Tony Visconti
with Kristeen Young, London 2003
Background information
Born	24 April 1944 (1944-04-24) (age 64)
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Record Producer, Arranger
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar
Years active	1967 – Present
Associated acts	David Bowie T. Rex Moody Blues Kristeen Young Morrissey Richard Barone
Website	http://www.tonyvisconti.com

Anthony Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer. Kristeen Young is an American Rock and roll singer songwriter and keyboardist from St Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing In Music, an arrangement refers either to a rewriting of a piece of existing Music with additional new material or to a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch such A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. TRex (occasionally spelled T Rex or T-Rex) were an English rock band fronted by guitarist singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. The Moody Blues are an English psychedelic rock band originally from Erdington in the city of Birmingham. Kristeen Young is an American Rock and roll singer songwriter and keyboardist from St Steven Patrick Morrissey (ˈmɒɹɪsiː born May 22, 1959) known primarily as Morrissey, is a British Singer and Lyricist Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida. He also works as a songwriter arranger author director and producer and releases albums as a solo Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a

Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of notable performers, including the Moody Blues, as well as T. Rex, Mary Hopkin, Thin Lizzy, Ralph McTell, Sparks, Gentle Giant, Boomtown Rats, Hazel O'Connor, Adam Ant, The Stranglers, Richard Barone, Manic Street Preachers, Kristeen Young and most recently Morrissey. The Moody Blues are an English psychedelic rock band originally from Erdington in the city of Birmingham. TRex (occasionally spelled T Rex or T-Rex) were an English rock band fronted by guitarist singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. Mary Hopkin (born May 3 1950) is a Welsh folk Singer. She is best known as one of the first artists (along with James Taylor Thin Lizzy are an Irish Hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969 Ralph McTell (born Ralph May in Farnborough, England, 3 December, 1944) is an English singer/songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been Sparks is an American rock and Pop music band formed in Los Angeles in 1970 by brothers Ron (keyboards and Russell Mael (vocals Gentle Giant was a British Progressive rock band, one of the most experimental of the 1970s The Boomtown Rats were a new wave group led by Bob Geldof. All six members were originally from Dún Laoghaire, Republic of Ireland. Hazel O'Connor (born 16 May 1955) is a British Singer-songwriter and actress originating from Coventry. Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard on 3 November 1954 is an English Musician, who gained popularity as the Lead singer of 1980s The Stranglers are an English rock music group formed on 11 September 1974 in Guildford, Surrey. Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida. He also works as a songwriter arranger author director and producer and releases albums as a solo Manic Street Preachers (often known colloquially as the " Manics " or " MSP " are a Welsh rock band consisting of James Kristeen Young is an American Rock and roll singer songwriter and keyboardist from St Steven Patrick Morrissey (ˈmɒɹɪsiː born May 22, 1959) known primarily as Morrissey, is a British Singer and Lyricist His lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969's album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti has produced and occasionally performed on many of Bowie's albums. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. Space Oddity is a 1969 album by rock musician David Bowie. Originally released by Philips in the UK as David Bowie and by Reality is an album by the British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 2003

Early life

Visconti was born in Brooklyn, New York, and his father, a music enthusiast, taught Visconti to play the ukulele when he was five years old. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The ukulele (ˌjʉːkəˈlɛɪli from ʻukulele /ˌʔukuˈlele/ variantly spelled ukelele (particularly in the UK) or alternatively abbreviated uke He attended New Utrecht High School. New Utrecht High School is a Coeducational public High school in Brooklyn, New York City, serving 2383 pupils 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 'n' roll-oriented guitar. A brass band is a Musical group generally consisting entirely of Brass instruments, most often with a percussion section Mediatubaogg -->The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched Brass instrument. The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. Such a versatile range of musical styles was finally abandoned by the age of 15, when he focussed his efforts on a rock band named Ricardo and the Latineers.

During the next few years of his life, he was involved with a number of soft-rock and lounge acts, playing both the bass and electric guitar. With his then-wife Siegrid, he attempted a career as pop duo Tony and Siegrid. Under this name, their first single "Long Hair" was a minor regional hit in New York City in late 1966, peaking at #33 on local top 40 station WMCA. ^[1] However, this was to be the peak level of success for the duo, as no further singles charted.

After this failure to become a commercially successful pop singer, Visconti became in-house producer for his publisher, the Richmond Organization.

Production

Visconti's big break came with a chance meeting with British producer Denny Cordell in 1968 while he was still working as Richmond's in-house producer. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Denny Cordell (born Dennis Cordell-Laverack 1 August 1943, Buenos Aires, Argentina — died 18 February 1995, Dublin Cordell asked him to assist in recordings for successful jazz vocalist Georgie Fame. Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell 26 June 1943, Leigh) is a British Rhythm and blues and Jazz Singer and Visconti moved to London - in a move that would soon become permanent. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He was to live there for most of the next 30 years and it would prove to be the city in which his career would finally flourish.

One of his first production projects in England with was the Welsh group The Iveys (later known as Badfinger). Badfinger was a Rock band formed in Swansea Wales in the early 1960s and was one of the earliest representatives of the Power pop genre He produced several tracks for the band's first LP Maybe Tomorrow, released on The Beatles' Apple label. Maybe Tomorrow was the only album released by The Iveys (who later called themselves Badfinger) The title track from this album was released as a single and reached #67 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1968. More early production work on the album Prophets, Seers & Sages – The Angels of the Ages for the British outfit Tyrannosaurus Rex (later to become T. Prophets Seers & Sages – The Angels of the Ages is the second album by Tyrannosaurus Rex, comprising Marc Bolan (vocals guitar and Steve Peregrine TRex (occasionally spelled T Rex or T-Rex) were an English rock band fronted by guitarist singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. Rex) was to be of critical importance in kick-starting his influential career. It was to begin a relationship with T. Rex that would last for their next seven albums, and through this Visconti would also strike up a friendship with David Bowie. One of Visconti's greatest successes was "Electric Warrior", the album that made T. Electric Warrior is the sixth album by British rock group TRex, and is widely considered to be one of the quintessential Glam rock releases Rex frontman and mastermind Marc Bolan a superstar and cemented Visconti's producing credentials. Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English singer songwriter and Guitarist Initially, Visconti and Bowie, along with guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer John Cambridge, formed and toured with the band Hype in which he played bass. Mick Ronson (26 May 1946 &ndash 29 April 1993 was an English Guitarist, Composer, Multi-instrumentalist, Arranger and producer The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the Although the band name would be very short-lived, the line-up persisted and would go on to record the seminal album and single "The Man Who Sold the World" in 1970. The Man Who Sold the World is an album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April He would further go on to work on the albums Diamond Dogs (1974), Young Americans (1975), "Heroes" (1977), Low (1977), Lodger (1979) and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). Diamond Dogs is a Concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA in 1974 Young Americans is an album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 1975 "Heroes" (the quotation marks are part of the title for reasons of irony is an album by David Bowie, released in 1977 Low is a 1977 album by British musician David Bowie. Widely regarded as one of his most influential releases Low was the first of the " Berlin Lodger is an album by British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 1979 Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records.

Visconti would produce two full albums for the Moody Blues, "The Other Side of Life" (1986), and "Sur La Mer" (1988). The Moody Blues are an English psychedelic rock band originally from Erdington in the city of Birmingham. The Other Side of Life is a 1986 album by the rock band The Moody Blues. Sur la Mer is an album released by The Moody Blues in 1988 It is the fourth album of the Patrick Moraz era In 1987, Visconti, together with Moodies' lead vocalist Justin Hayward, supplied incidental music for the BBC2 science fiction series Star Cops. David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946, in Swindon, Wiltshire) is an English Musician, best known as a Star Cops is a British Science fiction Television series first broadcast on BBC Two in 1987

By the end of the 1980s, Visconti's consistent involvement with top artists had diminished, but despite this he continued to work with many newly formed outfits. In 1990 he produced and wrote the arrangements for the debut album from NYC band Electric Angels. Electric Angels was a Los Angeles-based band that formed from the ashes of the now-defunct Candy featuring new singer Shane guitarist Ryan Roxie, and original Candy members He produced several tracks on the Moodies "Keys of the Kingdom" album (1991), the 'Electric Honey' album for Luscious Jackson, Leisure Noise by Gay Dad, Soul Caddy for Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Dawn of Ananda for Annie Haslam and Moonchild for Debbie Gibson. Keys of the Kingdom is an album released by the rock band The Moody Blues in 1991 Luscious Jackson was an alternative / Pop-rock group formed in 1991 Gay Dad were one of the last UK Britpop bands to be launched in the late 1990s Soul Caddy is the fourth studio album by the American band Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in 2000. The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are an American rock band formed in 1989 in Eugene, Oregon. Annie Haslam (born 8 June 1944) is an English Progressive rock Vocalist and Songwriter. Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American Singer-songwriter who was a teen pop icon In 1997 Visconti produced the debut album of former Stone Roses member John Squire's new band, The Seahorses. The Stone Roses were an English Alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1984 John Squire (born John Thomas Squire on 24 November, 1962) is an English Musician, Songwriter and Artist. The Seahorses were an English band of the mid to late 1990s best known as the post- Stone Roses project of guitarist John Squire. The album, Do It Yourself was a moderate success. Do it Yourself is the debut album by short-lived English band The Seahorses, the group formed by ex- Stone Roses guitarist John Squire. In the 2000s Visconti renewed his association with David Bowie, producing the albums Heathen in 2002, and Reality in 2003. Heathen is an album by the British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 2002 Reality is an album by the British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 2003 These two albums hark back to his Berlin production work with Bowie and for many contain the best of Bowie's later work. A list of the best known albums with which he has been associated is available from his official website.

Since the end of his marriage to Siegrid, Visconti married and divorced a further two times. From 1971 to 1981 he was married to Mary Hopkin, and they had two children, Morgan and Jessica. Mary Hopkin (born May 3 1950) is a Welsh folk Singer. She is best known as one of the first artists (along with James Taylor (Visconti had produced Hopkin's second album for Apple Records, Earth Song/Ocean Song, in 1971. ) He was then married to May Pang from 1989 to 2000, with whom he also had two children, Sebastian and Lara. May Fung Yee Pang (龐鳳儀 / 庞凤仪 (born October 24 1950 is best known as the former lover of ex- Beatle John Lennon. (Pang had gained no little notoriety in the 1970s as the woman that John Lennon lived with, after splitting from Yoko Ono. )

He produced and played bass on a handful of tracks from The Dandy Warhols 2003 album Welcome to the Monkey House. The Dandy Warhols are a rock band formed in Portland Oregon by Courtney Taylor-Taylor ( vocals, Guitar) Zia McCabe Welcome to the Monkey House is also an album by The Dandy Warhols. In 2003 he teamed up with the Finn Brothers (Neil and Tim of Crowded House and Split Enz fame) to record and produce their second collaborative album, eventually released in 2004. The Finn Brothers is the name of the musical project of New Zealand brothers Neil and Tim Finn. Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand musician and Singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Split Enz was a successful New Zealand band during the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. For reasons largely unknown, the brothers re-recorded the entire album and Tony is credited for his string arrangements only. In 2004 he produced three songs on the Manic Street Preachers Album Lifeblood. Manic Street Preachers (often known colloquially as the " Manics " or " MSP " are a Welsh rock band consisting of James Lifeblood is the seventh studio album by Manic Street Preachers. In 2005 he collaborated with Copenhagen band, Kashmir, whose fifth album, No Balance Palace, featured David Bowie. Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city Kashmir is a Danish Rock band consisting of Kasper Eistrup ( vocals and lead Guitar) Mads Tunebjerg ( bass) No Balance Palace is the fifth album by the Danish band Kashmir. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. He has also collaborated as co-writer and producer on the forthcoming new album project by Richard Barone. Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida. He also works as a songwriter arranger author director and producer and releases albums as a solo He worked in Rome on the 2006 Morrissey album Ringleader of the Tormentors. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Ringleader of the Tormentors is Morrissey 's ninth solo album which debuted at number one in the UK album charts and number twenty-seven in the US His autobiography, "Bowie, Bolan and The Brooklyn Boy", was published in February 2007 by Harper Collins UK. The imported soft cover version is now available in the USA. The book has been translated into French by Jérôme Soligny as Tony VIsconti Bowie, Bolan et le Gamin de Brooklyn, published by Tournon

2007 and 2008 has seen Visconti very active in the studio with Benin singer Angélique Kidjo, producing her Grammy winning album Djin Djin (Razor & Tie). Angélique Kidjo is a Grammy Award -winning Beninese Singer-songwriter, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative Music videos The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Djin Djin is the eighth Studio album by Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo, released on April 27, 2007 (see 2007 Razor & Tie is a New York based corporation founded in 1990 by Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam. Guests artists include Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Joss Stone, Josh Groban and Carlos Santana. Alicia J Augello-Cook (born January 25 1981 professionally known as Alicia Keys, is an American R&B, soul, and Neo soul Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950 in Chobham, Surrey, England) is an English Musician and Songwriter. Joss Stone (born Jocelyn Eve Stoker on 11 April 1987 is an English soul and R&B Singer-songwriter and actress. For the Costa Rican football player see Carlos Santana (footballer; for the Mexican academic see Carlos Santana Morales. He has also produced two albums at St. Claire studio in Lexington, KY - Bright Lights of America (RCA) by Pittsburgh Punk band Anti-Flag and a soon to be released CD by Alejandro Escovedo (Manhattan Records). Anti-Flag is an American Punk band from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10 1951 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American Musician. He has partially produced the new No. 1 CD (in France) by French artist Raphael in Paris and New York. Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and He has just completed work on the new Kristeen Young CD due for release later in 2008. Kristeen Young is an American Rock and roll singer songwriter and keyboardist from St

Literature

• Tony Visconti - The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy, Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN-10 0007229445, ISBN-13 978-0007229444

References

See also

• List of record producers
• Tony Visconti produced albums

External links

• Tony Visconti's official website
• Tony Visconti's MySpace