Milwaukee Record is proud to present Public Domain. The monthly video series features Milwaukee musicians setting up at Colectivo Coffee to adapt some of the world’s best-known songs in ways they’ve never been heard before. Watch the entire series here.
Our 2017 Public Domain season concludes with a special holiday installment. The Fatty Acids and friends came to The Back Room to re-gift listeners an incomparable cover of “Toyland.” The Victor Herbert composition was first featured in Babes In Toyland. The second act number is the most celebrated song in the 1903 operetta, and has become a part of the Christmas music tradition in the roughly 115 years since it was written.
Through the years, “Toyland” has been redone by the likes of Doris Day, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Miss Fame, and many more. None of those artists took anywhere near as much artistic liberty as The Fatty Acids. The Milwaukee band—along with some helper elves and Santa himself (who was played by Wes Tank)—took an animatronic approach to the video, complete with costumes, makeup, and boxes upon boxes of props. The final product is a Public Domain unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
The video was shot and edited by Samantha Kirchoff. Cheston Van Huss provided additional camera and recording support. Josh Evert of The Fatty Acids mixed and mastered the song at Silver City Studios. Travis Whitty produced the opening sequence. Public Domain is sponsored by Colectivo Coffee Roasters, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, and Transfer Pizzeria Café.