On Easter Sunday in 1996, I was welcoming friends old and new to “Rock 104 RockTrax with Doug Morris.” Along the way, I reunited with some great colleagues—including Stephen St. James, whom we all dearly miss.
The buzz was starting to catch on. “Wait, what?” “That guy from the other station’s Sunday show crossed the street?” As I recall, the buzz really grew in the weeks that followed.
Part of me was a nervous wreck. Day-one jitters, after all. One of my main objectives that day was to play “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly, just to buy 17 minutes of time to quell my nerves. Still, I remember leaving that maiden voyage with a splitting headache.
I was relatively certain we could make some magic happen. At the time, never did I ever think three decades of magic, though.
After all, 1995 had been an interesting year. It was 104.5FM’s first year back after about a one-year absence. (I was reminded just this week that the current incarnation of Rock 104 has outlasted all forms of the original WHSY 104.5FM by at least three years; the original WHSY started in 1967 and signed off in 1994; Rock 104’s still going having celebrated its 31st year 4/1/2027!) My show at “the other place,” to use Charles Huff’s terminology, was still going strong, but the rest of the station that year was another story.
I still remember many of you calling “the other place” during 1995 to tell me privately that you were supporting my Sunday show until I clocked out. At that moment, you would switch back to Rock 104 and stay there until my next Sunday show. Did I understand? Of course. The listening audience is the final judge, jury, and executioner, after all.
Good friends essentially told me the same thing. Respect was slowly developing, but I wasn’t quite sure Rock 104 would have staying power. Looking back, was it stubbornness? It must have been. The reality was that full-time classic rock stations just weren’t working on local radio from the time I arrived in 1992 until Rock 104 signed on in 1995. In the summer of ’92, I had just learned that one incarnation of Y-104 changed from rock to an adult contemporary Mix 104. Or was it? Sometimes Mix didn’t stay in the AC lane, and competitors called it “Mixed Up 104.”
In any event, Rock 104 must have learned from the mistakes of other rock stations. They clicked on all cylinders and, to say the least, the results showed. I forget who said it, but someone told me as I leaving “the other place,” “Oh, so you’re the guy who prevented us from having a perfect debut.” Pardon the lack of modesty, but there’s truth in that.
After that Easter Sunday in ’96, “RockTrax” was finding its footing and its place in the Pine Belt. Specialized segments followed, including NewsNotes, the Almanac, fun contests, and even a recurring “Run with the Pack” when a certain former Southern Miss quarterback was leading Green Bay on playoff runs.
Along the way, we’ve reported on triumphs, like Bret Michaels overcoming all sorts of obstacles to win a season of “Celebrity Apprentice,” and tragedies, like losing another Beatle, George Harrison.
But through it all, it’s always been about the music. And that’s exactly what it will be about on Easter Sunday 2026, when we mark three decades of “Rock 104 RockTrax.”