Record Collection

Record Collection is an album by Mark Ronson & the Business, released in September 2010.

About the Album
Record Collection is Mark Ronson's third album, which is the follow up to the retro deep-soul sound of his last album Version and through working with Nick Rhodes features keyboards synthsizers. The album includes musical guests and collaborators on each track, so Ronson credited it to 'Mark Ronson & the Business'. The LP is the first Ronson sings on, which was inspired by Lady Gaga who suggested he should take singing lessons from her vocal coach, Don Lawrence, while the two were recording in 2007.

The title track was written by Nick Hodgson from the Kaiser Chiefs and features Simon Le Bon on vocals, Nick Rhodes on keyboards and rapper Wiley (who previously teamed up with Ronson for "Cash In My Pocket") providing a guest verse. Hodgson wrote the track poking fun at Ronson's achingly hip lifestyle. Never being a man to take himself too seriously, Ronson embraced the song, aiming for a track that echoed Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good" and The Kinks "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion".

For hip hop and soul on the album Ronson succeeded in securing a guest appearance from D'Angelo on the track "Glass Mountain Trust". The strange name of the track was written on a CDR by Ronson's guitarist who neglected to point out to the singer that it was only a working title. According to Ronson, D'Angelo then spent a week desperately trying to come up with lyrics that would make the song title make sense.

The track "Somebody To Love Me", revealed an insight into Mark Ronson's creative process. Ronson began with some "morbid indie rock" chords before deciding to inject an element of afrobeat. Then Cathy Dennis and one of the Scissor Sisters pitched in and wrote lyrics that vaguely reminded Ronson of Wham's "Club Tropicana". K'Naan, a rapper from Somalia offered a verse, before Andrew Wyatt from Swedish electronica outfit Miike Snow pitched in. "Then we realized we were trying to write "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" said Ronson, so we asked Boy George to record some vocals.

Personnel

 * Mark Ronson
 * Jake Shear (Scissor Sisters)
 * Mike Snow (Scissor Sisters)
 * Simon Le Bon
 * Nick Rhodes

IN PROGRESS