103.5, The Blaze! (WWBZ-FM) officially came onto the air in April of 1991, playing bands like Motley Crue, Slaughter, Warrant, The Who, Ozzy, Pink Floyd, Skid Row, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Van Halen, Rush, Scorpions, and Judas Priest. Bands like Nirvana, Metallica, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Tool, etc, etc were added eventually to their playlists. As "glam metal" fell out of fashion, the station was rebranded as Rock 1035 (WRCX-FM) in 1994. In late June, "The Blaze" went jockless and started as a "stunting" format. The format has typical "Blaze" tunes, as well as pretty much anything else mixed up. Country, pop, dance, whatever. There were the recorded mandatory station IDs, as well as a recorded "re-evaluate everything" a few cheap shots at other Chicago radio station, with a phone number to call, and a "countdown". On Friday, July 1, at noon, The Blaze officially became Rock 103.5. There were some similar artists, played on both stations, but the early Rock 103.5 playlist has a lot of emphasis on artists like Peter Gabriel, The Eagles, Talking Heads, Tom Petty, etc, etc. As the months and years went by a lot of heavier artists started to be added like deeper Metallica cuts, pretty much any new or old Megadeth single, and pretty much anything on saturday nights during "Radio Anarchy". Rock 103.5 remained jockless for a few weeks, but the initial lineup was Mancow, Jo Robinson, Terry Gibson, Ned Spindle, and Scott Loftus. In October of 1998, Rock 103.5 was killed in favor of a "Jamming Oldies" format.
IMO, Rock 103.5 was the best Rock Station Chicago had. Thank you to everyone who worked at the station who made it as great as it was!!!