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Tony Visconti

As part of the 6 Music Loves Berlin weekend, Matt Everitt chats to Tony Visconti about working with David Bowie on the Berlin album trilogy, plus more key moments from his life.

As part of 6 Music Loves Berlin weekend, Matt Everitt chats to acclaimed producer Tony Visconti about working with David Bowie on the Berlin album trilogy, plus other fascinating key musical moments from his life.

It’s hard to underestimate Visconti’s impact on the evolution of ground-breaking music, having worked his sonic magic on not only Bowie’s records but for artists as diverse as T Rex, Badfinger, Iggy Pop, Thin Lizzie, Rick Wakeman, The Boomtown Rats, Adam Ant, Ralph McTell, The Moody Blues, Sparks, Morrissey, Kaiser Chiefs, The Good, The Bad & The Queen (and many, many more).

In this candid chat, Visconti reveals – with the help of many a colourful anecdote - his musical upbringing in New York, his first band (and its terrible name), what drew him to producing, and how that career grew and grew. And hasn’t stopped – including reuniting with Bowie for his final two albums, The Next Day and Blackstar.

Listen out for tales of a mischievous Mick Jagger trying to sabotage Bowie’s recording of The Lodger – the third in the Berlin trilogy. Plus Visconti transports us to the earlier scenes of creating Low and Heroes in the German city, revealing some of the secrets of how he and Bowie recorded those records, such as the singer’s very last-minute approach to writing lyrics.

Other insights include Visconti’s unusually friendly working relationship with Morrissey (despite reaching an impasse about meat eating). Also find out about Marc Bolan’s unusual music-making techniques on a budget (it involves pliers), and what Visconti thinks about Nirvana’s cover of The Man Who Sold the World.

And, of course, the super-producer reveals what it was like working on Bowie’s final two albums – and how the latter, Blackstar, nearly became a full-on jazz record.

1 hour

Last on

Sun 26 Jul 2020 04:00

Music Played

  • T. Rex

    Get It On

    • Premier.
  • David Bowie

    Ashes to Ashes

    • EMI.
  • Little Richard

    Lucille

    • Specialty.
  • Manfred Mann

    So Long Dad

  • Procol Harum

    A Whiter Shade Of Pale

    • Procol Harum.
    • Esoteric Recordings.
    • 011.
  • The Beatles

    Tomorrow Never Knows

    • Parlophone.
  • T. Rex

    Jeepster

    • Telstar.
  • T. Rex

    Ride a White Swan

    • Telstar.
  • David Bowie

    Please Mr. Gravedigger

  • David Bowie

    The Man Who Sold The World

    • BEST OF BOWIE.
    • EMI.
  • David Bowie

    Saviour Machine

  • David Bowie

    Let Me Sleep Beside You

  • Wendy Carlos

    Timesteps

  • Nirvana

    The Man Who Sold The World

    • Geffen.
  • David Bowie

    Always Crashing In The Same Car

  • David Bowie

    Sound And Vision

    • EMI.
  • David Bowie

    Speed Of Life

  • David Bowie

    Be My Wife

  • David Bowie

    Art Decade

    • RCA.
  • David Bowie

    Boys Keep Swinging

    • EMI.
  • David Bowie

    Look Back in Anger

  • Thin Lizzy

    Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me In Its Spotlight)

    • Vertigo.
  • Morrissey

    I Will See You In Far-Off Places

  • David Bowie

    Where Are We Now?

  • David Bowie

    The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

  • David Bowie

    Dollar Days

  • David Bowie

    Blackstar

  • Sparklehorse

    Hammering The Cramps

    • Capitol.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 17 Feb 2019 01:00
  • Sun 26 Jul 2020 04:00

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