Through his acclaimed work with
David Bowie and
T. Rex, among others,
Tony Visconti emerged as one of the most influential producers of the glam rock era. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he began playing the ukulele at the age of five, learning to read music before picking up the guitar as a teen. After quitting high school at the age of 15,
Visconti played the Catskills circuit in a band called Ricardo & the Latineers, eventually becoming one of the top guitarists on the New York City club scene. Upon joining a lounge act dubbed the Speedy Garfin Band, he toured the Southwest, followed by a stint in the revitalized Crewcuts; while performing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he met his future wife and performing partner Siegrid, returning with her to New York City. As Tony & Siegrid, the duo debuted in 1967 with the local hit single "Long Hair"; after their second effort, "Up Here," bombed,
Visconti was offered the position of house producer with the Richmond Organization label.
Upon collaborating with British producer
Denny Cordell on a session for
Georgie Fame,
Visconti relocated to London in 1968; there he produced
T. Rex's second LP, Prophets, Seers & Sages, followed a year later by
Bowie's
Space Oddity. Although work with artists including
Badfinger,
the Strawbs, and
Gentle Giant followed during the early years of the next decade,
Bowie and
T. Rex remained the two acts to whose fates
Visconti was inextricably tied. For
Bowie, he helmed albums including
The Man Who Sold the World,
Diamond Dogs, and the excellent
Young Americans; for
T. Rex he produced the back-to-back classics Electric Warrior and
The Slider. Although frontman Marc Bolan's 1977 death brought
T. Rex's career to a tragic halt,
Visconti continued working with
Bowie as the decade drew to a close, collaborating on the so-called "Berlin trilogy" of Low,
Heroes, and
Lodger. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), from 1980, was their last major joint venture.
As the '80s dawned,
Visconti expanded into new musical territory, producing albums for artists ranging from former
Yes frontman
Jon Anderson (Animation) to the post-punk band
the Boomtown Rats (Mondo Bongo and V Deep) to new wavers
Altered Images (
Bite). As the decade progressed, he helmed
the Moody Blues' 1986 comeback record
The Other Side of Life, launching the hit "Your Wildest Dreams"; several other albums with the venerable group followed, and
the Moodies remained his primary focus for the remainder of the decade. Although
Visconti's visibility and influence were diminished by the '90s, his past triumphs remained a formative inspiration behind any number of contemporary artists, a legacy acknowledged when ex-
Stone Roses guitarist
John Squire tapped him to produce 1997's
Do It Yourself, the debut from
Squire's new band
the Seahorses. That year, he also worked with
Sparks on
Plagiarism.
Visconti worked quietly and steadily throughout the 2000s, amassing an impressive discography by working with both cult artists and emerging acts. In 2001, he worked with
Prefab Sprout on The Gunman & Other Stories, and in 2002, he reunited with
David Bowie for
Heathen, which was followed the next year by
Reality. Also in 2003, he produced
L'Avventura by
Dean & Britta. The next year brought
Hugh Cornwell's
Beyond Elysian Fields and
Manic Street Preachers'
Lifeblood, but
Ringleader of the Tormentors, his 2006 album with
Morrissey, brought him the most attention he'd had in years. He continued to work with
Kristeen Young and
Alejandro Escovedo -- he did multiple records with each -- and he also produced albums for
Semi Precious Weapons,
Richard Barone, and
Kaiser Chiefs. Despite all this,
Bowie remained his most prominent collaborator, and the pair worked on
The Next Day, the singer's 2013 comeback.
Visconti also produced Blackstar, the 2016 album that turned out to be
Bowie's last. ~ Jason Ankeny