Tony Visconti Talks Four Decades of Bowie and 'Blackstar'
Soundcheck | Jan 7, 2016
The following interview was conducted days before David Bowie's death at 69. Read and listen to more of our David Bowie coverage here.
David Bowie was 19 when he met producer Tony Visconti. Tomorrow, Bowie turns 69, and releases his experimental-jazz-flecked new studio album, Blackstar. Visconti co-produced it, just as he has produced dozens of the rock icon's records over the course of their more than forty year creative relationship. And since Bowie himself has all but sworn off press, it often falls to Visconti to explicate the processes and the experiments that have resulted in latter day masterpieces like The Next Day and the new record.
Tony Visconti
Visconti also has an interest in keeping these records alive and vital, as a result of the intimacy of his relationship with Bowie's oeuvre. Thus, Visconti's current side project: a band called Holy, Holy, which is currently performing the entirety of the 1970 album The Man Who Sold the World live around the New York area.Â
Click the player above to hear Tony Visconti reflect on the influence of Mick Ronson, Jack Bruce, Marc Bolan, digital production, and Visconti's relationship with his "lead singer," David Bowie.
