Tony Visconti

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Lore & Background

Visconti was brought in by Kenneth Pitt to produce David Bowie's second studio album after the failure of his 1967 debut. He saw "Space Oddity" as a "novelty record" and handed production of that song to Gus Dudgeon, Bowie's former engineer. Dudgeon recalled: "I listened to the demo and thought it was incredible. I couldn't believe that Tony didn't want to do it." Bowie contrasted the two producers in a 1969 interview, saying of Visconti: "With Tony Visconti, who's producing my LP, it's part of his life. He lives with music all day long, it's going on in his room, he writes it, arranges it, produces it, plays it, thinks it, and believes very much in its spiritual source – his whole life is like this." Visconti recruited Junior's Eyes – Mick Wayne, Tim Renwick, John 'Honk' Lodge and John Cambridge – as the main backing band, and Beatles' engineer Ken Scott also joined the sessions. According to Renwick, Bowie was "kind of nervous and unsure of himself" and gave little direction during the sessions, which author Paul Trynka attributed to events in Bowie's personal life at the time.

In Their Own Story

In June 1969, Visconti began recording the album at Trident Studios in London, five days after the single "Space Oddity" was recorded. Work commenced on "Janine", "An Occasional Dream" and "Letter to Hermione". Recording continued on and off for the next few months. Bowie wrote "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" following his father's death on 5 August. Eleven days later, Bowie participated in the Beckenham Free Festival, commemorating "Memory of a Free Festival" after the event; recording for that song began on 8 September. "God Knows I'm Good" was attempted at Pye Studios in Marble Arch on 11 September but scrapped due to problems with the recording equipment; it was re-recorded at Trident five days later. Recording completed on 6 October 1969.

Reader's Guide

Visconti's role on David Bowie was as producer of the entire album except for the single "Space Oddity", which was produced by Gus Dudgeon. He recruited the backing band Junior's Eyes (guitarists Mick Wayne and Tim Renwick, bassist John 'Honk' Lodge, drummer John Cambridge) and additional guitarist Keith Christmas. The source does not state that Visconti played bass or any instrument on this album, nor that he worked on any other Bowie albums. The album was a commercial failure due to a lack of promotion, despite some positive reviews. Visconti later produced a 2019 remix of the album, which was titled Space Oddity.

Did You Know?

• Visconti passed on producing "Space Oddity" because he saw it as a "novelty record", handing the job to Gus Dudgeon.
• He had little production experience at the time of recording David Bowie but remained enthusiastic throughout the sessions.
• Visconti recruited the band Junior's Eyes (minus their vocalist) as the main backing band for the album.
• The album was recorded at Trident Studios in London from June to October 1969.
• Visconti later produced a 2019 remix of the album, which was retitled Space Oddity.