Just because not everyone sees your artistic vision doesn’t mean it isn’t there, and fortunately, David Bowie knew that even as producer Tony Visconti tried to convince him he was taking a creative wrong turn. Hindsight’s always 20/20, of course. But Bowie’s refusal to heed the advice of his colleague is a fascinating insight into the singularity of Bowie as an artist.
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Bowie was as extraterrestrial as the stage personas he crafted for himself. He was as hard to pin down as he was intriguing, which made for an interesting combination in the studio. Sometimes, Bowie benefitted from direction. Most often, it was the producer’s job to get out of the way when necessary.
Tony Visconti Tried Convincing David Bowie This Major Hit Would Be Trouble
While he might not be one of the most recognizable faces in show business, producer Tony Visconti is more of a household name than many might realize. Starting in the late 1960s, Visconti helped establish the modern rock sound of the time by helping produce records by David Bowie, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Paul McCartney and Wings, and the Moody Blues. His relationship with Bowie was notable in that they were also friends, roommates, and bandmates, in addition to their producer-client bond.
Visconti began working with Bowie for his self-titled sophomore release from 1969. At the time, the British rock star was laying the groundwork for his future alien persona, Ziggy Stardust, but Visconti wasn’t immediately sold. “When Bowie had the “Space Oddity” thing, I didn’t think it was happening just yet,” Visconti told Classic Rock in 2007. “I thought he had written a very clever song. A novelty record. He had written nothing else like it. I told him it could very well be a hit, but ‘you’re going to have a tough time following it up because it’s not you.’ But Mercury heard the demo and wanted to release it.”
The producer felt so strongly that Bowie shouldn’t heavily pursue “Space Oddity” that he opted not to record that particular track. Visconti passed that responsibility on to Bowie’s former engineer, Gus Dudgeon, who later expressed surprise that the producer would’ve turned down the song. Ultimately, “Space Oddity” was the album opener and lead single from the otherwise commercially unsuccessful release.
The Producer Learned To Work Around His Colleague’s Minor Quirks
Despite stepping aside for the recording of “Space Oddity,” Tony Visconti maintained a healthy working relationship with David Bowie. Visconti worked with Bowie on his third release, The Man Who Sold the World, in 1970, followed by Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Low, “Heroes,” Lodger, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), Heathen, Reality, The Next Day, and his final album that Bowie released within days of his death, Blackstar. Over their many decades of working together, Visconti learned to take Bowie as he came with all of his minor (and not-so-minor) quirks and peculiarities.
“The minute I met him, I thought he was a special guy,” Visconti recalled. “I heard his first album, and I thought the guy was talented, even though he lacked direction, and I could hear the star quality in his voice. His personality was very mercurial. A non-stop talker. He was fidgety and very aware of his physical presence. I knew it was going to be a long haul with him.”
Even when Bowie opted to move forward with his creative visions with or without Visconti’s help, the producer never let his ego affect the respect he had for Bowie as a creator. Visconti recalled the way Bowie would regularly cycle through backing band members and producers, which could be “disconcerting” for newbies to Bowie’s circle. “Even as a producer, I didn’t produce every Bowie album,” Visconti said. “He would just drop me, go with [Chic’s] Nile Rodgers [for Let’s Dance], for instance. His explanation would be that he just liked to change things. I got easier with it years later after the first time it happened. He’s an artist. He can work with whom he pleases. This is why his sound is so fresh.”
Photo by Jorgen Angel/Redferns
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