If there’s one name on everyone’s lips at the moment, it’s that of super producer Mark Ronson. The 32-year-old is the producer du jour, having worked with the hottest names in the music industry such as Robbie Williams, Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera and Amy Winehouse to name but a few.
Ronson was born in London into a blueblood family, the son of model and socialite Ann Dexter-Jones and former band manager Laurence Ronson. At the age of eight, his parents divorced and Ronson moved with his mother and her new husband, Mick Jones (of the band Foreigner) to New York City. There, Ronson mingled with a plethora of successful rock musicians. With such connections, Ronson naturally gravitated towards the popular music world. Having played drums and guitar from an early age, it wasn’t until moving to New York City that Ronson discovered DJ culture.
Ronson became a regular at downtown hip-hop spots and gradually made his name as a DJ on the New York club scene. Though a novice with little experience, he soon became known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. Ronson’s work attracted the attention of Jay-Z, among others, and he progressed from working at New York’s roughest hip-hop venues to being called on for celebrities’ private parties ( P. Diddy hired Ronson to DJ his fabled 29th birthday bash ) and the occasional high-profile assignment, like TomKat’s wedding.
His first album Here Comes the Fuzz was released in 2003 and was a critically acclaimed success despite initially poor sales. The best known song from the album, Ooh Wee, sampled “Sunny” by Boney M and featured Ghostface Killah and Nate Dogg.
In 2006, Mark was approached to contribute to Exit Music: Songs With Radio Heads – a compilation of Radiohead covers. The idea for Version, his second album, came about after he reworked Radiohead’s Just ( featuring Phantom Planets’ Alex Greenwald ) into a beats-and-brass funk jam.
Version was released in the UK in April 2007 on Ronson’s own label, Allido, and debuted at number two on the charts. The album minted what has become Ronson’s signature style: a smart, witty, commercial melding of hip-hop with classic 60s soul. It included songs from a diverse selection of rock, pop and indie genres which Ronson reworked into dance floor-friendly tunes. Some of the numbers covered by Ronson included an instrumental version of Coldplay’s God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, Britney Spears’ Toxic, Kaiser Chiefs’ Oh My God , Maximo Park’s Apply Some Pressure, Kasabian’s L.S.F., Ryan Adams’ Amy and The Zutons’ Valerie.
The first single from the album was a cover of The Smiths’ track Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. Mark’s refix of the track into a funky number managed to incur the wrath of furious fans. Angry Smiths’ devotees were enraged by Ronson’s audacity to tread on holy ground, a sentiment well documented on Myspace and other message boards around the world. Despite this, the single Stop Me featuring Melbourne born, soul singer Daniel Merriweather, reached number two on the UK singles chart. The following singles, Oh My God (featuring Lily Allen) and Valerie (featuring Amy Winehouse) charted at Numbers eight and two respectively. The fourth single from this album due out on February 18th is a re-release of Just the very song that was the catalyst for the conception of Version.
Ronson’s collaborative work with Amy Winehouse has received the greatest praise from the music fraternity, earning the pair a total of six Grammy nominations. Back To Black, was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year. Rehab, received nods for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year and, more importantly, Record of the Year. Ronson went on to win his first Grammy for Producer of the Year, pipping the odds on favourite Timbaland at the post.
In January, Ronson also received three nominations for the Brit awards, including Best Album (Version), Song of the Year (Valerie) and Best Male Solo Artist. This week Ronson walked away with the Best Male Solo Artist gong, the first non-singer in history to take the award.
So where to go from here? Will 2008 continue to bring Mr.Ronson as much success as the previous year? I’m not a gambler perse, but I would put my money on it!
