Best known among the key producers to emerge from the American underground's jangle pop movement of the early '80s,
Don Dixon also enjoyed a cult following as a solo performer. A native of North Carolina, he dwelled in relative obscurity for well over a decade as a member of the little-known
Arrogance before attracting his first significant notice around 1983 after co-producing with
Mitch Easter R.E.M.'s landmark debut LP,
Murmur. Subsequent work on
Chris Stamey's It's a Wonderful Life,
the Windbreakers' Terminal, and
Tommy Keene's Run Now solidified his reputation among jangle pop aficionados, and in 1985
Dixon recorded his solo debut, Most of the Girls Like to Dance But Only Some of the Boys Do, a further affirmation of his love of classic pop melodies and spiky,
Nick Lowe-inspired wordplay. After producing wife
Marti Jones' Unsophisticated Time, he released his second solo effort, Romeo at Juilliard, in 1987 and the live Chi-Town Budget Show a year later. After 1989's EEE,
Dixon's recording career went into mothballs for several years and he returned to producing, helming efforts for
the Smithereens,
Richard Barone, and
James McMurtry before finally releasing Romantic Depressive in 1995. Another lengthy hiatus preceded the early 2000 release of
The Invisible Man and its 2001 follow-up, Note Pad #38. Entire Combustible World in One Small Room followed in summer 2006. ~ Jason Ankeny