Funkyfeetrecords.com - Record Store Day

[Guest Carl Dixon]

Hi everybody -

It's record store day and the US stores will be opening 5 and 8 hours after ours do. I have facebooked, tweeted and now foruming this special day to profile why I feel it is important, if you collect vinyl, to support these independent establishments in the first instance. They take risks with their stock and often pay up front to help small labels have a chance. Even though I am selling my own vinyl and always have, I now forward enquiries to the shops in the hope a purchaser uses their facilities and maybe buys more records from them other than mine.

Frankly, I do not really want to press vinyl or become a distributor, but it has been a necessary evil for me to acquire knowledge about how all this is done in the grand scheme of things. All I want to do is write songs and produce them. Clearly if I want to release my songs and exploit them, I have to know how this machine works. I am working on some brand new tracks which are sort of East Coast/1977 in style. Very melodic and extremely retro. Only if I felt that vinyl would work I would press it, but my Detroit 45's have been profiled on a number of Facebook sites with at least over 130,000 vinyl fans which resulted in 0 sales! It's a paradox, however, recent news is that record stores are on the increase and established artists are releasing vinyl today as specials for those who prefer collectables etc. So, if you are still unfamiliar with my Bandtraxs releases featuring Spyder Turner and Pree, search for them at Funky Feet Records here:

https://www.funkyfeetrecords.co.uk/

The tracks are called 'Tell me(crying over you)' and 'Suddenly there's you". The instrumentals are on the B sides and both tracks feature musicians such as Dennis Coffey, Bob Babbit, Uriel Jones, Spyder Webb, Larry Fratangelo, Ray Monette, Robert Jones, some of the original Motown and Ric Tic horn section and arranged by David J. Van De Pitte from my original UK demos sent over in 2007. I thought I would have sold out by now with this pedigree but maybe the songs are crap!

Edited April 16, 2011 by Carl Dixon

[Flanny]

Carl I wish you luck in your venture, two very nice tunes so far

I will be odrering the Spyder Turner as it has crossover appeal to me fantastic record the

1970.s east coast concept you have in the pipeline sounds interesting will look out for this

keep up the good work

[Guest Carl Dixon]

Thanks Flanny. Much appreciated. All digital and vinyl sales generate a royalty I pay back to the featured artists and co producer. To earn and give this royalty is as much as a thrill as writing the songs. It means the journey has been worthwhile so far, despite poor sales in general. But even I know little acorns can lead to bigger things. I had an email last week from a US producer from back in the day, which nearly stopped me dead. So things are simmering nicely.

This is one of the tracks I will be doing for the East Coast concept project. It sounds a bit raw, but in essence the song is taking shape nicely.

'Walk away the winner':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N-5jWFC1Z8&feature=channel_video_title

If you like Philly style don't forget I co wrote these which were cut in Philly 2008:

https://www.youtube.com/user/PhillySoultronics