Dixon was still playing with Arrogance in 1982 when Mitch Easter asked him to co-produce R.E.M.'s debut LP Murmur and their 1984 follow-up LP Reckoning (both Dixon and Easter are credited in the Reckoning liner notes as "Machinists") [REF].
Dixon then spent several years producing the work of artists including Chris Stamey (formerly of The dB's), The Smithereens, Fetchin Bones,[REF] Richard Barone, Guadalcanal Diary and Marshall Crenshaw [REF].