Tony Visconti | |
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 Visconti in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anthony Edward Visconti |
| Born | (1944-04-24)April 24, 1944 (age 80) New York City, New York, U.S. |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Member of | Holy Holy |
| Formerly of | Hype |
| Spouses |
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| Partner | Kristeen Young |
| Website | tonyvisconti |
Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944)[3] is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single wasT. Rex's "Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many hits in collaboration withMarc Bolan. Visconti's lengthiest involvement was withDavid 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 albumBlackstar in 2016, Visconti produced and occasionally performed on many of Bowie's albums.[4] Visconti's work onBlackstar was awarded theGrammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and his production ofAngelique Kidjo'sDjin Djin received theGrammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
Visconti was born inBrooklyn,New York, to parents ofItalian descent.[5] He started to play theukulele when he was five years old and then learned guitar. He attendedNew Utrecht High School.[6] Throughout his teenage years Visconti was involved with both a classicalbrass band (playingtuba) and a traditional orchestra (playingdouble 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.[7]
After leaving school he played guitar in a band called Ricardo & the Latineers in theCatskills; the band also includedArtie Butler, later a leadingarranger.[7] In 1960 he played his first recording session and over the next few years became one of the leading guitarists in New Yorknightclubs. He played inlounge acts, including the Ned Harvey Band and the Speedy Garfin Band, before joining a touring version ofThe 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.[2]
Visconti then became in-house producer for his publisher, theRichmond Organization. Through this position, in 1968, he met British producerDenny Cordell, who asked him to assist in recordings for successful jazz vocalistGeorgie Fame, prompting Visconti to move to London.[2]
One of his first production projects in England was with the British outfitTyrannosaurus Rex (later to become T. Rex) on their debut albumMy 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 wasElectric Warrior (1971), the album that made T. Rex frontmanMarc Bolan a superstar and cemented Visconti's producing prowess.
More early production work includedDavid Bowie's second album (1969) and for the Welsh group The Iveys (later known asBadfinger). He produced several tracks for the Iveys' first LP,Maybe Tomorrow (1969), andMagic Christian Music (1970), released onthe Beatles'Apple label.
He produced the first two albums by influential progressive rock bandGentle Giant. Shortly afterwards, Visconti began to work again with Bowie and, along with guitaristMick Ronson and drummer John Cambridge, formed and toured with the bandThe Hype, in which he played bass. Although the band name would be very short-lived, most of the line-up persisted and—withWoody Woodmansey replacing Cambridge—would go on to record Bowie's album and singleThe Man Who Sold the World in 1970.[4][8] He would further go on to work on Bowie's albumsDiamond 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).[9]
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 ofRoger Dean.
Visconti scored the orchestral arrangements forPaul McCartney andWings' 1973 albumBand on the Run. He later produced two albums forthe Moody Blues,The Other Side of Life (1986) andSur La Mer (1988).
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In 1990 he produced several tracks on the Moody Blues'Keys of the Kingdom album (1991),Luscious Jackson'sElectric Honey,Leisure Noise byGay Dad,Soul Caddy forCherry Poppin' Daddies, andDawn of Ananda forAnnie Haslam. In 1997, Visconti produced the debut album ofThe Stone Roses memberJohn Squire's new band,The Seahorses, entitledDo It Yourself.
He produced and played bass on a handful of tracks fromThe Dandy Warhols' 2003 album,Welcome to the Monkey House. In 2003 he teamed up with theFinn Brothers (Neil and Tim ofCrowded House andSplit Enz) to record and produce their second collaborative album, eventually released in 2004. That same year, he produced three songs on theManic Street Preachers albumLifeblood. In 2005, he collaborated withCopenhagen bandKashmir, whose fifth album,No Balance Palace, featuredDavid Bowie. He has also collaborated as co-writer and producer on an album project byRichard Barone. He worked inRome and produced the No. 1 UK album byMorrisseyRingleader of the Tormentors.
His autobiography,Bowie, Bolan and The Brooklyn Boy, co-written withRichard Havers,[10] was published in February 2007 byHarperCollins UK. The book has been translated into French by Jérôme Soligny asBowie, Bolan et le Gamin de Brooklyn, published by Tournon.
In 2007 and 2008 Visconti was very active in the studio withBeninese singerAngélique Kidjo, producing herGrammy-winning albumDjin Djin, which included guest artistsAlicia Keys,Peter Gabriel,Joss Stone,Josh Groban, andCarlos Santana. He has also produced and mixed two albums at Saint Claire Recording Studio inLexington, Kentucky:The Bright Lights of America byPittsburgh punk bandAnti-Flag andAlejandro Escovedo's albumReal Animal, released in June 2008. He producedLe Vent De L'Hiver by French artistRaphael in Paris and New York. He produced and mixed theKristeen Young albumMusic for Strippers, Hookers, and the Odd On-Looker, released in 2009, and arranged theFall Out Boy albumFolie à Deux. 2010 marked the release ofRichard Barone's Visconti-producedGlow album,[11] which includes five songs co-written with Barone and a remake ofT. Rex's "Girl"; he also played bass, guitar, synth, andStylophone on the album and performed live in concert with Barone on numerous occasions.
Visconti produced the 2013 David Bowie albumThe Next Day and remixed and remastered bothThe Slider anniversarybox set andElectric Warrior 40th-anniversary box set by T. Rex. In 2013, he producedSolar Secrets byCapsula.[12]
In 2014 Visconti produced and arranged several tracks onMarc Almond's albumThe 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".[13]
From 2016 to 2023 Visconti was a jury member of the ANCHOR-Award, linked to theReeperbahn Festival.[14]
In 2018 Visconti producedEvil Spirits forThe Damned, their first album in ten years. He also produced, sang, and played recorder onMerrie Land, the second album byThe Good, the Bad & the Queen (2018).
In 2019 Visconti produced the song "The Dragon Cries" withBand-Maid vocalists Miku Kobato and Saiki Atsumi. The track was released on Band-Maid's 2019 releaseConqueror.
Visconti served as music producer on the 2022 filmMoonage Daydream, adocumentary about Bowie written, produced, directed, and edited byBrett Morgen.[15][16]
After divorcing his first wife, Siegrid, Visconti married Welsh folk singerMary Hopkin in 1971; they divorced in 1981. The pair have two children, musiciansJessica Lee Morgan and Morgan Visconti.[17] In 1989 he married his third wife,May Pang; they had two children before they divorced in 2000.[18] Visconti currently lives with his girlfriend of 20 years, musicianKristeen Young.[19]
Visconti played bass on David Bowie's 1970 albumThe Man Who Sold the World.[20] Since 2015 he has toured the UK,Japan, and the US with the Bowie cover bandHoly Holy, playing the album in its entirety and other early Bowie classics, along with the album's original drummerMick Woodmansey and other well-known musicians, including singerGlenn Gregory and guitaristJames Stevenson. The band have followed this up with later shows in which they performThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album.
In September 2016Kingston University opened Visconti Studio, a tape-based recording studio in partnership with Visconti, theBritish Library, and London'sScience Museum.
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