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Tony Visconti: The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy. A nostalgic journey through the golden age of British pop and rock music
A name synonymous with ground-breaking music, Tony Visconti has worked with the most dynamic and influential names in pop, from T.Rex and Iggy Pop to David Bowie and U2. This is the compelling life story of the man who helped shape music history, and gives a unique, first-hand insight into life in London during the late 1960s and '70s.
Soon after abandoning his native New York to pursue his musical career in the UK, Visconti was soon in the thick of the emerging glam rock movement, launching T.Rex to commercial success and working with the then-unknown David Bowie.
Since his fateful move to the land of tea and beer drunk straight from the can, Visconti has worked with such names as T.Rex, Thin Lizzy, Wings, The Boomtown Rats, Marsha Hunt, Procol Harum, and more recently Ziggy Marley, Mercury Rev, the Manic Street Preachers and Morrissey on his acclaimed new album 'Ringleader of the Tormentors'.
Even Visconti's personal life betrays an existence utterly immersed in music. Married to first to Siegrid Berman, then to Mary Hopkin and later to May Pang, he counts many of the musicians and producers he has worked with as close friends and is himself a celebrated musician.
This memoir takes you on a roller-coaster journey through the glory days of pop music, when men wore sequins and pop could truly rock. Visconti's unique access to the biggest names and hottest talent, both on stage and off, for over five decades is complemented by unseen photographs from his own personal archive, and offers a glimpse at music history that few have witnessed so intimately.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
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483 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
November 11, 2013
I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a primer on corporate ass kissing. Viconti has his tongue so far up the ass of certain living show business figures that his ghost writer's turdy tongue speaks with their voice - and in particular with the inflections of the tedious David Bowie. On the other hand, Marc Bolan is long dead and gets slagged off for being the ego-maniac he so obviously was (although personally I still really dig his super-dumb three chord bop). Reading this rant you can't help thinking that if Bowie had died in a car accident in the seventies and Bolan was still around, then Bowie would be the one being slagged off as the boring prima donna he so obviously is and Visconi's ghost voice would instead be pleasuring Bolan with his verbal rim jobs.
February 28, 2022
I SO wanted to like this book. After all, it's Tony Visconti, producer and engineer extraordinaire. But this book needed an editor, BADLY! It's full of "facts" a Brooklyn Boy would know, like "the Statue of Liberty is in Staten Island" -- whoops! -- it's on Liberty Island, which he later describes his family coming through on their arrival from Italy. And I know of no Brooklyn boy who writes with the British spellings of words like colour, programme, odour, etc. Not to mention using "flat" for apartment, "go to hospital", things like that. Am I being petty? Perhaps, but here, it only sounds pretentious.
But it's worse. How about "Before he passed away, I worked with Marc Bolan ... before his death in a terrible car accident."
I had to force myself through the poor writing to hear about my favourite (oops) favorite rock stars, and finally started skipping over stories about his many wives and bands I've never heard of that he made sound brilliant by playing bass for them and singing background. And his constant dissing of Marc Bolan (who after all, suffered a terrible death before he died), and omission of more important players (such as Mick Ronson, who was given a mere mention here and there) I found appalling.
Great producer, lousy writer.
But it's worse. How about "Before he passed away, I worked with Marc Bolan ... before his death in a terrible car accident."
I had to force myself through the poor writing to hear about my favourite (oops) favorite rock stars, and finally started skipping over stories about his many wives and bands I've never heard of that he made sound brilliant by playing bass for them and singing background. And his constant dissing of Marc Bolan (who after all, suffered a terrible death before he died), and omission of more important players (such as Mick Ronson, who was given a mere mention here and there) I found appalling.
Great producer, lousy writer.
October 27, 2017
Visconti’s insight into the life of a record producer goes beyond simply sitting behind the console, pressing record and waiting for the pay cheque, this account is replete with surreal situations, highs and lows, all told in such a friendly, conversational yet passionate manner that you feel like you’re there with him, in the mixing room, dining with diplomats in wall-era East Berlin, and standing shoulder to shoulder with him as he battles against a failing marriage and alcoholism. I can’t help but feel this is not the standard case of wheeling out anecdotes and spicing them up for the memoir, but actually a really heartfelt reflection that bares a lot in terms of personal life, and much more of his professional life, which is really what most of us picked the book up for.
When half way through the book I glanced at other reviews on here and was surprised to see how many people thought Visconti’s choice words on Marc Bolan’s character and actions towards others were unfair. Perhaps I’ve been completely taken in by the Brooklyn boy’s friendly manner and I’m all too willing to believe his account without question, or perhaps after reading his tales of an American coming to London only to discover that showers are better than baths, Indian food is the food of gods, and that Low is arguably Bowie’s most ground breaking album, maybe, just maybe, this guy’s an authority we could do to listen to.
When half way through the book I glanced at other reviews on here and was surprised to see how many people thought Visconti’s choice words on Marc Bolan’s character and actions towards others were unfair. Perhaps I’ve been completely taken in by the Brooklyn boy’s friendly manner and I’m all too willing to believe his account without question, or perhaps after reading his tales of an American coming to London only to discover that showers are better than baths, Indian food is the food of gods, and that Low is arguably Bowie’s most ground breaking album, maybe, just maybe, this guy’s an authority we could do to listen to.
February 24, 2016
What a fantastic read! A little disjointed sometimes, but overall this is essential reading for Bowie fans, Bolan fans, music fans and bands who are learning the ins and outs of the studio. While reading along, I re-listened to several of these album Tony produced and it was like hearing them for the first time. I already loved many of these records, but now everything makes more sense and I hear things I've never heard before. It's like finding an easter egg in each song.
January 15, 2023
I read this book whilst waiting for a plane/taking the flight/getting a coach after my flight. One thing it did very well was make time pass much faster than the life around me. But when it comes to recollecting a life through writing, speed and a sense of pace, is different to honesty.
The author seemed careless about how and where he grew up, though what his music teacher taught him about music may well have been true. How he first became a musician and first toured may well also be true, but in the writing the recollection he seemed to be blase about it all, the writing about that era was not particularly heartfelt or personal to him. If those early tours were where he first learned to love music then it was less than obvious. What his music teacher taught him only showed up as valuable when he produced his first musical chart/sketch for an American studio session, which was where his knowledge of the American musicians union came to the fore and the British producer did not know the rules that American studios and musicians worked to.
His apprenticeship as a producer in British studios was interesting, I would have liked Manfred Mann himself to have been quoted here but alas.... The interest picks up with his immersion in the British music scene as a producer of Marc Bolan and David Bowie before they became the major stars they became, and his attempt at running a music label, Good Earth Records. His comments about the live sound Jimi Hendrix got vs the 'live album' sound that got onto the records engineered by Eddie Kramer might well be true, but there was a level of one-up-man-ship that came with Visconti's comments, of the 'I was there when you could not have been' type.
I would also have liked him to have been more transparent about how even as personal relationships mattered to him, producing music was what mattered to him most. He was led by his ear more than his heart. In his relationship with Mary Hopkin he was led by both ears and heart. Given how she rose to fame through 'Opportunity Knocks', was signed to Apple in some post-Brian-Epstein-style talent management deal she was always going to have difficulties establishing herself as an artist in her own right. Add to that how she got saddled with a media image that was so clean it excluded her having opinions or being disagreeable. Were Visconti more interested in how his second wife's musical career should have worked out he would have compared Mary Hopkin with Kate Bush, and have stated that the career structure that Mary Hopkin wanted was much nearer what Kate Bush would later carve out for herself. Such a comment would have been a telling revelation on how masculist and male centred the recording industry that he was part of was, and how masculist he was with it.
The closely observed comments about Marc Bolan avoid the word 'narcissism', to describe the star that Bolan was. Instead the author does everything he can to avoid that word. That someone can both be a narcissist and have a lot of talent is what I took away from Visconti's comments on Bolan. Visconti leaves Bolan when the latter's self regard stretched to hiding behind his managers and accountants, and Bolan's reported comments about money outweighed his talent, the good musical writing, and the attention to detail with recordings, along with when and what to record.
I grew up listening to Bowie. I had also recently read Pete Doggett's book on Bowie 1970-1980, 'The Man Who Sold The World', so some of the material on Bowie here was familiar to me from Doggett's book which was published three years after this book was published. So I now know where Doggett got some of his information from. That said Visconti's book never takes any interest in why Bowie took three years off from recording an album a year, or what happened in the recording industry in the interim. Bowie's decision was to do with his RCA contract and the way his ex-management worked; Bowie paid a percentage on what his recordings made to ex-manager Ken Pitt, fired in 1974. In 1980 Bowie had decided that in future he wanted to pay Pitt less, by stopping further recording for the present. But also Bowie's break from recording albums coincided with the end of purely analogue recording and analogue editing of recordings with razor blades etc as the norm-something Bowie and Visconti had used for years as a primary creative tool. The new digital technology totally changed how recording studios worked. Visconti says nothing about the analogue/digital change over, or Bowie's managerial problems. He does not comment on what is surely a huge paradigm shift in music. He simply says 'I had a rotten 1980's' but given the wealth of talent he produced in the 1970's and the way industries, including the music industry, changed in the 1980's then he still had a good time, even having his own studio for hire as well as his skills as producer. But he notices how the younger bands have more a taste for alcohol and drugs than he now has, without reflecting how age brings balance to life.
The further on his career as a producer goes, the more his continued association with Bowie becomes the highlight of it. Though he works with many musicians, including Hugh Cornwell, ex of The Stranglers with whom he has creative partnership as a musician, Morrissey for one whole album and with a reformed Moody Blues for three albums, where Visconti brings his 'soft skills' to bear fruit to coax agreement and songs out of musicians who had lost touch with their original impetus to play live, and record. Perhaps influenced by the 'cosmic' elements of The Moody Blues earlier work, the older Visconti gets the more he turns to eastern philosophies for personal/moral balance, and he notes how he is regarded in the modern music industry as odd for this but he does not reproach himself in print for his masculist past or the values which were a key part of the industry he worked in before he matured.
In the film 'Sunset Boulevard' Norma Desmond famously says 'I used to be big, it was the pictures that got small'. The same applies to the producers career of Tony Visconti, where he once produced best sellers for Bowie, Bolan and many others, including solid work with many folk musicians, by the 2000's that work is now in the past. The studios have changed beyond all recognition since then, if they still exist. The industry that those best sellers of the 1970's were part of has changed utterly. Newer acts find different ways of being produced and being stars, like his predecessor George Martin his work is remembered as a pioneer but the work he did no longer seems pioneering. Visconti is a figurehead for a past that is shrinking, though Visconti remains a well respected figure in an ever expanding recording landscape.
Finally, this book was published well before the last two Bowie albums 'The Next Day' (2013) and 'Black Star' (2016). In any update of the book I would also like to imagine Visconti being more thoughtful in print about his earliest experiences of playing music, along with his recollections of producing 'The Next Day' and 'Blackstar', and his experiences as a bassist with Holy Holy, a band that has been playing live since 2015 who have covered peak glam era Bowie songs with Glenn Gregory among other musicians.
The author seemed careless about how and where he grew up, though what his music teacher taught him about music may well have been true. How he first became a musician and first toured may well also be true, but in the writing the recollection he seemed to be blase about it all, the writing about that era was not particularly heartfelt or personal to him. If those early tours were where he first learned to love music then it was less than obvious. What his music teacher taught him only showed up as valuable when he produced his first musical chart/sketch for an American studio session, which was where his knowledge of the American musicians union came to the fore and the British producer did not know the rules that American studios and musicians worked to.
His apprenticeship as a producer in British studios was interesting, I would have liked Manfred Mann himself to have been quoted here but alas.... The interest picks up with his immersion in the British music scene as a producer of Marc Bolan and David Bowie before they became the major stars they became, and his attempt at running a music label, Good Earth Records. His comments about the live sound Jimi Hendrix got vs the 'live album' sound that got onto the records engineered by Eddie Kramer might well be true, but there was a level of one-up-man-ship that came with Visconti's comments, of the 'I was there when you could not have been' type.
I would also have liked him to have been more transparent about how even as personal relationships mattered to him, producing music was what mattered to him most. He was led by his ear more than his heart. In his relationship with Mary Hopkin he was led by both ears and heart. Given how she rose to fame through 'Opportunity Knocks', was signed to Apple in some post-Brian-Epstein-style talent management deal she was always going to have difficulties establishing herself as an artist in her own right. Add to that how she got saddled with a media image that was so clean it excluded her having opinions or being disagreeable. Were Visconti more interested in how his second wife's musical career should have worked out he would have compared Mary Hopkin with Kate Bush, and have stated that the career structure that Mary Hopkin wanted was much nearer what Kate Bush would later carve out for herself. Such a comment would have been a telling revelation on how masculist and male centred the recording industry that he was part of was, and how masculist he was with it.
The closely observed comments about Marc Bolan avoid the word 'narcissism', to describe the star that Bolan was. Instead the author does everything he can to avoid that word. That someone can both be a narcissist and have a lot of talent is what I took away from Visconti's comments on Bolan. Visconti leaves Bolan when the latter's self regard stretched to hiding behind his managers and accountants, and Bolan's reported comments about money outweighed his talent, the good musical writing, and the attention to detail with recordings, along with when and what to record.
I grew up listening to Bowie. I had also recently read Pete Doggett's book on Bowie 1970-1980, 'The Man Who Sold The World', so some of the material on Bowie here was familiar to me from Doggett's book which was published three years after this book was published. So I now know where Doggett got some of his information from. That said Visconti's book never takes any interest in why Bowie took three years off from recording an album a year, or what happened in the recording industry in the interim. Bowie's decision was to do with his RCA contract and the way his ex-management worked; Bowie paid a percentage on what his recordings made to ex-manager Ken Pitt, fired in 1974. In 1980 Bowie had decided that in future he wanted to pay Pitt less, by stopping further recording for the present. But also Bowie's break from recording albums coincided with the end of purely analogue recording and analogue editing of recordings with razor blades etc as the norm-something Bowie and Visconti had used for years as a primary creative tool. The new digital technology totally changed how recording studios worked. Visconti says nothing about the analogue/digital change over, or Bowie's managerial problems. He does not comment on what is surely a huge paradigm shift in music. He simply says 'I had a rotten 1980's' but given the wealth of talent he produced in the 1970's and the way industries, including the music industry, changed in the 1980's then he still had a good time, even having his own studio for hire as well as his skills as producer. But he notices how the younger bands have more a taste for alcohol and drugs than he now has, without reflecting how age brings balance to life.
The further on his career as a producer goes, the more his continued association with Bowie becomes the highlight of it. Though he works with many musicians, including Hugh Cornwell, ex of The Stranglers with whom he has creative partnership as a musician, Morrissey for one whole album and with a reformed Moody Blues for three albums, where Visconti brings his 'soft skills' to bear fruit to coax agreement and songs out of musicians who had lost touch with their original impetus to play live, and record. Perhaps influenced by the 'cosmic' elements of The Moody Blues earlier work, the older Visconti gets the more he turns to eastern philosophies for personal/moral balance, and he notes how he is regarded in the modern music industry as odd for this but he does not reproach himself in print for his masculist past or the values which were a key part of the industry he worked in before he matured.
In the film 'Sunset Boulevard' Norma Desmond famously says 'I used to be big, it was the pictures that got small'. The same applies to the producers career of Tony Visconti, where he once produced best sellers for Bowie, Bolan and many others, including solid work with many folk musicians, by the 2000's that work is now in the past. The studios have changed beyond all recognition since then, if they still exist. The industry that those best sellers of the 1970's were part of has changed utterly. Newer acts find different ways of being produced and being stars, like his predecessor George Martin his work is remembered as a pioneer but the work he did no longer seems pioneering. Visconti is a figurehead for a past that is shrinking, though Visconti remains a well respected figure in an ever expanding recording landscape.
Finally, this book was published well before the last two Bowie albums 'The Next Day' (2013) and 'Black Star' (2016). In any update of the book I would also like to imagine Visconti being more thoughtful in print about his earliest experiences of playing music, along with his recollections of producing 'The Next Day' and 'Blackstar', and his experiences as a bassist with Holy Holy, a band that has been playing live since 2015 who have covered peak glam era Bowie songs with Glenn Gregory among other musicians.
October 14, 2019
Fun read about Tony Visconti's life in the music biz. Anyone who knows me knows I've always been a huge fan of Bowie and T Rex, so to hear what it was like to work with these geniuses and how it all came together is just fascinating to me. Some have slagged him for slagging on Marc Bolan. Guess what? This ain't the first time we've heard Bolan was a raving, egotistical lunatic. I actually thought it was pretty "big" of him to be honest and to be able to put personal feelings aside and still rave about Bolan's greatness as a performer.
He also shares stories of lesser-known musicians he's worked with, and it's always fun discovering "new old" music, and rediscovering music I'd forgotten about. He also seems to be pretty honest about his own faults and shortcomings. He's thrice-divorced and never puts any of the blame on his exes for the collapse of these relationships. I had no idea he'd been married to Mary Hopkin! Of course that made me go running to YouTube to listen (over and over) to "Those Were the Days My Friend," much to my husband's dismay.
He also shares stories of lesser-known musicians he's worked with, and it's always fun discovering "new old" music, and rediscovering music I'd forgotten about. He also seems to be pretty honest about his own faults and shortcomings. He's thrice-divorced and never puts any of the blame on his exes for the collapse of these relationships. I had no idea he'd been married to Mary Hopkin! Of course that made me go running to YouTube to listen (over and over) to "Those Were the Days My Friend," much to my husband's dismay.
August 12, 2020
Anthony Edwards Visconti was born on April 24, 1944 in the teeming New York City borough of Brooklyn and little did he know that he would have an immense impact in the history and development of Rock post-1970; with his influence being most profound “across the pond” no less.
He was a Baby Boomer raised primarily in a provincial Italian section of Flatbush and, as so many others of the time, he was deeply affected and influenced most dramatically by Elvis Presley. But also “cut his musical teeth” on Little Richard, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley & numerous doo-wop groups.
His first band was a street corner doo-wop group in his neighborhood called the “White Bucks.” In high school, he was a part of the school band and produced the annual school musical program with his fellow young student friend named David Geffen.
As still a young teenager, he got steady gigs performing in the still vital Dirty Dancing-era Jewish resorts in the Borscht Belt as a guitarist with Ricardo and the Latineers, led by a Jewish kid from Brooklynn named Richard Ritz. He then landed as bass player with “The Crystals” and actually got some national TV exposure on shows such as American Bandstand.
He briefly flirted with heroin and was able to avoid the Vietnam draft by stretching the truth considerably and telling them he was an “addict.”
Shortly thereafter, he got a job as a songwriter and in-house producer in NYC for Howard Richman, who owned TRO (The Richmond Organization). While working in the same building as the legendary Atlantic Records, Tony met such up & comers and established heavyweights as Danny Davis, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin; which were connections that would eventually lead to the intro that would change his life: to English record producer Denny Cordell.
Mr. Cordell asked Tony if he would like to be his “assistant” in his new musical ventures currently underway and which he had planned for the future. Mr. Visconti very quickly said “yes” and found himself on a plane to swingin’ London in 1968.
At the time, Cordell was the force behind Procul Harum’s huge hit single “Whiter Shade of Pale” and was also involved with the Move, Manfred Mann, The Moody Blues, & Denny Laine. While settling into his new gigs he saw Hendrix at the Shaftsbury Theatre on a twin-bill with Denny Laine. Out came the lighter fluid and Mr. Visconti’s life would never be the same again.
He subsequently began to assist in the studio (laying down strings for the Move, small production touches for Manfred Mann, collaborating with Denny Laine, etc.). Then he saw a folk duo called Tyrannosaurus Rex at the UFO Club and they were popular and in demand. John Lennon had already expressed interest in them for his planned new label (called Grapefruit at the time!).
Visconti got Denny Cordell interested the next day, they set up a meet, and subsequently got Tyrannosaurus Rex signed to record label Regal Zonophone and Visconti produced their first record My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair… But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows.
It was psychedelic folk and very much music of its time but was not well-received critically. However, it did hit number 15 on the UK charts. Even more importantly at this time, Visconti met an unusual artist/musician named David Bowie and a lifetime bond was established.
The BBC’s John Peel was a huge champion of Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex and helped immensely in breaking them. Visconti however, was instrumental in re-visioning the band/duo from folk to what would later become known as Glam Rock with one of his crowning achievements as a record producer – 1971’s Electric Warrior LP that made front-man Marc Bolan an international superstar and cemented Visconti’s powers as an A-list producer and studio wiz. He would go on to produce the band’s next 8 LP’s, which included eleven UK Top Ten singles in a row.
Equally as impressive, he produced David Bowie’s self-titled second album in 1969 that was subsequently re-released by RCA Records as Space Oddity in the wake of the huge success of the Ziggy Stardust record (which was co-produced by Ken Scott & Bowie).
Visconti collaborated with Bowie and produced the following seminal recordings:
• The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
• Diamond 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)
• Blackstar (2016)
In the early 70’s, Visconti also married British songstress and Apple Records artist Mary Hopkin at her commercial and popular peak. She suffered from seriously debilitating stage fright and all-but-walked-away from live performing after their marriage. They divorced in 1981 and have two children.
During his long and prolific career, he also produced records for (among many, many others) - Gentle Giant, Thin Lizzy (which caused a bit of a falling out with Bowie as he did not think the band was any good), Badfinger, Strawbs, Marsha Hunt, Tom Paxton, Iggy Pop, Boomtown Rats, Hazel O’Connor, The Stranglers, John Hiatt, Difford & Tilbrook, Adam Ant, Dean & Britta, and Alejandro Escovedo.
The 371 page autobiography was a fun and informative read about a time and a place, and an Italian American from Brooklyn, NY who became a legendary music producer, influencer, and very unexpected tastemaker for Glam Rock in London of the 1970’s.
He also thankfully reinforces what I have read and heard from multiple sources – that David Bowie & Iggy Pop were/are Way-Cool Dudes and were/are good Decent Men and Marc Bolan was a sad Egotistical Prick.
The book ends with the following verbiage from the author and rock legend:
“Three thoughts. I first heard them sitting behind a console in a studio – probably at some ungodly hour. They sum up my life.”
‘Life’s a gas.’ Marc Bolan
‘Life is a pigsty.’ Morrissey
‘We could be heroes.’ David Bowie
He was a Baby Boomer raised primarily in a provincial Italian section of Flatbush and, as so many others of the time, he was deeply affected and influenced most dramatically by Elvis Presley. But also “cut his musical teeth” on Little Richard, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley & numerous doo-wop groups.
His first band was a street corner doo-wop group in his neighborhood called the “White Bucks.” In high school, he was a part of the school band and produced the annual school musical program with his fellow young student friend named David Geffen.
As still a young teenager, he got steady gigs performing in the still vital Dirty Dancing-era Jewish resorts in the Borscht Belt as a guitarist with Ricardo and the Latineers, led by a Jewish kid from Brooklynn named Richard Ritz. He then landed as bass player with “The Crystals” and actually got some national TV exposure on shows such as American Bandstand.
He briefly flirted with heroin and was able to avoid the Vietnam draft by stretching the truth considerably and telling them he was an “addict.”
Shortly thereafter, he got a job as a songwriter and in-house producer in NYC for Howard Richman, who owned TRO (The Richmond Organization). While working in the same building as the legendary Atlantic Records, Tony met such up & comers and established heavyweights as Danny Davis, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin; which were connections that would eventually lead to the intro that would change his life: to English record producer Denny Cordell.
Mr. Cordell asked Tony if he would like to be his “assistant” in his new musical ventures currently underway and which he had planned for the future. Mr. Visconti very quickly said “yes” and found himself on a plane to swingin’ London in 1968.
At the time, Cordell was the force behind Procul Harum’s huge hit single “Whiter Shade of Pale” and was also involved with the Move, Manfred Mann, The Moody Blues, & Denny Laine. While settling into his new gigs he saw Hendrix at the Shaftsbury Theatre on a twin-bill with Denny Laine. Out came the lighter fluid and Mr. Visconti’s life would never be the same again.
He subsequently began to assist in the studio (laying down strings for the Move, small production touches for Manfred Mann, collaborating with Denny Laine, etc.). Then he saw a folk duo called Tyrannosaurus Rex at the UFO Club and they were popular and in demand. John Lennon had already expressed interest in them for his planned new label (called Grapefruit at the time!).
Visconti got Denny Cordell interested the next day, they set up a meet, and subsequently got Tyrannosaurus Rex signed to record label Regal Zonophone and Visconti produced their first record My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair… But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows.
It was psychedelic folk and very much music of its time but was not well-received critically. However, it did hit number 15 on the UK charts. Even more importantly at this time, Visconti met an unusual artist/musician named David Bowie and a lifetime bond was established.
The BBC’s John Peel was a huge champion of Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex and helped immensely in breaking them. Visconti however, was instrumental in re-visioning the band/duo from folk to what would later become known as Glam Rock with one of his crowning achievements as a record producer – 1971’s Electric Warrior LP that made front-man Marc Bolan an international superstar and cemented Visconti’s powers as an A-list producer and studio wiz. He would go on to produce the band’s next 8 LP’s, which included eleven UK Top Ten singles in a row.
Equally as impressive, he produced David Bowie’s self-titled second album in 1969 that was subsequently re-released by RCA Records as Space Oddity in the wake of the huge success of the Ziggy Stardust record (which was co-produced by Ken Scott & Bowie).
Visconti collaborated with Bowie and produced the following seminal recordings:
• The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
• Diamond 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)
• Blackstar (2016)
In the early 70’s, Visconti also married British songstress and Apple Records artist Mary Hopkin at her commercial and popular peak. She suffered from seriously debilitating stage fright and all-but-walked-away from live performing after their marriage. They divorced in 1981 and have two children.
During his long and prolific career, he also produced records for (among many, many others) - Gentle Giant, Thin Lizzy (which caused a bit of a falling out with Bowie as he did not think the band was any good), Badfinger, Strawbs, Marsha Hunt, Tom Paxton, Iggy Pop, Boomtown Rats, Hazel O’Connor, The Stranglers, John Hiatt, Difford & Tilbrook, Adam Ant, Dean & Britta, and Alejandro Escovedo.
The 371 page autobiography was a fun and informative read about a time and a place, and an Italian American from Brooklyn, NY who became a legendary music producer, influencer, and very unexpected tastemaker for Glam Rock in London of the 1970’s.
He also thankfully reinforces what I have read and heard from multiple sources – that David Bowie & Iggy Pop were/are Way-Cool Dudes and were/are good Decent Men and Marc Bolan was a sad Egotistical Prick.
The book ends with the following verbiage from the author and rock legend:
“Three thoughts. I first heard them sitting behind a console in a studio – probably at some ungodly hour. They sum up my life.”
‘Life’s a gas.’ Marc Bolan
‘Life is a pigsty.’ Morrissey
‘We could be heroes.’ David Bowie
March 29, 2008
in my world Tony Visconti as a producer couldn't do no wrong. Please note his work with the great Les Rita Mitsouko, but here we have the main focus of his work with the fantastic David Bowie and the iconic Marc Bolan (T-Rex).
The book goes into some nerdy areas of record production as well as insights on the making of certain recordings (especially Bowie's 'Scary Monster'). Saying that Visconti wants to correct some past credits (he did the strings for McCartney's Band on the Run) and he for sure has a healthy amount of ego - but then again he was an important figure in the making of Bowie's best albums as well as the beginnings of (the important) glam rock movement.
He's opinionated which makes this book a fun read. Also he captures the times behind the recordings. This is pretty much an important book for one's library on British pop.
The book goes into some nerdy areas of record production as well as insights on the making of certain recordings (especially Bowie's 'Scary Monster'). Saying that Visconti wants to correct some past credits (he did the strings for McCartney's Band on the Run) and he for sure has a healthy amount of ego - but then again he was an important figure in the making of Bowie's best albums as well as the beginnings of (the important) glam rock movement.
He's opinionated which makes this book a fun read. Also he captures the times behind the recordings. This is pretty much an important book for one's library on British pop.
July 24, 2012
Excellent. The best part was the author's account of Bowie's hatred of Thin Lizzy, both personally and professionally.
February 6, 2025
The man who recorded the world
Tony Visconti is best-known for being David Bowie's original producer of choice in the early 70's (he also played the muscular yet fluid bass on The Man Who Sold the World), and for producing Bowie's so-called "Berlin Trilogy" (Low, Heroes and Lodger) together with other important releases such as his Scary Monsters, Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous, Iggy Pop's The Idiot and - more recently - Morrissey's Ringleader Of The Tormentors. He also had a long association with Mark Bolan which was responsible for getting both of their careers off the ground. Visconti produced all Bolan's records up until 1974, although I'd find it difficult to describe these as "important", as - barring a few classic singles that are indelibly associated with that period - I've always thought of T.Rex's music as being aimed at young children. But the story of Visconti's interactions with Bolan, as the latter struggled to come to terms with riches and adulation on a vast scale (at one point his band were said to be selling 100,000 records a day) is a fascinating one, although he has nicer - and more interesting - things to say about his work with Bowie. One of these is that, in the course of a dalliance with Antonia Maass (a Berlin nightclub singer) during work on the "Heroes" album, he'd given her a kiss while walking past the Berlin wall. Visconti says (p250) that Bowie saw them from the studio window, and it inspired him to write the climactic verse in "Heroes": "I can remember / Standing by the wall / And the guns / Shot above our heads / And we kissed / As though nothing could fall".
This being the story of Visconti's life, a lot of personal detail about his upbringing and family (his second wife was singer Mary Hopkin, while his third was May Pang - erstwhile girlfriend of John Lennon) gets included alongside the account of his professional work. Overall it's a very good story with some nice details, but I found it difficult to read because of sentences like these (p26):
"I have already produced a British version of the song with Georgie but I want to cut it again with some of New York's finest jazz players. I've booked what I'm told are some of the top session musicians," said Denny. He told me that he booked Clark Terry, a trumpet jazz icon, and booked A&R studios (owned by a young Phil Ramone) for three hours.
This is supposed to be what producer Denny Cordell said to Visconti at their first meeting, but - if you're anything like me - you'll be thinking that nobody talks like that, and no-one should write like that either (btw, if you're not like me, then my congratulations). Here are some more examples:
p43: He lived alone because my grandmother had been in hospital for about ten years having fallen out of a window.
p87: The band had split up in late summer 1966 and while they had reunited with new members, Justin Hayward and John Lodge, almost immediately, Denny pursued a solo career.
p107: Just as Ellen finished speaking the three of us saw something move, out of the corner of our eyes; we simultaneously turned our heads in the same direction.
p231: One day I found Morgan systematically knocking out the small panes of glass with a hammer he had found; he got the first wallops on his bottom of his life.
I felt like I was being poked in the eye by the author every time I came across one of these clunky constructions. Clearly, it's unreasonable to expect a talented record producer to also be good at writing, so I wondered why he hadn't got someone to help him. Funnily enough, the acknowledgements at the end of the book actually include thanks to someone who had "polished [his] grammar" (although it later emerges that they're the vice-president of a large airline, and it's just possible that the obligations of that demanding role don't leave much time free for tracking down missing commas, correcting tenses and finding synonyms for repeated words).
Originally reviewed 26 February 2011
Tony Visconti is best-known for being David Bowie's original producer of choice in the early 70's (he also played the muscular yet fluid bass on The Man Who Sold the World), and for producing Bowie's so-called "Berlin Trilogy" (Low, Heroes and Lodger) together with other important releases such as his Scary Monsters, Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous, Iggy Pop's The Idiot and - more recently - Morrissey's Ringleader Of The Tormentors. He also had a long association with Mark Bolan which was responsible for getting both of their careers off the ground. Visconti produced all Bolan's records up until 1974, although I'd find it difficult to describe these as "important", as - barring a few classic singles that are indelibly associated with that period - I've always thought of T.Rex's music as being aimed at young children. But the story of Visconti's interactions with Bolan, as the latter struggled to come to terms with riches and adulation on a vast scale (at one point his band were said to be selling 100,000 records a day) is a fascinating one, although he has nicer - and more interesting - things to say about his work with Bowie. One of these is that, in the course of a dalliance with Antonia Maass (a Berlin nightclub singer) during work on the "Heroes" album, he'd given her a kiss while walking past the Berlin wall. Visconti says (p250) that Bowie saw them from the studio window, and it inspired him to write the climactic verse in "Heroes": "I can remember / Standing by the wall / And the guns / Shot above our heads / And we kissed / As though nothing could fall".
This being the story of Visconti's life, a lot of personal detail about his upbringing and family (his second wife was singer Mary Hopkin, while his third was May Pang - erstwhile girlfriend of John Lennon) gets included alongside the account of his professional work. Overall it's a very good story with some nice details, but I found it difficult to read because of sentences like these (p26):
"I have already produced a British version of the song with Georgie but I want to cut it again with some of New York's finest jazz players. I've booked what I'm told are some of the top session musicians," said Denny. He told me that he booked Clark Terry, a trumpet jazz icon, and booked A&R studios (owned by a young Phil Ramone) for three hours.
This is supposed to be what producer Denny Cordell said to Visconti at their first meeting, but - if you're anything like me - you'll be thinking that nobody talks like that, and no-one should write like that either (btw, if you're not like me, then my congratulations). Here are some more examples:
p43: He lived alone because my grandmother had been in hospital for about ten years having fallen out of a window.
p87: The band had split up in late summer 1966 and while they had reunited with new members, Justin Hayward and John Lodge, almost immediately, Denny pursued a solo career.
p107: Just as Ellen finished speaking the three of us saw something move, out of the corner of our eyes; we simultaneously turned our heads in the same direction.
p231: One day I found Morgan systematically knocking out the small panes of glass with a hammer he had found; he got the first wallops on his bottom of his life.
I felt like I was being poked in the eye by the author every time I came across one of these clunky constructions. Clearly, it's unreasonable to expect a talented record producer to also be good at writing, so I wondered why he hadn't got someone to help him. Funnily enough, the acknowledgements at the end of the book actually include thanks to someone who had "polished [his] grammar" (although it later emerges that they're the vice-president of a large airline, and it's just possible that the obligations of that demanding role don't leave much time free for tracking down missing commas, correcting tenses and finding synonyms for repeated words).
Originally reviewed 26 February 2011
March 13, 2020
I went to a talk Tony Visconti gave in 2018 at The Strawbs 50th anniversary weekend. He had also written a new arrangement for a song which he conducted with an orchestra on stage. He was an engaging speaker with a storied history so buying his book was an easy decision.
Visconti has been a record producer since the 60’s. Luckily hooking up with Denny Cordell in NY led to him assisting Cordell in England ( Procol Harum, The Move) and staying in London for 2 decades.
He is most known for T Rex and almost every David Bowie record but has worked with many others -Moody Blues, Morrisey, Thin Lizzy.
While Marc Bolan of T Rex doesn’t come across well, Bowie is praised both for his skill and character. We get inside the studio with some technical info that is hard to decipher and some more personal remembrances.
Viscontis early years especially were exciting and enviable if you lived the music of that time. Women, drugs, music were his life, He married and divorced 3x with wives including singer Mary Hopkin and former Lennon girlfriend May Pang. He seems to have maintained good relationships with 4 children.
For fans if 60’s and 70’s music especially the above mentioned this is well worth your time.
Visconti has been a record producer since the 60’s. Luckily hooking up with Denny Cordell in NY led to him assisting Cordell in England ( Procol Harum, The Move) and staying in London for 2 decades.
He is most known for T Rex and almost every David Bowie record but has worked with many others -Moody Blues, Morrisey, Thin Lizzy.
While Marc Bolan of T Rex doesn’t come across well, Bowie is praised both for his skill and character. We get inside the studio with some technical info that is hard to decipher and some more personal remembrances.
Viscontis early years especially were exciting and enviable if you lived the music of that time. Women, drugs, music were his life, He married and divorced 3x with wives including singer Mary Hopkin and former Lennon girlfriend May Pang. He seems to have maintained good relationships with 4 children.
For fans if 60’s and 70’s music especially the above mentioned this is well worth your time.
March 15, 2023
This book is an incredibly interesting read, detailing massive moments in pop culture history and defining shifts in music production. Learning the behind the scenes of some of my favourite tracks and the personal stories that ran alongside them was magical. There is no doubt that Tony Visconti has created a hugely impactful legacy on the music industry, and so for that reason I’m glad that I finally read this book (it having been sat on various shelves of mine since I was 14 and in the peak of my indie phase) but I can’t give it more than 2 stars because of the way that the book talks about women. Almost every time I was submerged in the exciting narrative of Visconti’s musical journey it was completely ruined for me by vile comments about looking at girls skirts, how much he wanted to shag various female musicians, etc. Just awful and left me with a really sour taste in my mouth every time. He confesses his misogynistic behaviours in his final chapters, yet having been told by his therapist that he projects ideals onto women in very dehumanising ways, he continues to objectify and dehumanise almost all the women he ever came into contact with throughout the book. :(
April 5, 2022
As the title suggests , the most compelling part of this book , for this reader , was legendary record producer Tony Visconti recalling his time working with two of the most iconic artists in Rock / Pop , during the 1970s, namely David Bowie , and Marc Bolan
The beginning of the Authors story concerning living in , and discovering his love and talent for making music in 1960s New York , will be fascinating to many music fans
Being a reader of a certain vintage, I can remember Mary Hopkin , winning the Opportunity Knocks talent show, for multiple weeks, during the early 70s , so Tony Vs open and honest telling of the ups and downs of his marriage to the shy Welsh singer is very honest and revealing
As the decades roll by , the author name checks many artists and albums he was involved in making, summed up by the fact that many of my favourite artists from the 70s to the present day , have one of their best albums produced by the genus that is Tony Visconti
This is an excellent page turner for any fans of classic rock through the ages!
The beginning of the Authors story concerning living in , and discovering his love and talent for making music in 1960s New York , will be fascinating to many music fans
Being a reader of a certain vintage, I can remember Mary Hopkin , winning the Opportunity Knocks talent show, for multiple weeks, during the early 70s , so Tony Vs open and honest telling of the ups and downs of his marriage to the shy Welsh singer is very honest and revealing
As the decades roll by , the author name checks many artists and albums he was involved in making, summed up by the fact that many of my favourite artists from the 70s to the present day , have one of their best albums produced by the genus that is Tony Visconti
This is an excellent page turner for any fans of classic rock through the ages!
August 30, 2018
I will be honest and state that I knew all about Tony Visconti's Marc Bolan and David Bowie connections, along with the fact that he produced the most recent Damned album but, will admit to not knowing much else about him. Thoroughly enjoyed this and admit to having no idea that he married Mary Hopkin. He has worked with a diverse number of music acts and was the obvious choice to work with Bowie in his later years. Would love to see a revised and updated version of this published.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
November 30, 2020
Heilt á litið skemmtileg innsýn inn í stórmerkilegt ævistarf Viscontis. Hann dregur ekki mikið undan og fjallar opinskátt um sjálfan sig og samstarfsfólk sitt. Hins vegar verður bókin frekar endurtekningarsöm þegar hann fer að vinna með öðrum en Bowie og Bolan, mjög hástemmdar og nær samhljóða lýsingar á hinum og þessum listamönnum sem maður hefur aldrei heyrt um, auk þess sem hann endurtekur stundum sömu atriðin aftur og aftur. Hefði þurft betri ristjóra satt best að segja. - En alveg þess virði að lesa.
October 6, 2017
One of the better music industry biographies, by the man responsible for the success of David Bowie and Marc Bolan, and involved with such notable acts as Thin Lizzy, U2, Morrisey, etc. Visconti mixes his personal and professional life just enough to keep from bogging down the reader in either. The one thing that I wish he would have done, is to go in to greater detail about the songs on more albums. He goes into great detail on ‘Scary Monsters’ but not on any other project.
May 18, 2021
A brilliant book thourghly readable so interesting written by legendary music producer who has worked with the most iconic creative music superstars in the world. Without Tony Visconti to help these visoniarys on there way certain things in life might not have happened for them and for us, as music influences lots of things in our lives. This book is magnetic draws you in keeps you pinned to each page what a great life Tony's has had, thanks for all you've done Tony.
September 7, 2023
Fabulous tour of pop/rock/art music history by one of it’s (mostly) unsung heroes, Producer Tony Visconti. Bolan and Bowie, yes (so many stories), but Hopkins and May Pang, McCartney and Morrissey, and everyone in between. Funny, well-written and bracingly honest, this is a must-read for anyone for whom popular music (however you define that) is the secret sauce and spice of life. Write a sequel, Mr. Visconti!
September 22, 2017
Unfortunately Visconti's life story is largely humdrum, and though candid about his personal life, he wasn't the most virtuous back in his heyday. His production CV is remarkable, but I couldn't help but to think that maybe much of the "genius" in some of the great records he produced lies more with the musicians themselves.
November 14, 2017
Detailed and well-thought read
Visconti arrived in London during the Summer of Love and went on to become one of the most successful record producers in history. Sadly, he paid a heavy price in terms of family life and three failed marriages. He does a good job of chronicling it all - good and bad.
Visconti arrived in London during the Summer of Love and went on to become one of the most successful record producers in history. Sadly, he paid a heavy price in terms of family life and three failed marriages. He does a good job of chronicling it all - good and bad.
March 12, 2018
Good stuff. A very interesting read. If you own at least 3 albums with Tony Visconti's name on it this book will appeal to you.
Well written, interesting stories about some of rocks most important artist, and a chance to get to know the man who's name I kept seeing on all those album covers.
Well written, interesting stories about some of rocks most important artist, and a chance to get to know the man who's name I kept seeing on all those album covers.
December 29, 2018
Well worth a read if you want to glean a little more about Bowie or Bolan. Visconti doesn't hold back on so you not only get detail about tough studio situations but also get a glimpse into his life. I was surprised to read that he had a teenage heroin habit for instance. Gets a little more sketchy after the glory years, but he is pleasantly honest about his failings. Well worth a read.
June 7, 2024
Mr Visconti has had a long career working with big name artists and yet has very few pithy, amusing or insightful anecdotes about them or the work. Highly recommended if you’re interested in the author’s multiple, marriages, flats and vacations, but if you’re looking for reportage from the sessions with Bolan, Bowie, Morrissey and etc., you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
August 26, 2025
I was a huge fan of T. Rex when I lived in the U. K. in the early 70’s. I suspected Tony Visconti was a large part of that music but didn’t realize how key his contributions were until I read this book. Absolutely fascinating. Add in the stories about producing David Bowie, the Strawbs, Thin Lizzy, and the Moody Blues and it makes for an immensely entertaining and informative read.
December 23, 2025
The first half was really good; a great mix of his technical growth and the people and places involved in his life and career. The second half wasn't quite as interesting as his personal drama kinda got in the way. But lots of historical stuff, especially around Bowie and Springsteen getting to know each other. I do think Visconti doesn't get enough credit however, he did some great work!
February 24, 2019
Great book
Visconti shows the ability to adapt and create within an environment that is always evolving. From working with a young David Bowie to a modern age of Morrissey, always feeling he has to prove himself to new generations even after a very successful career.
Visconti shows the ability to adapt and create within an environment that is always evolving. From working with a young David Bowie to a modern age of Morrissey, always feeling he has to prove himself to new generations even after a very successful career.
October 18, 2019
Interesting
A fascinating autobiography from a man whose name I had read many times but about who I knew very little. The last twenty years is rushed and feels like an outline and the line about wanting a new Bowie album is sad and dates the book but an enjoyable read
A fascinating autobiography from a man whose name I had read many times but about who I knew very little. The last twenty years is rushed and feels like an outline and the line about wanting a new Bowie album is sad and dates the book but an enjoyable read
March 27, 2021
Good story of one of the early glam/prog producers. No big revelations, but a nice biography of someone who was there at the beginning of Bowie, T. Rex, and many other lesser known musical greats. Just enough insight to make it interesting, nothing too salacious.
April 2, 2021
I devoured this book, a very matter of fact autobiography by Tony Visconti. Full of great content about Visconti career and some under the bonnet observations about various on the music industry. It’s from 2007 so Inwoukd like an update covering Holy Holy, The Next Day and Blackstar
April 1, 2023
Good easy read to dip in an out of, perfect vacation read. Fascinating memories of Bolan and Bowie in the studio and also of the scene in London in late 60s/early 70s. Skimmed past the long sections on The Moody Blues difficult come back album struggles...zzzz.
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