LIANE HANSEN, Host:
Music producer Mark Ronson's name may not ring any bells with you, but no doubt you've heard some of his productions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "REHAB")
AMY WINEHOUSE: (Singing) They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, no, no, no. Yes, I've been black but when I come back you'll know, know, know...
HANSEN: That's the song "Rehab" taken from Amy Winehouse's Grammy-winning album "Back to Black," on which Mark Ronson produced several songs. Ronson is also a DJ, guitarist and co-founder of the record label Allido Records.
CD: It has a good beat and you can dance to it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANG, BANG, BANG")
MARK RONSON: (Singing) Un, deux, trios. Turn it up a little bit more. Bang, bang, bang...
HANSEN: Mark Ronson is in the BBC studios in London. Mark, welcome to the program.
RONSON: Hi. How are you?
HANSEN: Very well, thank you. Before we talk about the album itself, is yours really a record collection or is it more like CDs and digital downloads?
RONSON: Well, I started off as a deejay. So over the course of the years, since the mid '90s when I started, I probably amassed may be five, six, 7,000 records. And then this sort of - the digital age kicked in for DJs, where you could get software that you could still DJ on turntables but use your laptop, which is a lot more convenient than lugging, you know, 500 records around the world.
HANSEN: Is there a record you would put on more than others?
RONSON: I like, like the late '60s and early '70s, like the recordings just have this amazing warmth to it, whether you're talking about the Stevie Wonder or The Band or Miles Davis. And they're almost like comfort food for me or something.
HANSEN: You're breaking some ground personally here. You sing on the title track, as well as on the song "Lose It in the End." This is the first time you've actually sung on an album?
RONSON: Yeah, pretty much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOSE IT IN THE END")
RONSON: (Soundbite of song, "Lose It (In the End)"
RONSON: (Singing) Stupid once again. You wanna be my friend and I'll push too hard again. Always lose it in the end. I don't know. How I can let you go. How will I let you go - go, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
HANSEN: You were born in the U.K. but moved to New York City when you were young. You went to the Collegiate School. You went to Vassar College. You attended New York University. What did your parents think when you decided to DJ in New York clubs?
RONSON: My mom, when we moved to New York, she was by the standards of American - the parents as my, you know, kids in school here was incredibly strict, you know. And my stepdad was in the band Foreigner. So like, it's funny because with my stepdad, they didn't really understand what DJing was, 'cause is not like it is now with, you know, turntables outselling guitars in record shops. Back then it was still like - it was a very much like an art form that belonged to, you know, to hip-hop.
HANSEN: Unidentified Man: Es-ki-boy: Mark Ronson. Put this one in your record box, ah ha...
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG "RECORD COLLECTION")
HANSEN: Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran is featured on the song "Record Collection." How did you end up collaborating with him?
RONSON: Duran Duran were actually my first favorite band as a kid. Like, I remember, you know, you have certain songs that you like and then there's suddenly one band that's just your favorite band, and it's one that you've got the lunch box and T-shirt and, you know, you are fully psycho, you have Duran Duran bed sheets.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
RONSON: And then while we were recording my album, later I asked Simon if he would sing the chorus on this song. And Simon doesn't usually, you know, sing other people's stuff. He writes all his own lyrics. But he just liked the hook and he agreed to sing it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG "RECORD COLLECTION")
SIMON LE BON: (Singing) I tell you what it is on my mind. Whoa-oh. I only want to be in your record collection, whoa-oh, ah. I only want to be in your record collection, whoa-oh, ah. And I'll do anything it takes just to get there...
RONSON: And, you know, I might play Ghostface Killah record in the same set as a Duran Duran record on the same night as the Michael Jackson record. So to me, they all exist sort of in the same musical universe. And it is surreal to be in a place to be able to record some of these people that you really grew up with, and you love so much.
HANSEN: You're listed as playing guitar, percussion, keyboards, drums, bass on this record. I mean, when did you first start playing music? What got you into it?
RONSON: I think the main thing was that just as long as I was around music in a way, like I sort of didn't mind what I was doing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEBODY TO LOVE ME")
HANSEN: As a music producer, how do you keep it new? Sometimes do you feel like you've heard everything before?
RONSON: I knew on this record I had to do something different for me, but I didn't know what it was. And I just thought I would just get a bunch of like these old '70s analog synthesizers, some kind of rare ones, and just start playing as a band in a room.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEBODY TO LOVE ME")
RONSON: And I guess that all gets put together into this kind of pot that hopefully it becomes something new. It's almost like although there all different colors of Play-Doh. And like hopefully, when you like shove it all together in this one ball at the end, it's like it becomes its own color and it's not so obvious that you can go, oh, I know they got this from that and they got that bit. Maybe it becomes its own sort of unique combination.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEBODY TO LOVE ME")
RONSON: (Singing) Dear Mr. Lonely, how much could you know me...
HANSEN: Mark Ronson's new album is called "Record Collection," and he joined us from the BBC studios in London. Mark, thank you and good luck.
RONSON: (Singing) And I lost what it was in the teenage dust of a Downtown Romeo...
HANSEN: You can hear more songs by Mark Ronson at NPRMusic.org.
Copyright © 2010 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.