Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson (born 4 September 1975)^[1] is an English music producer, cover-artist and co-founder of Allido Records. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz focused on American hip hop and included a collaboration with Sean Paul. His sophomore album, Version focuses on the British music scene, with covers from the likes of Radiohead and Kaiser Chiefs. The album has garnished major success, including three top ten hits and Top 2 debut.

Biography

Early life

Ronson was born in London, England. He moved to New York when he was eight years old. He was the son of Southport-born socialite/writer Ann Dexter-Jones^[2] and Laurence Ronson. He is the nephew of property tycoon Gerald Ronson and the brother of singer and DJ Samantha Ronson and clothing designer Charlotte Ronson. His parents are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, with ancestors from Russia, Lithuania and Austria, and Ronson was raised in Torah Judaism.^[3] Ronson grew up in New York (where he moved at 8) closely around music, as his stepfather was Foreigner guitarist, Mick Jones.^[4] As a teen, Ronson describes himself as "bookish musically".

Career

He went to high school at the Collegiate School located on 78th and Broadway in New York City. Attending Vassar College and then New York University (NYU), Ronson became a regular at downtown hip-hop spots and made his name as a DJ on the New York club scene in 1993. He was soon one of the most respected DJs and was being called on for celebrities' private parties. Ronson is known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection, influenced by both the hip-hop scene of New York and the more rock influence of the UK, amongst others.

He moved on, however, to producing music. After producing Nikka Costa's song "Everybody Got Their Something," Ronson signed a record contract with Elektra Records. His first album Here Comes the Fuzz was released in 2003 and was a critically acclaimed success that featured artists of all genres, despite initially poor sales. The most well known song from the album, "Ooh Wee" samples "Sunny" by Boney M and features Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, and Trife Da God. He has since produced multiple songs on the albums of singers Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Robbie Williams.

In 2004, he formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Rhymefest, most well-known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's "Jesus Walks".

In March 2006, Ronson released a cover of Radiohead's "Just" as a single. In certain areas, such as the UK, it gained major radio play. It also saw release as part of Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads, a full Radiohead covers CD, in April, later appearing on Ronson's second album.

Version, his sophomore album, was released in the UK on 16 April 2007 and debuted at number 2 on the album charts, right beneath Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing. It includes other covers of a diverse selection of rock & pop songs including: Kaiser Chiefs' "Oh My God" (featuring guest vocals from Lily Allen), an instrumental version of Coldplay's "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face", Britney Spears' "Toxic", Ryan Adams' "Amy", Maxïmo Park's "Apply Some Pressure", The Zutons' "Valerie" and Kasabian's "L.S.F.". The album has spent 31 weeks on the chart, 13 of which have been in te top 10.

Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" under the title "Stop Me" on 2 April, 2007, featuring Daniel Merriweather, which reached #2 in the UK singles charts, the biggest hit for Ronson to date. Ronson re-mixed the Bob Dylan song "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" in promotion for the three disc Bob Dylan set simply titled "DYLAN" to be released in October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's "One More Chance (Ronson mix)" in 2007.

Ronson's second album Version has been well received by critics. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine Mixmag. On June 23, the DJ made the cover of the Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside the singer Lily Allen.

Ronson's music has not garnished major attention in the US, primarily due to a lack of promotion and a poor album release. Ronson has, however, managed to chart on Billboard's Rythmic, Dance and R&B charts, with Stop Me reaching 44 in Hot Dance Club Play.

In late 2007 he will focus on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams^[5].

BBC Electric Proms 2007

24 October 2007 saw Ronson perform a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller and Kyle Falconer.^[6].

Discography

Albums

Here Comes the Fuzz (8 September, 2003) UK #70 ^[7]
Version (16 April, 2007) UK #2 ^[7] US #129

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions ^[7]									Album
		UK	IRE	US			ITA	AUS	BUL	SWI
		UK	IRE	Hot 100	R&B	Rhy	ITA	AUS	BUL	SWI
2003	"Ooh Wee" (feat. Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife Da God & Saigon)	15	—	—	80	32	—	88	—	—	Here Comes the Fuzz
2003	"International Affair" (feat. Sean Paul & Tweet) +	—	—	—	—	21	—	—	—	—	Here Comes the Fuzz
2006	"Just" (feat. Alex Greenwald)	48	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Version
2007	"Stop Me" (feat. Daniel Merriweather)	2	38	—	—	—	23	64	6	11
	"God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" (feat. Daptone Horns) ++	63	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"No One Knows" (feat. Domino) ++	66	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Oh My God" (feat. Lily Allen)	8	21	—	—	—	—	72	—	—	Version
	"Valerie" (feat. Amy Winehouse)	2	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Version

+ not released as commercial single, charted as album cut from airplay

++ not released as commercial single, charted from digital downloads

Singles produced by Mark Ronson

Year	Song	Artist	Chart Position
Year	Song	Artist	UK	R&B	Hot 100	AUS
2001	Like A Feather	Nikka Costa	53	-	-	-
2004	City Rules	Daniel Merriweather (feat. Saigon)	-	-	-	76
2004	She's Got Me	Daniel Merriweather	-	-	-	69
2005	These Days	Rhymefest	-	-	-	-
2006	Lovelight	Robbie Williams	8	-	-	25
2006	Littlest Things	Lily Allen	21	-	-	-
2006	Rehab	Amy Winehouse	7	-	10	60
2007	Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'Aime Plus	Robbie Williams	-	-	-	-
2007	You Know I'm No Good	Amy Winehouse	18	87	78	-
2007	Back To Black	Amy Winehouse	25	-	-	-
2007	One More Chance	Candie Payne	-	-	-	-
2007	Slow Down Baby	Christina Aguilera	-	-	-	21
2007	Wake Up Call (Remix)	Maroon 5 (feat. Mary J. Blige)	-	-	-	-
2007	Love Is A Losing Game	Amy Winehouse	-	-	-	-

References

External links

[1] ttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1053148/

[2] ttp://ontheinside.info/ann-dexter-jones/

[3] ttp://www.jewtastic.com/posts/18556

[4] ttp://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/alexispetridis/story/0,,2183270,00.html

[5] Mark Ronson: He's got it covered video interview with stv.tv

[6] ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms/2007/artists/markronson/

[acharts-7] "Mark Ronson's worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved October 23 2007.

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