![]() ![]() Looney Bird shares Billy Bob's stage, as they are close friends. Sweet and naive, Billy Bob was usually a mediator to the band's minor on-stage squabbles. Preceded by Billy Wilbur from the Hard Luck Bears and Bear Country Jubilee. ![]() He was the mascot for ShowBiz Pizza Place throughout its existence, and his image was on most of the chain's merchandise. A brown bear from Tennessee who wore yellow and red overalls and played a wooden bass. Fechter also implemented computer programming that permitted some of the characters to move in rhythm with music. The latex masks fit over movable parts on the characters' faces, permitting a range of facial expressions, including smiling and the raising of eyebrows. Fechter also implemented latex masks for the characters' faces, as opposed to the rubber and Styrofoam masks common in other animatronics. Unlike other animatronic shows of the early 1980s, the Rock-afire Explosion was life-sized, with most of the performers about the size of an average adult human. Later, as ShowBiz Pizza Place took over programming, they used Songcode, a system inherited from their acquisition of Pizza Time Theatre, until APS (see above) became their standard programming system. Almost all Rock-afire shows were produced completely in-house, with Creative Engineering employees not only manufacturing the characters, but also writing and performing their songs and skits. Production of the show's programming and audio was done in-house by Creative Engineering, Inc. Cyberstar, a new controller designed by Bill Synhorst of Triad Productions, was implemented to add video playback capability, eliminating the need for the Pianocorder playback board and communicating directly with the existing driver boards.Ī child uses a microphone to speak with Billy Bob at the ShowBiz Pizza location in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Eventually, as technology evolved and Showbiz became involved in programming, they switched to a new programming system, APS (Animation Programming System), designed by Dave Philipsen. During the days when Showbiz was uninvolved in programming, the circuitry of the RAE was purchased by Creative Engineering from Superscope, the makers of Pianocorder. The data tracks are encoded using Biphase mark code produced during the programming process by two Apple IIe computers. The Rock-afire Explosion uses four recorded tracks, two for audio and two for data. Cheese marketing director Jul Kamen credited Rock-afire with being largely responsible for Showbiz's success. At the end of the show's tenure, Chuck E. The life-sized characters were capable of facial expression, and some could even play simple melodies on musical instruments. The show was pioneering, in many respects, to other animatronics shows of the early 1980s. The Rock-afire Explosion show was sold to other restaurants and entertainment centers such as Circus Pizza, Pistol Pete's Pizza, and Billy Bob's Wonderland. When ShowBiz Pizza rebranded in 1992, the band was replaced by Chuck E. In addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter provided several of the characters' voices. The show was designed and manufactured by inventor Aaron Fechter, engineer Greg King and artist Dave Thomas through Fechter's company Creative Engineering, Inc. They performed medleys of classic rock, pop, and country music, as well as original compositions and comedic skits. The band's characters were various anthropomorphized animals, including a brown bear, a grey wolf and a silverback gorilla. Since 1987, independent companies and individuals have operated the show and one can still view the show in various locations around the world to this day. The Rock-afire Explosion was an animatronic character band that appeared in ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants from 1980 to 1992.
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