The First Time with Tony Visconti

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Interviews with major artists revealing the moments and songs that shaped their careers.

6 Music's Matt Everitt presents in-depth, exclusive and revealing interviews with major artists revealing the pivotal moments and songs that shaped their lives and their careers.

The First Time With...: Tony Visconti

Tasmin Little, Eliza Carthy, Elim Chan

Tony Visconti

BBC Radio 6 Music - The First Time With..., Tony Visconti

Matt Everitt chats to Tony Visconti about the key musical moments of his life.

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.

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