The Story of
'Walk Away The Winner'
Official Releases ℗ BANDTRAXS/Carl Dixon (PPL) ℗ 2013
ISRC: GBXNE1300009/GBXNE1300010
Performed by
BANDTRAXS (CDO 2009 demos)
WARNING: There maybe slight discrepancies with dates and things. I'm not perfect. In the first instance, when I first heard the 1975 mix tape because of the quality I thought it was my 2013 released version. I had forgotten I did so many demos of it between 2009 and its release date etc. There are Windows demos from 2009 and 2011 MAC demos.
Listen here to the official 2013 release of 'Walk away the winner'
Sourcing a drummer and bass player
So it crossed my mind circa 2010 that my good friend Simon Moss, drummer of 'The Clouds' a 90s Manchester band, may be interested in playing the drums on the five songs and he said yes. He had a new midi drum set he could play like real drums, but neither of us had a clue how to export the midi files that I could use in my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and select different drum kits, so we just used the audio record facility in mono. And that is a big part of the drumming on all he tracks on the 'Make Five' 2013 album. I added crashes (the crashes were a little low so I added many 'over the top', toms, other drumming elements to try and replicate what Earl Young may have played in a Philly studio environment. As for the bass, I had come across JamersonHook on YouTube and contacted him. He, in my opinion is prolific and puts his heart and soul into his work. Ironically, Gavin Morris was also from Manchester just like Simon.
The 'original' version - CDO/REACH
One of the issues I suspect with the mix tape is that I uploaded to YouTube maybe a couple of 2009 versions which sound different to the released version(s). I have two urls for those uploads, but I deleted them off YouTube a long time ago. Understandably, I now realise that anybody familiar with these may suspect the official 2013 release versions are not the same. The slate/label below was created in 2009 in Powerpoint and was probably used with a 2009 demo (22) which I still have and I suspect is the one on the mix tape (or part of it). When I first heard the mix tape version, because of the quality I felt it was the released version and had been tinkered with, maybe speeded up and my real bass electronically removed and replaced. However, looking back over the files, it is one of my 2009 demo bass/Salsoul drums versions before I commissioned the bass player and the drummer for the track.
Notice I didn't use the Bandtraxs name for demos back then, instead 'Reach' as a label. I had only just come up with the Bandtraxs name and had used 'CDO' on a test release of a funky track called 'Don't tell your mama' as I didn't know how to sell or distribute audio on the Internet at that time. There are no prizes for guessing what the artist name CDO stands for. I used Cool Edit/Audition to make the audio mixes to import into Adobe Premier to make the YouTube upload files back in those days. I probably also uploaded to SoundCloud too and deleted because I was always running out of space so economised by getting rid of things nobody commented on or listened to.
Carl Dixon blog August 2009
PLEASE NOTE:
I will protect my copyright in the song writing and recordings. Whilst I appreciate it's mission impossible for me to sound anything like TSOP, here we have a scenario where individuals cannot accept what has happened because it brings into question why my song writing and production with 'Walk away the winner' is included on a 1975 mix tape following a Barry White track.
Being accused of lying and stealing this song publicly is defamation and libellous. The comments written on line and privately to me regarding this are shameful. If this respected DJ took a gamble that my production/song was from 1975, with all his expertise, I would have liked to have spoken with him and explained my passion for creating such songs and why he was wrong. Sadly he is no longer with us, but he or somebody else have generated great intrigue about this. I believe the 2009 demo in question was potentially added to this mix tape in 2020 or thereabouts, which begs the question why was it not mentioned in the past earlier? I do have communication going back to September 2020 with enquiries via Facebook which suggests this is the first time Italians heard this track!
When I first heard the mix tape even I was confused. I honestly thought the track had been doctored, but as I investigated deeper, it seemed to be an early 2009 demo I uploaded to YouTube and maybe speeded up a tad. I still have that file and the interesting thing is that those searching for that version rather than the 2013 official released version will not find it anywhere. It cannot be released in that form either.
What these individuals do not understand is the process in writing and creating a recording. It took many many hours to create all the 'Make Five' album tracks. 'Walk away the winner' at first didn't quite work and I thought it was too long. I tried to extend it with extra excitement with the arrangement and decided that I should fade it early and crack on with the release instead. I was exceptionally busy during that period juggling releases, writing/producing new material, and working full time often overnight shifts at Sky TV. I fitted in the music stuff when I could. And, like all of my songs, I forget interesting trivia as the years go on. The released song has a million stories before and after and going back 5 years is bad enough never mind 10/15 years trying to remember things.
hollidayevery 2 years ago