Tony Visconti

Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many hits in collaboration with Marc Bolan. Visconti's lengthiest involvement was with David Bowie: intermittently from the production and arrangement of Bowie's 1968 single "In the Heat of the Morning" / "London Bye Ta-Ta" to his final album '' Blackstar'' in 2016, Visconti produced and occasionally performed on many of Bowie's albums. Visconti's work on ''Blackstar'' was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and his production of Angelique Kidjo's '' Djin Djin'' received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.

Early life

Visconti was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents of Italian descent. He started to play the ukulele when he was five years old and then learned guitar. He attended New Utrecht High School. Throughout his teenage years Visconti was involved with both a classical brass band (playing tuba) and a traditional orchestra (playing double bass), as well as playing rock-and-roll-oriented guitar, valuable experience that served him well in later years. By the age of 15 he had focused his efforts on playing in local Brooklyn bands.

After leaving school he played guitar in a band called Ricardo & the Latineers in the Catskills; the band also included Artie Butler, later a leading arranger. In 1960 he played his first recording session and over the next few years became one of the leading guitarists in New York nightclubs. He played in lounge acts, including the Ned Harvey Band and the Speedy Garfin Band, before joining a touring version of The Crew-Cuts, where he met his future wife. As Tony and Siegrid, the pair released two singles; the first, "Long Hair," was a regional hit in New York in 1966, but they could not maintain its success.

Production

Visconti then became in-house producer for his publisher, the Richmond Organization. Through this position, in 1968, he met British producer Denny Cordell, who asked him to assist in recordings for successful jazz vocalist Georgie Fame, prompting Visconti to move to London.

One of his first production projects in England was with the British outfit Tyrannosaurus Rex (later to become T. Rex) on their debut album '' My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows'' (1968). This began a relationship with T. Rex that would last for their next eight albums and eleven UK Top Ten singles in a row, commencing with " Ride a White Swan" (1970). One of Visconti's greatest successes was '' Electric Warrior'' (1971), the album that made T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan a superstar and cemented Visconti's producing prowess.

More early production work included David Bowie's second album (1969) and for the Welsh group The Iveys (later known as Badfinger). He produced several tracks for the Iveys' first LP, '' Maybe Tomorrow'' (1969), and '' Magic Christian Music'' (1970), released on the Beatles' Apple label.

He produced the first two albums by influential progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Shortly afterwards, Visconti began to work again with Bowie and, along with guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer John Cambridge, formed and toured with the band The Hype, in which he played bass. Although the band name would be very short-lived, most of the line-up persisted and—with Woody Woodmansey replacing Cambridge—would go on to record Bowie's album and single '' The Man Who Sold the World'' in 1970. He would further go on to work on Bowie's albums '' Diamond Dogs'' (1974), '' Young Americans'' (1975), '' Low'' (1977), '' "Heroes"'' (1977), '' Lodger'' (1979), '' Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)'' (1980), '' Heathen'' (2002), ''Reality'' (2003), '' The Next Day'' (2013), and his final album, '' Blackstar'' (2016).

In late 1970 and early 1971 Visconti produced both the debut and second albums by UK Afrorock pioneers Osibisa. These were 1971’s self titled debut and its follow up Woyaya. Both albums also featured early examples of the artwork of Roger Dean.

Visconti scored the orchestral arrangements for Paul McCartney and Wings' 1973 album '' Band on the Run''. He later produced two albums for the Moody Blues, '' The Other Side of Life'' (1986) and '' Sur La Mer'' (1988).

In 1990 he produced several tracks on the Moody Blues' '' Keys of the Kingdom'' album (1991), Luscious Jackson's '' Electric Honey'', '' Leisure Noise'' by Gay Dad, '' Soul Caddy'' for Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and ''Dawn of Ananda'' for Annie Haslam. In 1997, Visconti produced the debut album of The Stone Roses member John Squire's new band, The Seahorses, entitled ''Do It Yourself''.

He produced and played bass on a handful of tracks from The Dandy Warhols' 2003 album, ''Welcome to the Monkey House''. In 2003 he teamed up with the Finn Brothers (Neil and Tim of Crowded House and Split Enz) to record and produce their second collaborative album, eventually released in 2004. That same year, he produced three songs on the Manic Street Preachers album Lifeblood. In 2005, he collaborated with Copenhagen band Kashmir, whose fifth album, '' No Balance Palace'', featured David Bowie. He has also collaborated as co-writer and producer on an album project by Richard Barone. He worked in Rome and produced the No. 1 UK album by Morrissey '' Ringleader of the Tormentors''.

His autobiography, ''Bowie, Bolan and The Brooklyn Boy'', co-written with Richard Havers, was published in February 2007 by HarperCollins UK. The book has been translated into French by Jérôme Soligny as ''Bowie, Bolan et le Gamin de Brooklyn'', published by Tournon.

In 2007 and 2008 Visconti was very active in the studio with Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo, producing her Grammy-winning album '' Djin Djin'', which included guest artists Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Joss Stone, Josh Groban, and Carlos Santana. He has also produced and mixed two albums at Saint Claire Recording Studio in Lexington, Kentucky: '' The Bright Lights of America'' by Pittsburgh punk band Anti-Flag and Alejandro Escovedo's album '' Real Animal'', released in June 2008. He produced ''Le Vent De L'Hiver'' by French artist Raphael in Paris and New York. He produced and mixed the Kristeen Young album '' Music for Strippers, Hookers, and the Odd On-Looker'', released in 2009, and arranged the Fall Out Boy album '' Folie à Deux''. 2010 marked the release of Richard Barone's Visconti-produced ''Glow'' album, which includes five songs co-written with Barone and a remake of T. Rex's "Girl"; he also played bass, guitar, synth, and Stylophone on the album and performed live in concert with Barone on numerous occasions.

Visconti produced the 2013 David Bowie album '' The Next Day'' and remixed and remastered both '' The Slider'' anniversary box set and '' Electric Warrior'' 40th-anniversary box set by T. Rex. In 2013, he produced ''Solar Secrets'' by Capsula.

In 2014 Visconti produced and arranged several tracks on Marc Almond's album '' The Dancing Marquis''. Almond had wanted to work with Visconti since hearing some of Visconti's earliest production work with T-Rex and David Bowie, stating, "It was a dream to work with Tony".

From 2016 to 2023 Visconti was a jury member of the ANCHOR-Award, linked to the Reeperbahn Festival.

In 2018 Visconti produced '' Evil Spirits'' for The Damned, their first album in ten years. He also produced, sang, and played recorder on '' Merrie Land'', the second album by The Good, the Bad & the Queen (2018).

In 2019 Visconti produced the song "The Dragon Cries" with Band-Maid vocalists Miku Kobato and Saiki Atsumi. The track was released on Band-Maid's 2019 release '' Conqueror''.

Visconti served as music producer on the 2022 film '' Moonage Daydream'', a documentary about Bowie written, produced, directed, and edited by Brett Morgen.

Personal life

After divorcing his first wife, Siegrid, Visconti married Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin in 1971; they divorced in 1981. The pair have two children, musicians Jessica Lee Morgan and Morgan Visconti. In 1989 he married his third wife, May Pang; they had two children before they divorced in 2000. Visconti currently lives with his girlfriend of 20 years, musician Kristeen Young.

Musician

Visconti played bass on David Bowie's 1970 album '' The Man Who Sold the World''. Since 2015 he has toured the UK, Japan, and the US with the Bowie cover band Holy Holy, playing the album in its entirety and other early Bowie classics, along with the album's original drummer Mick Woodmansey and other well-known musicians, including singer Glenn Gregory and guitarist James Stevenson. The band have followed this up with later shows in which they perform '' The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' album.

Visconti Studio

In September 2016 Kingston University opened Visconti Studio, a tape-based recording studio in partnership with Visconti, the British Library, and London's Science Museum.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Visconti's Inventory'' (1977)
* ''It's a Selfie'' (2019)
* ''Apollo 80'' (2024)

Albums produced

Publications

*''The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy.'' New York: HarperCollins, 2007. . With a foreword by Morrissey.

References

External links

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Visconti Studio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visconti, Tony
1944 births
Living people
American people of Italian descent
Record producers from New York (state)
Musicians from Brooklyn
American rock bass guitarists
American male bass guitarists
American music arrangers
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
Glam rock musicians
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from New York (state)
20th-century American guitarists
New Utrecht High School alumni
The Hype (band) members
20th-century American male musicians
The Good, the Bad & the Queen members
Holy Holy (tribute band) members