The Rock-afire Explosion was an animatronic character band that appeared in ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants from 1980 to 1992. Since 1992, independent companies and people have been preserving it and one can still view the show in various locations around the world where it is still in operation to this day. The band's characters were various anthropomorphized animals, including a brown bear, a grey wolf and a silverback gorilla. They performed medleys of classic rock, pop, and country music, as well as original compositions and comedic skits. The show was created and manufactured by inventor Aaron Fechter through his company Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando, Florida. In addition to overseeing the production of the animatronics, Fechter provided several of the characters' voices. When ShowBiz Pizza rebranded in 1992, the band was replaced by Chuck E. Cheese characters. 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. The show was pioneering, in many respects, to other animatronics shows of the early 1980s. The life-sized characters were capable of facial expression, and some could even play simple melodies on musical instruments. At the end of the show's tenure, Chuck E. Cheese marketing director Jul Kamen credited Rock-afire with being largely responsible for Showbiz's success. Technical specifications The Rock-afire Explosion uses four recorded tracks, two for audio and two for data. The data tracks are encoded using Biphase mark code produced during the programming process by two Apple IIe computers. 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. 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. 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. Production Production of the show's programming and audio was done in-house by Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando, Florida. 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. Later, as ShowBiz Pizza Place took over programming, they used Songcode, a system inherited from their acquisition of Pizza Time Theatre,