabam.) And SanAnn Gas.
Here is a link to the Official Joe Rumore website. You can hear audioclips here. If you join the Joe Rumore Fan Club, you can hear other clips.
