Record Collection

Album: Record Collection (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track from the third studio album by Anglo-American music producer Mark Ronson. It is the second song on Record Collection to feature lead vocals from Ronson. Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon also sings on the chorus while his bandmate Nick Rhodes plays keyboards. UK grime artist Wiley's rapped vocals add a gritty touch.
  • Ronson also sings on "Lose It (In the End)" and his pair of vocal contributions were the first time his vocals have appeared on a record. He told The Observer: "It's weird listening to my own voice because with the headphones on, it sounds really awful – nasal and grating."
  • The Kaiser Chiefs' Nick Hodgson wrote the song's tongue-in-cheek self-depreciating lyrics about a needy pop star. Ronson told NME August 7, 2010 it's, "a mix of (The Kinks') Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Country House and s--t like that, with a bit of the 8 Mile mentality, of saying everything about yourself so that your detractors can't say it first, to show that you can make fun of yourself."
  • Ronson sings, "I get preferential treatment at the Marriott." He said to Spin magazine of the American hotel chain: "Well, I don't have a crazy rider clause saying I have to stay at fancy hotels. I don't have a problem with staying at a Marriott. But I will admit that I've gotten just basic, regular service there. "
  • Ronson said to NME of the album title: "I didn't come up with the idea of calling it Record Collection until later, but every single person on this record is in my record collection."
  • Ronson, who is one of the world's most successful producers and DJs, hangs out with the stars and likes to dress with a sartorial flourish. Therefore, it is no surprise that he is known to some as the "prince of cool." However, he suggested to The Mail on Sunday that Nick Hodgson might have been having a dig at his image with his lyrics for this song. Said Ronson: 'The first lines he came up with were "'I just got in from somewhere really cool/I'm not as clever as I thought I was.' I thought, 'Are you making fun of me? Is this an ironic take on what people perceive my lifestyle to be?' I still don't know if he's taking the mickey, but I'm conscious of what I give out."
  • Mark Ronson recorded a new version of this tune titled "Record Collection 2012," which was released as a single by Kitsuné Records on September 5, 2011 in the U.S. The re-mixed version again featured Wiley this time with British rapper Wretch 32, New York electronic duo MNDR and American rapper/producer Pharrell.

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