This rather extensive piece ran in Billboard Magazine’s 1943 Summer Special, a full four years before the advent of the electromechanical flipper:
Pinball is a modern game developed from an ancient idea known for many years as bagatelle. The word pinball was probably first coined by a Kentucky circuit court and used in Kentucky newspapers; it was first used in an unabridged dictionary in 1940.
There is a legend that bagatelle antedates bowling, billiards and marbles by many centuries. Some even say that the idea must have originated with ancient soothsayers who made a practice of throwing round stones up the sides of steep hills, basing their prognostications on where they rolled back. Then someone selected a hill with a few natural holes or pockets—and the idea of bagatelle was born.
It is easy, of course, to imagine the gradual development of bowling and pitch-in-the-hole marble games from these humble beginnings, but history itself leaves a gap in the development of bagatelle…
In the early eighties, kids all over the US flocked to Showbiz Pizza for the rides, games, and animatronic rock band, The Rock-afire Explosion. Created by 23-year-old prodigy Aaron Fechter, The Rock-afire Explosion amazed children and adults alike before being mysteriously pulled from showrooms and replaced by the now popular Chuck-E-Cheese in the early nineties.
Nearly twenty years later, still profoundly affected by his experience at Showbiz Pizza, small-town disc-jockey Chris Thrash sought out Fechter and purchased a Rock-afire band of his own. Some clever programming on Chris’ part, and the band was once again performing for millions, this time on YouTube.
The Rock-afire Explosion movie reveals how Chris came to revive this fallen 80’s gem, explores his and a number of other fan’s obsessions with the animatronic band, and chronicles the rise and fall of Showbiz Pizza and what was once a 20 million dollar per-year venture for inventor Aaron Fechter. More than this, the film is a look at the importance of nostalgia, ever-changing media culture, and the eternal quest to stay young.
DVD and much more info available on the Rock-afire Explosion’s official site!
