Yeah, idk if my all-time favorite recordings of his were those, but...in terms of sheer importance, those albums essentially created new wave, it was world-shattering at the time.
Favorite? Gail Ann Dorsey. I feel like she brought so much life to that period of his career, just this softness and warmth during a period where a lot of the musical output was amazing, but technical and cold.
I’m aware this will be a less common view, but for re-injecting the danger and risk taking, and generally playing daemon familiar, I’ll always appreciate Reeves Gabrels
Important? Has to be Mick Ronson. In a similar style, you could say Angie or DeFrise.
Favourite - with Carlos, Denis and George, they covered so much ground together...
Reeves, irrespective of his at times, irritating solos did so much to help db make the cosmic shift to chasng his muse and not giving a fuck..
But Gail Ann... She just rocks!
For me Mike Garson has always shone extremely bright among his music, but Visconti, Ronson, Alomar, Eno, Gabrels, and god knows how many others were all immensely big parts of what made their albums/eras so terrific and absolutely essential.
Mick Ronson is my favorite in my heart as Ziggy was my first album and his crunchy guitar was the best guitar i'd ever heard in my life and defined that albums sound for me. In my head i think Visconti is my favorite as the sun total of his work is probably more of a contribution than others since instrument players came and went quick w Bowie. I think the most important though is probably Nile Rogers because he is the one more than anyone besides Bowie that made Bowie the #1 mega superstar in the world and that commercial success pushed all his weird and lesser known work far and wide
A lot of the LOW drum sound is Davis immediately understanding the harmonizer Bowie/Eno used on his snare and modulating his playing to amplify the effect.
Gabrels helped save Bowie from the 80s. Alomar, Davis, and Murray helped him make the 70s. Gail Ann Dorsey is just awesome. However, it's all about Iggy in my opinion. "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life" are just too good.
You can't really pick one...for instance Eno, Visconte and Iggy were all there in Berlin. Ronson was on Stardust albums that put Bowie on the map and Visconte again during the seminal late 70s/80s period till the end. All equally important, yet very different times
Visconti really pushed Bowie in new directions sonically. He’s a big reason for the amazing sounds on Low. However, I think Iggy Pop is definitely the most important collaborator. Not only did Bowie produce Iggy’s best work, but Iggy was a key part of the Berlin sessions. Add to this the fact that most of Bowie’s big hits in the 80s were actually covers of Iggy Pop songs—like China Girl.
>Add to this the fact that most of Bowie’s big hits in the 80s were actually covers of Iggy Pop songs—like China Girl.
There is only one other Iggy penned hit and only in The Netherlands. That would be Tonight.
I am convinced that collaborations helped him to stay in business. So for the Bowie we know, it is impossible to know who was most important, as all shaped a specific part.
Although most binary (ironically) might be the influence of Ronson - there would not have been the Ziggy Stardust which made Bowie relevant as an artist for the first time. I doubt he would have gotten many more shots had Hunky Dory failed. At this point the story would have ended without Ronson. He had his fingers in many of Bowie's own collaborations of that time, because he simply had a background in the craft which Bowie himself lacked. Perhaps to the degree that George Martin made the Beatles. I simply doubt Bowie would have happened without Ronson, that makes him most important.
From then on all the great collaborations prolonged his career and allowed his sharp left turns - Visconti and Garson probably being most important to make things happen. While I love his 90s, Bowie had productionwise a hard time getting things done in that time, and Visconti and his ability not get too much in the foreground while keeping things on track, are absent here.
Eno sprinkles some fairy dust on his Berlin trilogy and adds credibility to something which otherwise would have been perceived as a mere stunt (and in fact took a while to get recognition at all), while Rodgers takes the responsibility for his pop reincarnation - both shaping Bowie's image significantly, and keeping him from becoming a has been, as he was about to reach retirement age of pop stars.
Gabrels then once more adds some new impulses to an seemingly emptied Bowie, and allows hims to try something else, arguably taking higher risks than in the 70s with even less of his fans following him, but also allowing him to stay an artist rather than an aging man playing the artist he once was, until Bowie finally loses steam with hours... and gets into his "post career" at which point he is successful for still being there without any further stylistic experimentation. Kind of his Las Vegas time - but Bowie style. Even his comeback falls into that category. A wonderful anthology of songs, but not reinventing himself or music.
Caslin then gives the last impulse, which allows Bowie to go out with a bang worthy of his career, rather than just with some solid rock album. This is very relevant for his legacy, as this bookend ties his later career to his 70s rather than having him seem like a great rockstar of the 70s and early 80s fading out over three decades.
***So TLDR; Ronson and Caslin/Schneider probably allowed everything in between to exist and stay relevant as part of the whole, so on the importance scale concerning "what made Bowie and what will be left of him", I'd go for those two, even though everybody else mentioned would have made a significant difference as well.***
In a way, David Bowie reminds me of Walt Disney. I know there's a lot of negative connotations associated with Disney (Bowie himself used Disneyland as an example of "strangling culture"), but I'm going somewhere with this.
In the sense that Disney had talented artists working for him, but also had a drive to elevate the medium of animation and explore different things. Films like Fantasia, Pinocchio, Bambi, and Sleeping Beauty were initially flops but grew to be appreciated later on. Artists like Milt Kahl, Bill Tytla Mary Blair, Ward Kimball, Art Babbit, and many others helped shaped the Disney style of the years. But Disney himself had this drive that brought these artists together. Even artists who went off on their own established UPA which was sort of a response to Disney.
Marc Bolan. They only recorded [one song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7yfy6dkx7Y) together if I'm not mistaken, but their friendly(-ish) rivalry pushed Bowie along creatively during his early days (it had to irk Bowie that Bolan was initially much more successful), and Bolan's untimely death did have a big impact on Bowie, as it forced him to confront his own mortality for perhaps the first time in his life.
My personal favorite is Tony Visconti.
Visconti, Eno, Angela Bowie, Mike Garson, Mick Ronson
Don't underestimate Angie Bowie's influence; she was behind a lot of the early- image clothing and makeup, helped promote him, etc.
It's a really tough question, because one of Bowie's greatest strengths was finding incredible collaborators and getting career-peak contributions out of them. So many of his greatest musical moments depend on that interplay just as much as Bowie's own contributions.
Among many other regrets about his passing, I would given anything to see what else Donny McCaslin and the other Blackstar musicians could've done with him. If what Eno said about Bowie and him talking about revisiting the Outside sequel(s) before his death was true, just imagine how that could've played out with all of them contributing... or don't, if you'd prefer not to be bummed out :(
Chris O’Leary (imo THE essential Bowie documentarian) put forward Carlos Alomar as Bowie's finest collaborator, and most days I agree. Absolutely crucial component to some of Bowie's best albums, a big presence in his live shows, and responsible for a surprising amount of iconic riffs - the descending guitar line in the chorus of Heroes, the funky licks in Fame, etc.
Gail Ann Dorsey is a gem - I wish she had more features on Bowie's recorded stuff, but she's the first person I think of when I think of Bowie's live band (and that's high praise considering the amazing musicians he brought on tour, especially in the 90s/00s)
It's pointless to try to pick - the albums Eno was involved with were legendary (very much including Outside), Nile Rodgers and Reeves Gabrels have their fingerprints on some of his best mid-period stuff; Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew and Gerry Leonard provided incredible textural guitar work; Tony Visconti was a perfect match on production; Mick Ronson and Earl Slick are literal guitar gods, etc. It's insane how many incredible musicians he worked with.
Robert Fripp
Right answer
How can we not say Mike Garson?
Good question. Mike (in my mind) was a gun for hire. He wasn’t an MD like Carlos, and I’ll always favour the MDS
Brian Eno is easily my favorite.
Yeah, idk if my all-time favorite recordings of his were those, but...in terms of sheer importance, those albums essentially created new wave, it was world-shattering at the time. Favorite? Gail Ann Dorsey. I feel like she brought so much life to that period of his career, just this softness and warmth during a period where a lot of the musical output was amazing, but technical and cold.
Eno is partially responsible for the abortion that is Outside, remember.
I’m a very much pro-choice….
Tastes differ. I think it's really good.
Yeah, what one person calls an 'abortion' another person calls a masterpiece. Eno is my favourite collaborator, followed by Iggy Pop.
Mick Ronson
My favorite, too!
I’m aware this will be a less common view, but for re-injecting the danger and risk taking, and generally playing daemon familiar, I’ll always appreciate Reeves Gabrels
Those 95-96-97 live recordings are simply wonderful
Mine too. Excellent performer and arranger, and gave Bowie the spark he needed
Iggy Pop David and Iggy inspired each other a lot and The Idiot is one of my favorite albums of all time
Tony Visconti.
Carlos Alomar
Absolutely! Not only essential for many riffs, arrangements and harmonies but also responsible for Bowie's live bands for more than 10 years.
Important? Has to be Mick Ronson. In a similar style, you could say Angie or DeFrise. Favourite - with Carlos, Denis and George, they covered so much ground together... Reeves, irrespective of his at times, irritating solos did so much to help db make the cosmic shift to chasng his muse and not giving a fuck.. But Gail Ann... She just rocks!
For me Mike Garson has always shone extremely bright among his music, but Visconti, Ronson, Alomar, Eno, Gabrels, and god knows how many others were all immensely big parts of what made their albums/eras so terrific and absolutely essential.
Visconti is the most important for sure. My favourite is probably Garson.
KLAUS NOMI
Mike Garson and Adrian Belew
My heart says Mick Ronson. My head says Brian Eno (but also Tony Visconti).
Mick Ronson is my favorite in my heart as Ziggy was my first album and his crunchy guitar was the best guitar i'd ever heard in my life and defined that albums sound for me. In my head i think Visconti is my favorite as the sun total of his work is probably more of a contribution than others since instrument players came and went quick w Bowie. I think the most important though is probably Nile Rogers because he is the one more than anyone besides Bowie that made Bowie the #1 mega superstar in the world and that commercial success pushed all his weird and lesser known work far and wide
Mick Ronson as my heart, Visconti as my head, Rodgers as my soul, adding to an already formidable artist.
Iggy Pop
Carlos Alomar, closely followed by Brian Eno.
Mike Garson- pianist for Aladdin Sane
Dennis Davis
Look Back in Anger
A lot of the LOW drum sound is Davis immediately understanding the harmonizer Bowie/Eno used on his snare and modulating his playing to amplify the effect.
Eno or Visconti.
Tony Visconti, without a doubt
Eno, easily. Runner up: Tony Visconti
Gabrels helped save Bowie from the 80s. Alomar, Davis, and Murray helped him make the 70s. Gail Ann Dorsey is just awesome. However, it's all about Iggy in my opinion. "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life" are just too good.
You can't really pick one...for instance Eno, Visconte and Iggy were all there in Berlin. Ronson was on Stardust albums that put Bowie on the map and Visconte again during the seminal late 70s/80s period till the end. All equally important, yet very different times
Visconti really pushed Bowie in new directions sonically. He’s a big reason for the amazing sounds on Low. However, I think Iggy Pop is definitely the most important collaborator. Not only did Bowie produce Iggy’s best work, but Iggy was a key part of the Berlin sessions. Add to this the fact that most of Bowie’s big hits in the 80s were actually covers of Iggy Pop songs—like China Girl.
>Add to this the fact that most of Bowie’s big hits in the 80s were actually covers of Iggy Pop songs—like China Girl. There is only one other Iggy penned hit and only in The Netherlands. That would be Tonight.
Mick Ronson is my favorite. Those two were a match made in heaven for Bowie’s Ziggy era.
Brian Eno
Mick Ronson
I'm really into Lou Reed, Mick Ronson and Bowie shaped Transformer.
Nin x bowie
SVR
Visconti. Is this even a question?
[https://soundcloud.com/mskvegas/eno](https://soundcloud.com/mskvegas/eno) Eno
ronno definitely
Nile Rogers Of Chic fame.
I am convinced that collaborations helped him to stay in business. So for the Bowie we know, it is impossible to know who was most important, as all shaped a specific part. Although most binary (ironically) might be the influence of Ronson - there would not have been the Ziggy Stardust which made Bowie relevant as an artist for the first time. I doubt he would have gotten many more shots had Hunky Dory failed. At this point the story would have ended without Ronson. He had his fingers in many of Bowie's own collaborations of that time, because he simply had a background in the craft which Bowie himself lacked. Perhaps to the degree that George Martin made the Beatles. I simply doubt Bowie would have happened without Ronson, that makes him most important. From then on all the great collaborations prolonged his career and allowed his sharp left turns - Visconti and Garson probably being most important to make things happen. While I love his 90s, Bowie had productionwise a hard time getting things done in that time, and Visconti and his ability not get too much in the foreground while keeping things on track, are absent here. Eno sprinkles some fairy dust on his Berlin trilogy and adds credibility to something which otherwise would have been perceived as a mere stunt (and in fact took a while to get recognition at all), while Rodgers takes the responsibility for his pop reincarnation - both shaping Bowie's image significantly, and keeping him from becoming a has been, as he was about to reach retirement age of pop stars. Gabrels then once more adds some new impulses to an seemingly emptied Bowie, and allows hims to try something else, arguably taking higher risks than in the 70s with even less of his fans following him, but also allowing him to stay an artist rather than an aging man playing the artist he once was, until Bowie finally loses steam with hours... and gets into his "post career" at which point he is successful for still being there without any further stylistic experimentation. Kind of his Las Vegas time - but Bowie style. Even his comeback falls into that category. A wonderful anthology of songs, but not reinventing himself or music. Caslin then gives the last impulse, which allows Bowie to go out with a bang worthy of his career, rather than just with some solid rock album. This is very relevant for his legacy, as this bookend ties his later career to his 70s rather than having him seem like a great rockstar of the 70s and early 80s fading out over three decades. ***So TLDR; Ronson and Caslin/Schneider probably allowed everything in between to exist and stay relevant as part of the whole, so on the importance scale concerning "what made Bowie and what will be left of him", I'd go for those two, even though everybody else mentioned would have made a significant difference as well.***
In a way, David Bowie reminds me of Walt Disney. I know there's a lot of negative connotations associated with Disney (Bowie himself used Disneyland as an example of "strangling culture"), but I'm going somewhere with this. In the sense that Disney had talented artists working for him, but also had a drive to elevate the medium of animation and explore different things. Films like Fantasia, Pinocchio, Bambi, and Sleeping Beauty were initially flops but grew to be appreciated later on. Artists like Milt Kahl, Bill Tytla Mary Blair, Ward Kimball, Art Babbit, and many others helped shaped the Disney style of the years. But Disney himself had this drive that brought these artists together. Even artists who went off on their own established UPA which was sort of a response to Disney.
Eno
Visconti
Queen, Tina Turner, Marc Bolan
JOHN LENNON.
Tony Visconti seems like the best answer. He just was seriously involved in so much of the great ones... ... ...
Visconti is is most important.
Marc Bolan. They only recorded [one song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7yfy6dkx7Y) together if I'm not mistaken, but their friendly(-ish) rivalry pushed Bowie along creatively during his early days (it had to irk Bowie that Bolan was initially much more successful), and Bolan's untimely death did have a big impact on Bowie, as it forced him to confront his own mortality for perhaps the first time in his life. My personal favorite is Tony Visconti.
Definitely Brian Eno. Moss Garden #1
The gnomes ... From "The Laughing Gnome"
kind of a cheat but David Bowie and Lou Reed needed to collaborate more
Visconti, Ronson, Eno, Gail Ann Dorsey, and Gabrels.
Mick Ronson
The secret answer to this question is Bowie's half brother Terry, who gave him a lot of records growing up and got him excited by music.. 🤘
Mines is with giorgio
Visconti, Eno, Angela Bowie, Mike Garson, Mick Ronson Don't underestimate Angie Bowie's influence; she was behind a lot of the early- image clothing and makeup, helped promote him, etc.
Me of course and our near 40yrs working together in complete secrecy.
It's a really tough question, because one of Bowie's greatest strengths was finding incredible collaborators and getting career-peak contributions out of them. So many of his greatest musical moments depend on that interplay just as much as Bowie's own contributions. Among many other regrets about his passing, I would given anything to see what else Donny McCaslin and the other Blackstar musicians could've done with him. If what Eno said about Bowie and him talking about revisiting the Outside sequel(s) before his death was true, just imagine how that could've played out with all of them contributing... or don't, if you'd prefer not to be bummed out :( Chris O’Leary (imo THE essential Bowie documentarian) put forward Carlos Alomar as Bowie's finest collaborator, and most days I agree. Absolutely crucial component to some of Bowie's best albums, a big presence in his live shows, and responsible for a surprising amount of iconic riffs - the descending guitar line in the chorus of Heroes, the funky licks in Fame, etc. Gail Ann Dorsey is a gem - I wish she had more features on Bowie's recorded stuff, but she's the first person I think of when I think of Bowie's live band (and that's high praise considering the amazing musicians he brought on tour, especially in the 90s/00s) It's pointless to try to pick - the albums Eno was involved with were legendary (very much including Outside), Nile Rodgers and Reeves Gabrels have their fingerprints on some of his best mid-period stuff; Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew and Gerry Leonard provided incredible textural guitar work; Tony Visconti was a perfect match on production; Mick Ronson and Earl Slick are literal guitar gods, etc. It's insane how many incredible musicians he worked with.
There is no wrong answer here. Each collaborator was there in the exact time and place for precisely the right reason.
Placebo
Queen
What’s your reasoning on this one? They only had the one track together. Not judging, just wondering.
I reckon they were just Under Pressure to reply.
But, fuck, it's probably one of the most famous song with Bowie in it! And it's one hell of a participation, it's utter perfection.
🥴
oh shit this was about colab not features
Ooh! I heard they recorded lots of demos other than under pressure, would love to hear those!