The Sounds of Philadelphia has many stories, this is just one of them.
R+B/fusion arranger, musician, composer, conductor, synthesist, A+R Director, Dexter Wansel, began as an errand boy backstage at the uptown theater in Philadelphia from 1959 through 1963. There he met many great artists who encouraged him to pursue music. In junior high school and high school he and his best friend Stanley Clarke had their first bands together.
In 1970 after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, Wansel quietly joined the ranks of great synthesists like Walter Carlos and Dick Hyman, where he began programming the Putney and the Arp 2600V for sessions at Sigma Sound Studios both credited and uncredited. Going to early 70s, Wansel also played keyboards for groups such as instant funk, yellow sunshine, and MFSB. In 1975 Dexter created the moody, space- soul LP ‘Life On Mars’ whose icy ambience and thick, thematic funk is universally credited with having created Neo-Soul...