25 essential albums produced by Tony Visconti

If only for his lifelong collaboration with David Bowie, Tony Visconti would be among the greatest record producers of the rock era. Visconti and Bowie bonded early in the singer’s career and, together, they assembled an adventurous and enduring catalog anchored by such classics as Low, “Heroes,” and Blackstar.

Visconti, who turns 80 on April 24, has a legacy that extends far beyond Bowie, though. He was instrumental in the creation of glam rock, producing every one of T. Rex’s great albums. He proved himself equally adept at delicate folk-rock and thunderous hard rock. He adapted to the new wave, dabbled with alt-rock on both sides of the Atlantic, helped worldbeat singer Angélique Kidjo win a Grammy, and hasn’t rested on his laurels in recent years, either, making memorable records by Esperanza Spalding and Perry Farrell.

Visconti’s 80th birthday gives us the perfect opportunity to look back at his prodigious career. Not every great record he made can be found on this list of 25 albums, but this selection gives a good idea of the range and depth of his remarkable body of work.

25. Badfinger—Magic Christian Music (1970)

Badfinger’s debut album bears somewhat convoluted production credits due to how it recycles part of Maybe Tomorrow—the 1969 album the band released under their original name of the Iveys—and adds “Come And Get It,” a tune Paul McCartney handed to them telling the group not to change a note of the arrangement. One of three songs produced by McCartney, “Come And Get It” did indeed become a career-making hit for Badfinger and if its presence throws Magic Christian Music—a pseudo-soundtrack for The Magic Christian, a Terry Southern satire co-starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers—off, it’s not as much as the new additions produced by Mal Evans, the Beatles confidante who discovered the Iveys; “Midnight Sun” points the way toward the heavy, hooky “No Matter What.” In turn, such Visconti-produced tracks as “Dear Angie” and “Crimson Ship” are exquisite remnants of the tuneful, harmony-laden 1960s guitar-pop that was falling out of fashion as the 1970s dawned.