How Tony Visconti keeps the Bowie flag flying

About this episode

Tony Visconti discusses his long-standing collaboration with David Bowie and the ongoing celebration of Bowie's music through the band Holy Holy.

Tony Visconti left Brooklyn for London in 1967, began working with the Move and Marc Bolan and formed a life-long friendship with the teenage David Bowie, playing on his first two albums and producing 10 of ones that followed. And in 2014 he formed Holy Holy with Woody Woodmansey, a live celebration of Bowie’s music from 1970 to Blackstar. They’re touring again in September with Glenn Gregory as lead singer – “you can’t mourn forever.” He talks to us here about …   … the gig they played the night Bowie died   … life at Bowie’s commune at Haddon Hall – “I kept my door firmly locked!”   … Marc Bolan at Middle Earth, “a hundred spellbound kids sitting cross-legged on the floor”   … hearing Flowers In The Rain (which he arranged) as the first record on Radio One   … “A little chinwag?” How Bowie broke the news about his illness   … his dislike of Space Oddity, “I told him it was novelty, a sell-out”   … producing The Man Who Sold The World and the emotional Blackstar   … the night he met the teenage Bowie and they wound up in a Chelsea cinema   … “Why are you doing this?” Bowie’s reaction to the first Holy Holy tour in 2014 &nbsp…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, Alex Gold

Guest: Tony Visconti

Topics covered

• Tony Visconti
• David Bowie
• music production
• Holy Holy
• Bowie's legacy
• friendship
• live performances

Keywords

• Tony Visconti
• David Bowie
• Holy Holy
• music production
• Bowie's commune
• live performance
• Marc Bolan
• Flowers In The Rain
• Blackstar
• The Next Day

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Holy Holy, Radio One

Books & works: Flowers In The Rain, The Man Who Sold The World, Blackstar, The Next Day

Places: Brooklyn, London, Haddon Hall, New York

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