the Showbiz Pizza Band
July 7th, 2008Well the story is a little complicated, and I didn’t do too much internet research, but it seems that in the 80’s, this animatronic band called The Rock-afire Explosion was manufactured for use in a chain of pizza places called Showbiz Pizza Place. The band was life-sized and huge, and they would play popular songs of the day.
Wikipedia says the band’s merchandise is still popular and shows up on ebay…
Recently some guys have gotten ahold of one of the bands and have been re-programming it to play contemporary songs…they have a page where you can "bid" for what you want the next song to be, which is a little weird, but hey, it’s the internet…if you really care, there’s a little mini-doc about the band (and their battle with a certain Chuck E. Cheese) here…
The band’s performances range from so-so to super sweet. I can’t stand this Usher song but somehow when it’s performed by a bear, gorilla, dog and bird it really cooks…
[…] Boing posted about a new documentary over the weekend, but it was Josh’s post this morning that made me take a closer look at the phenomenon of the Showbiz Pizza Place (like […]
Wow wow wow. I had no idea that place was a chain. I used to go to Showbiz Pizza for my birthdays when I was little and these guys would always kind of freak me out. It all just came flooding back now…the cheerleaders, the weird bird that pops up…*shudder*
But the Usher cover makes it all better, surprisingly.