Rock-a-Palooza 2020
After a 14 year hiatus, Rock-a-Palooza returened to celebrate a very special occasion with a two day online event commemorating the Rock-afire Explosion's 40th Anniversary! The Rock-afire Explosion made their debut with the opening of the second ShowBiz Pizza Place location in Jacksonville, FL on August 14th, 1980. So to celebrate, ShowBizPizza.com dragged some fun never-before-seen-or-heard items out of the archives! On the weekend of August 14-15th, 2020, fans were presented with a plethora of new material including rare documents, digital scans of vintage posters, and most importantly, some recently uncovered media that was long thought to be lost!
On the media front there was a special 40th Anniversary tribute video dedicated to the Rock-afire Explosion featuring some never before heard songs by the Tropical Cleaners (the voice actor band behind the Rock-afire Explosion), as well as the debut of the lost showtape, Introducing: Yogi Bear! After 33 years the tape was finally uncovered thanks to the contribution of scriptwriter and co-producer Stephen White. The show featured the original voices of Yogi Bear (Daws Butler) and Boo-Boo (Don Messick). As an added bonus, Radio Showbiz featured these lost Tropical Cleaners & Yogi tracks in a Rock-afire themed playlist all weekend long.
For those who missed the event, here's some selected highlights from the weekend's major surprises!
Yogi Bear!
Wait...WHAT? Yes you read that correct. After 33 years the Yogi Bear showtape has been found! Featuring the legendary voice talents of Daws Butler (Yogi) and Don Messick (Boo-Boo), this is arguably the rarest ShowBiz Pizza Place showtape known to have ever existed. Test marketed in only three locations, this rare show was never rolled out to any additional stores beyond the initial test phase.
