With a degree in English Language, an interest in journalism, and a passion for music, Greg Cartwright spent two years as Pro Mobile’s Assistant Editor. In April 2016, he left behind his role to embark on a yearlong trip through the Americas. Back in the UK, Greg is now a professional copywriter but also continues to contribute articles to Pro Mobile on a regular basis. seemingly just at home with heavy rock as he is with synth pop, is because of his background as a DJ.
It’s an experience that would no doubt have exposed him to music of all kinds, but also, perhaps most crucially, taught him how these disparate sounds and genres could work together. Ronson’s love of iconic ‘60s pop, the loose, funky beats of hip-hop, and contemporary R&B production has remained a constant throughout his career, and elements of each were showcased on his ground-breaking work with Amy Winehouse. The combination provided the ideal canvas; a musical marriage that suited the singer’s expressive vocal style and bad girl image in equal measure, laying the ground for future acts like Lana Del Rey and Estelle.
Throughout a career that’s so far spanned over two decades, Ronson has touched on just about every genre going, whether it be hip-hop, indie, piano house, funk, grime, R&B, or the eccentric pop of his Business International project. He’s an important producer. One who I don’t feel always gets his dues. So, without further ado, here’s a selection of Mark Ronson’s career-defining tracks… Mark Ronson is a weird guy.
Slightly gawky, a bit nerdy (in a cool way), and from a wealthy background (he’s the stepson of Foreigner’s Mick Jones), yet he somehow made a name for himself as a DJ in the hip-hop scene during his student days at New York University. And it’s contradictions like this which have made him a unique figure in modern music; straddling the line between producer and pop star while creating some of the most unconventional and iconic pop songs of our time.
But how much do you really know about Mark Ronson? We all know the name and his big hit with Bruno Mars. Most of us also know his connections with Amy Winehouse. But how influential has this elusive producer actually been?
This summer I was watching BBC Breakfast, poised to down my coffee and rush out the door for work, when I realised Mark Ronson was about to be interviewed as a musical guest. I stuck around, listened with interest, and observed how worn out and hollow-eyed he looked (that’s the DJ lifestyle for you, I guess). Then the presenter said something that astonished me, suggesting to Ronson that he must still be able to “take the subway” because, as YOU KNOW THE NAME, BUT WHO EXACTLY IS MARK RONSON?
DJ... PRODUCER... ARTIST? GREG CARTWRIGHT PICKS APART THE HITS OF ONE OF THE CENTURY’S HARDEST-WORKING AND MOST IN-DEMAND MUSIC MOGULS. a producer rather than an artist, he isn’t famous enough to be spotted in the street.
I cringed and waited for his reaction, which was polite and down-to-earth, but I could tell he was perplexed by these comments. After all, his most recent smash hit, ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ , is credited to Mark Ronson ft. Miley Cyrus and he appears alongside Cyrus in the video. The story is the same with ‘Uptown Funk’ , which ‘features’ Bruno Mars, ‘Valerie’ with Amy Winehouse... the list goes on.
But, in fairness to the BBC, there is a different side to Mark Ronson the artist; that of the producer diligently working in the background to coax the best out of our greatest stars, elevating their performances through the art of production. Such acts include Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lily Allen, Queens of the Stone Age, Duran Duran, Kaiser Chiefs, Nas and A$AP Rocky – a small selection that nonetheless encompasses multiple genres, from chart pop to hardrock to hip-hop to indie.
As this is Pro Mobile and those of you reading are most likely DJs, I’m just going to throw this out there: surely the reason Mark Ronson is so deft at genre-hopping, *** IS MARK RONSON? MARK RONSON FT. GHOSTFACE KILLAH, NATE DOGG, TRIFE & SAIGON OOH WEE [2003] A light and breezy hip-hop track whose cowbell percussion and larger-than-life horns bring to mind the Chi-Lites sample used in Beyonce’s ‘Crazy In Love’ that same year, ‘Ohh Wee’ was Mark Ronson’s first single under his own name and a Top 20 hit on the UK chart, where it reached #15.
The producer’s love of hip-hop is clear this early on in his career and the guest rappers bring plenty of swagger. The hooks are abundant, but ultimately the track is a far-cry from Ronson’s best work later on in the decade. AMY WINEHOUSE REHAB [2006] Fast forward three years and Ronson was holed up in a New York studio working on a series of tracks with ill-fated jazz singer, Amy Winehouse, who he has since called his “musical soulmate” . Some of the finest cuts from Winehouse’s iconic second album, Back to Black , were co-written by her and Ronson (who shared production rights with Salaam Remi), including lead single ‘Rehab’ .
The song’s chorus was allegedly spoken to Ronson by Winehouse in a genuine conversation, which the producer immediately identified as a hook. In the studio, the pair took classic soul vibes and Winehouse’s hearton-sleeve lyrics and amplified them with modern production techniques. It’s this retro sound that took the track to UK #7, made Amy Winehouse a household name, and kick-started a neo-soul movement that spawned Duffy, Adele, Emeli Sandé, Estelle and more.
MARK RONSON FT. DANIEL MERRIWEATHER STOP ME [2007] In full stride following his work with Amy Winehouse, 2007-2008 was a fruitful time for the producer, whose remixes and guitar-music covers gained him fans in the booming indie scene. This cover of a Smiths track was a stroke of genius, reinventing the jangly original with disco guitars and epic strings, underpinned by a solid breakbeat rhythm. Soulful, silky-smooth vocals from the hugely talented Daniel Merriweather provided the cherry on top - and everybody wanted a bite.
The track peaked at #2 on the UK chart in 2007 and, testament to Ronson’s production, it sounds just as fresh today. MARK RONSON FT. AMY WINEHOUSE VALERIE [2007] Also taken from Ronson’s album of contemporary indie covers, Version, this reworked Zutons track, sung by Amy Winehouse, proved one of the 21st century’s most unlikely hits when it stormed the UK charts (#2). Mark Ronson had invited Winehouse to record something for the album, but the singer was stumped, admitting to rarely listening to anything post-1967 at that time.
Eventually, she settled on ‘Valerie’ , a choice that initially surprised Ronson, though he soon changed his mind upon hearing her vocal take. Using the rhythm from The Jam’s ‘A Town Called Malice’ as a base, the producer utilised a similar instrumental arrangement as he had for ‘Rehab’ , with Winehouse’s expressive vocals laid over punchy brass and a swinging beat. The Zutons have never had to work again. WILEY FT.
DANIEL MERRIWEATHER CASH IN MY POCKET [2008] A decade before Stormzy headlined Glastonbury, confirming the mainstream appeal of grime music, artists like Wiley and Lethal Bizzle were bothering the top 20 thanks to their collaborations with pop and indie acts, in what could be called The First Coming of Grime. Ronson was also riding on the coat-tails of the indie scene, so in 2008 it made perfect sense that he would collaborate with Wiley on ‘Cash In My Pocket’ , a catchy, fun tune that married Wiley’s razor-sharp bars with sparse beats, Mellotron stabs, playful backing vocals, and a guest turn from frequent Ronson collaborator, Daniel Merriweather.
But grime artists have always felt uneasy about the genre’s place in modern music, often valuing integrity over mainstream success. Sadly, Wiley later disowned the Top 20 track as poppy garbage, returning to a purer grime sound. TESTAMENT TO RONSON’S PRODUCTION, IT SOUNDS JUST AS FRESH TODAY. " *** IS MARK RONSON?
Novopro PS1XL & PS1XXL Pro Mobile ad 1.qxp_Layout 1 05/09/2018 12:18 Page 1 MARK RONSON AND THE BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL BANG BANG BANG [2010] Ronson’s third album, Record Collection, was released under the alias Mark Ronson and The Business International, a project that saw him work on a collection of curious but catchy tunes that paired hip-hop heavyweights with lesser-known pop artists. The lead single - and best song - was 2010’s ‘Bang Bang Bang’ , whose odd combination of performances from Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) and Amanda Warner (of synth-pop band MNDR) somehow worked a treat.
Insidiously catchy, right from the off, the sci-fi synths, Q-Tip’s trademark witty bars, and fantastical half- English-half-French vocals, resulted in Ronson’s fourth Top 10 hit in as many years, reaching #6. MARK RONSON FT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK [2014] After a steady run of chart hits during the mid-late noughties, things went a bit quiet for Ronson. Until 2014, that was, when he made his chart-topping comeback with this unstoppably catchy eighties-era funk jam with pop superstar Bruno Mars. ‘Uptown Funk’ actually started out as a jam that Mars and his band played on tour, which was then developed in the studio by him, Ronson and songwriter/producer Jeff Bhasker.
A serious funk bassline, along with Nile Rogers-style guitar riffs from Ronson, provide the base, while Bruno Mars’ lyrical bravado and halfrapped vocals give the track its impossibly cool edge. The visual aesthetic, meanwhile, was as retro as the sound, complete with choreographed Jacksoninspired dancing, salmon blazers, and plenty of dark shades. LADY GAGA WITH BRADLEY COOPER SHALLOW [2018] Recorded for the film A Star Is Born (2018), this country-rock ballad opens with two minutes of plucked folk guitar, subtle strings, and emotive vocals from Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, before Gaga’s voice fires up an octave for the epic finale of drums and overdriven guitar.
Showcasing Ronson’s versatility as a songwriter, ‘Shallow’ drew heavily on his and co-writer Gaga’s work on her Joanne album in 2016, which featured a number of stripped-back acoustic tracks. Critically acclaimed and featuring powerhouse vocals from Lady Gaga, the track took the UK top spot for two weeks, Gaga’s first number-one since 2010’s ‘Telephone’ , and won Ronson his first Oscar. SILK CITY AND DUA LIPA ELECTRICITY [2018] In 2018, Silk City, a production duo consisting of Diplo and Ronson, teamed up with pop superstar Dua Lipa for this pumping piano house track, which bolstered an already successful year for Ronson by reaching #4 in the UK charts.
The vocals from Dua Lipa are strong and sultry, while the nineties influences come thick and fast as mid-tempo house beats mix with pianos and strings, all tied together with some modern dance production techniques from Silk City. The result? A feel-good summer floor-filler that’ll worm its way inside your head and refuse to leave. The fact that ‘Electricity’ won a Grammy for best dance track shows that Ronson is just as capable of turning out huge dance hits as he is pop and hip-hop.
MARK RONSON FT. MILEY CYRUS NOTHING BREAKS LIKE A HEART [2018] Always with his finger on the pulse, Ronson capitalised on the increasing popularity of country music with this critically acclaimed 2018 effort, taken from his 2019 album Late Night Feelings . Proving she’s much more than just a Disney Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus lays down a fierce vocal take that would make Parton pause for thought. Meanwhile, Ronson plays with genre tropes as country guitar twangs meld seamlessly with traintrack snare rhythms and deep-house basslines to create a blissed-out summer dance anthem.
Another genius collaboration, it’s little surprise ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ reached #2 in the UK charts. Clearly, Ronson still has that magic touch. What will he do next? Who knows… RONSON IS JUST AS CAPABLE OF TURNING OUT HUGE DANCE HITS AS HE IS POP AND HIP-HOP " *** IS MARK RONSON?
