The thing about TVD’s fourth favorite producer, Tony Visconti, that I appreciate in a very different vein from yesterday’s producer extraordinaire, Roy Thomas Baker, is that Tony doesn’t come with a particular ‘sound’ per se. Where RTB seems to impart his stamp on a recording, Visconti allows the artist to breathe in the studio. “My policy is to interfere as little as possible, but to draw out the best in the artists I work with, especially the singers. The best part is towards the end, when I sit at a mixing console and put it all together. It’s actually a very nice occupation.”
Whether he’s functioning as coach, mentor, or conspirator, his crystalline recordings capture just that – the singularity of an artist’s unique confection. And I should add, he’s worked with some very fine songwriters, indeed:
T. Rex – The Slider (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy – Dancing In The Moonlight (Mp3)
David Bowie – Ashes To Ashes (Mp3)
Prefab Sprout – Cowboy Dreams (Mp3)
The Finn Brothers – Disembodied Voices (Mp3)
