Fairfield’s Walter Day stars in new documentary ‘Arcades & Love Songs’

FAIRFIELD – Fairfield’s very own Walter Day is the subject of a new documentary, this one focusing on his singing and songwriting.

Day is best known for founding Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, which maintained a database of the world’s top scores for video games like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. In fact, Day was one of the main figures of the 2007 documentary “The King of Kong” about gamers Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell competing for the highest score in Donkey Kong.

One of the producers of “The King of Kong” was Ed Cunningham, and now he and Day have reunited to tell another chapter of Day’s life. Cunningham said he and Day had lost touch since the release of “The King of Kong,” but recently Day was named in a lawsuit Twin Galaxies filed against Mitchell over the authenticity of his high scores.

Friends of Day sought to help him with his legal bills, and Cunningham joined them on a lawsuit strategy call. During this call, Cunningham learned that some of Day’s friends were paying to produce an album of Day’s original songs. Since Cunningham was a filmmaker, they told him that he should make a movie about it, and that’s exactly what he’s done.

The film is called “Arcades & Love Songs: The Ballad of Walter Day.” It tells the story of how Day came to be a singer and songwriter late in life at the age of 74, the traumatic breakup that spawned his songs, and his first-ever public performance at Café Paradiso in Fairfield.

Day said the story of his songwriting began in 1985, a few years after he founded Twin Galaxies in 1981. At the time, Day had a “glamorous girlfriend,” but a shocking confession from her shattered his heart to pieces. The girl informed Day that she had started dating one of his friends.

“It was the only time in my life when my heart was broken,” Day said. “It was a rough physiological experience. A few weeks into the heartbreak, I began hearing a radio station inside my head, but it was playing original songs, my songs. I was hearing lyrics, melodies, harmonies, hooks and all sorts of songwriting phenomena. It was like angels were singing the songs to me.”

This was a particularly strange occurrence because Day was neither a singer nor a musician, and had never once wanted to get on stage to perform. But Day wanted to share these songs with the rest of the world. He wrote down the lyrics, the melodies, the rhythms, and recorded what was playing in his mind. In all, 138 songs resulted from this process.

Day said that 20 years go by from the time he starts hearing his songs, and he’s never able to finish them to the point they’re ready for public consumption. After “The King of Kong” comes out in 2007, Day starts talking about leaving his video game legacy behind, and instead wants to be remembered for his music. David and Chris Reichelt of Color Switch knew about Day’s love for music since it’s included in “The King of Kong,” and they agree to fund the studio recording and publication of his album.

Cunningham said he liked the idea of making a movie about a man in his golden years who never gave up on his dream. The tagline of the film is “It’s never too late.”

“Walter’s music is great, and he’s an incredible songwriter,” Cunningham said. “King of Kong had a pretty male demographic, but this one is reaching a broader audience. People are really moved by this story.”

Joining Day in this film are the two main protagonists of “The King of Kong,” rivals Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe. Day said Wiebe is a fantastic drummer and composer, though the two never talked about music during the filming of “The King of Kong” since they were dealt with independently.

Day had planned to perform his music at a show in Nashville in the fall of 2022, but he and Cunningham, the film’s director, recognized he wasn’t ready. Day took voice lessons to become a “passable singer,” and added that he still needs “a lot more work.” They decided that his first performance should be in his town of Fairfield, at Café Paradiso in February 2023.

The film will become available worldwide on Monday, June 9 through Video On Demand, Apple, Amazon, YouTube Movies, Google Play and more. It’s available to pre-purchase now.

The filmmakers have arranged for the film to be shown at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center June 29 through July 1. Not only that, but they are doing a double feature on June 29, starting with “The King of Kong” at 4 p.m., then “Arcades & Love Songs” at 7 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session. The documentary features local talent such as Day’s voice coach Doug Daller and Café Paradiso’s sound mixer Tim Britton.

Cunningham said he only showed the movie at one film festival because he wanted to build up suspense for its showing in Fairfield. That showing was at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, where it won a Gold Emmy for Professional Documentary. Day said he was blown away by the reception the film has received.

“I never dreamed people would be crying over it, but the heartbreak is so real and vivid that people emotionally react to it,” he said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com