Carl Dixon

Carleton Anthony "Carl" Dixon is a Canadian rock singer, keyboardist and guitarist. He has been a member of the bands Coney Hatch,[1][2] April Wine and The Guess Who.[3]

For the British RAF officer, see Carl Dixon (RAF officer).

Early life and education

Dixon was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and grew up listening to rock music in the 1970s. He graduated from Barrie North Collegiate Institute in 1977.

Career

Dixon moved to Montreal in 1979 to perform with a band called Firefly. In 1981, Dixon left Firefly, moving to Toronto, where he answered an ad from the band Coney Hatch, becoming their lead singer.[4] While with Coney Hatch, he wrote and co-wrote many of their hits, such as "Hey Operator" and "Devil's Deck". He spent most of the 1980s touring with Coney Hatch, opening for Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind Tour across North America, and Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance tour 1982.In the 90s he pursued his solo career writing for Rondor Publishing (now Universal) and oversaw the production of Coney Hatch's Best Of compilation album.

Throughout his career Dixon also toured with heavy metal icons such Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Triumph, Ted Nugent, Accept and Krokus. During Dixon's songwriting deal with Rondor Music, Carl wrote the song "Taste of Love" with Brett Walker for Jimi Jamison. That version was featured on an episode of Baywatch. Episode titled Life Guards Can't Jump. In 1989, his demo song Fool's Paradise was heard in the 1989 horror film Freakshow. His music was also featured in Heaven Before I Die, a feature film with Omar Sharif. "Feel the Feeling Again" written by Dixon was featured on an episode of television series Degrassi High. Dixon toured with April Wine,[5] playing keyboard, guitar and backing vocals from 2001-2004. He performed on April Wine Greatest Hits Live album 2003.

In 1997, Dixon was invited to join The Guess Who as lead singer; he performed and recorded with the band until the spring of 2000, then again from early 2004 until 2008. In April 2008 he was critically injured in a car accident in Australia.[6] He remained hospitalised in Melbourne, Australia for five months.[3] Unable to play and sing, he was replaced in the Guess Who by Derek Sharp. Carl made a guest appearance back with The Guess Who as lead singer for two shows in January 2016 in West Palm Beach FL[7] and Albuquerque NM.

His youngest daughter Lauren Dixon is best known for her role as Stevie Lake No. 2 on The Saddle Club.[8] Carl Dixon wrote the song "Just Because" for The Saddle Club Season 3 CD "Best Friends".

Twenty eight years after the release of their last album Coney Hatch regrouped,[9] keeping a promise by Andy Curran made to Carl while Carl was in his coma: that if he survived they'd release a new album. Coney Hatch Four was released by European label Frontiers Records 2013. Coney Hatch Four was voted into the top 50 rock albums of 2013 by the UK's Classic Rock Magazine [10] but the album received little airplay in Canada.

Dixon wrote an autobiography about being a singer and musician during the height of Canadian rock, and about redefining his life after the car accident. His book, Strange Way To Live, was published in January 2015 by Dundurn Press. and received favourable reviews including CBC[11][12]

Despite ongoing injuries and effects of severe head trauma, Dixon continues to perform as a musician and singer. "Unbroken" Dixon's eighth solo album was released in Europe and Asia through AOR Heaven and Rubicon Music. It was awarded number 22 in the top 30 Rock Albums of 2019 by Melodic Rock website [13] Dixon has an increasing presence as an inspirational speaker sharing his comeback story and music to corporate and safety events. He is signed to Anthem Entertainment, Toronto and The National Speakers Bureau, Canada.

Personal

Dixon is married to screenwriter Helen Parker [14] an Australian. They met in Canada through mutual friends. He has two adult daughters, three adult step children.

References
  1. "Coney Hatch". Canadian Pop Encyclopedia. Jam! Canoe.ca. 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  2. "Coney Hatch". Colin Larkin (1995). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness Pub. p. 913. ISBN 978-1-56159-176-3.
  3. "Canadian singer Carl Dixon fighting for life in Melbourne". Herald Sun. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  4. Eddie Trunk (24 September 2013). Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Abrams. pp. 608–. ISBN 978-1-61312-553-3.
  5. "CANOE – JAM! Music – Pop Encyclopedia". Jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
  6. "Saddle Club star's dad critical after crash – World". The Age. 16 April 2008.
  7. "Guess Who lead singer loses glass eye to rough surf ". Orlando Sentinel, Stephen Hudak, 18 December 2015/
  8. "The Saddle Club Interview". Girl.
  9. Keith Sharp (14 April 2014). Music Express: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Canada's Music Magazine. Dundurn. pp. 81–. ISBN 978-1-4597-2196-8.
  10. Jeffries, Neil. "Classic Rock | Louder". Loudersound.com. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  11. "Strange Way to Live: A Story of Rock 'N' Roll Resurrection". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  12. "Carl Dixon's Strange Way to Live: 5 totally random facts". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. "Helen Parker". IMDb.com. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
Preceded by
Terry Hatty		 Lead singer in The Guess Who Succeeded by
Derek Sharp
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