# I pit Mark Ronson, record producer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 14, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520 "2015-06-14T18:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/1 "2015-06-14T18:11:59Z")
He was on CBS Sunday Morning. He produced, among other artists, Amy Winehouse. He was talking to her once, and she mentioned that her family wanted her to go to rehab. His response, basically: “Hey! _Great_ idea for a song!” Not, “they might be right,” or “Let me know how I can help.” Maybe he couldn’t have prevented her death, but his initial idea was commercializing her addiction. Asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/2 "2015-06-14T18:39:08Z")
Well, it _was_ a great idea for a song. IMO, it’s rather silly to lay the blame him alone for not doing enough (and nobody but he and Amy knows what else came up in that conversation) to prevent something that happened five years after that conversation and was entirely of her own volition. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/3 "2015-06-14T18:42:13Z")
How do you know that he _wasn’t_ pushing her to go to rehab? There’s only so much that others can do. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/4 "2015-06-14T19:30:11Z")
I’m not blaming him specifically, but the never mentioned urging her to get clean. And I tend to believe people when then show themselves in a bad light. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/5 "2015-06-14T20:11:46Z")
I saw the same story you’re complaining about. It was about Mark Ronson and the music he’s created or helped to create, not about Amy Winehouse and her addictions. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/6 "2015-06-14T20:25:54Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > I’m not blaming him specifically, but the never mentioned urging her to get clean. And I tend to believe people when then show themselves in a bad light. You know he told her it would be a great idea for a song. How do you know he did not also urge her to change her ways, go to rehab, go to a shrink, go to church, join the Mormons etc… I did not see the interview. So I don’t know what he said. But unless he tells he did not offer her any suggestions for help, we cannot know that he did not. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/7 "2015-06-14T21:08:54Z")
Unfair. He aped Bowie too much as a vocalist when his voice was really too weak to carry an entire album, but Slaughter On 10th Avenue was a terrific album: [Only After Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4PpB0TIN0) was a killer song. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/8 "2015-06-15T00:05:51Z")
I think anyone who knew Amy Winehouse would tell you that trying to get her clean was an uphill battle, and that’s putting it lightly. It was not Ronson’s responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/9 "2015-06-15T21:19:51Z")
I doubt Ronson has _ever_ worked with an artist who couldn’t have used a stint in rehab. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/10 "2015-06-15T23:12:31Z")
It’s surely not coincidental, given the imminent release of the documentary about her, but I was struck by this part of the (explicitly tied-in) [interview](http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/14/amy-winehouse-manager-nick-shymansky-interview) in Sunday’s _Observer_ with her manager Nick Shymansky about the origins of _Rehab_: > [@](#): > > **You famously tried to make her go to rehab…** > Yes, we got through a few arguments, the denial, and I got her to a place where she said, “OK, fine, let’s do this, I can’t lie to you, there are issues.” So I got her to go and see the guy about rehab. At the time I didn’t really know her father, but she made it clear to me she’d do it if he backed her. So I got on the phone and lined it all up, he assured me she needed help and that he’d back me. I drove her all the way to Bluewater where he lived, and he completely backtracked. It was like she manipulated him. She sat on his lap, gave him this look like, “I don’t really need to go, do I?” and he was like, “Of course you don’t need to go.” [This issue is covered in Amy: her father has since disputed the film’s version of events] > > **How did you feel when she made it all into a song?** > I knew at some point she’d write a really big hit, and it was ironic that the hit she wrote was, verbatim, that day, and it was mocking me. Not only was I not her manager any more, but she’d written this huge hit that’s undeniably brilliant, that was a complete mockery of our friendship and of what she needed. And the whole world’s dancing along to it, and really she was writing about a decision that five years later would result in her being dead. It was really fucked up. > > **What do you think about the song when you hear it now?** > I can’t really listen to Amy any more, unfortunately. If I walk into a shop and she’s playing, I always get a little sense of pride and warmth, but I can’t put it on. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/11 "2015-06-16T01:45:53Z")
I’ll admit it. I never pushed Amy to go to rehab either. Sure, I can make excuses; I didn’t know her, we never met, there was never any communications between us. But the bottom line is I knew she had a problem and I did nothing to help. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/12 "2015-06-16T03:34:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ll admit it. I never pushed Amy to go to rehab either. Sure, I can make excuses; I didn’t know her, we never met, there was never any communications between us. But the bottom line is I knew she had a problem and I did nothing to help. Great, now I feel like a piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/13 "2015-06-16T03:48:32Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ll admit it. I never pushed Amy to go to rehab either. Sure, I can make excuses; I didn’t know her, we never met, there was never any communications between us. But the bottom line is I knew she had a problem and I did nothing to help. Hell, I even bought her album and bobbed my head along with her songs, \*including \*‘Rehab.’ I’m a fucking turd. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/14 "2015-06-16T04:19:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ll admit it. I never pushed Amy to go to rehab either. Sure, I can make excuses; I didn’t know her, we never met, there was never any communications between us. But the bottom line is I knew she had a problem and I did nothing to help. You bastard! You owe me all the great music she would have produced. Ante up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/15 "2015-06-16T05:13:52Z")
The worst part is I learned nothing from this experience. I’m just going to go through the same thing again with Lindsay Lohan. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/16 "2015-06-16T05:28:08Z")
So? ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/17 "2015-06-16T15:58:56Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Unfair. He aped Bowie too much as a vocalist when his voice was really too weak to carry an entire album, but Slaughter On 10th Avenue was a terrific album: [Only After Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4PpB0TIN0) was a killer song. I may be deaf to the sonic boom, but you’re talking about Mick, god rest his soul. This thread’s about another guy entirely. As far as “Rehab” goes, it’s a truly great song. Whether she wrote that song or not probably has no bearing on whether she got help. Someone has to want help before rehab will work. I find it very hard to believe that a person who’s in a mindset to write that song is anywhere near the mindset necessary to be successful in rehab. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/18 "2015-06-16T16:56:20Z")
I was a big fan of Bonnie Raitt early in her career. I saw her in person back when she’d take a bottle from someone in the crowd and take a big hit. When she became more mainstream-popular she “cleaned up”. It seemed like her music suffered, and I was hoping for her to fall off that wagon. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/19 "2015-06-17T04:35:35Z")
I was praying for Bonnie to get clean so I am to blame. Sorry. As penance I have written and recorded some songs of mine which you should all listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520/20 "2015-06-17T05:02:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I doubt Ronson has _ever_ worked with an artist who couldn’t have used a stint in rehab. Like [Eryka Badhu and Trombone Shorty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVWgwCyZ3z4)? Who else? Without digging too deep into the wiki pages, I’m finding: Lana Del Rey Solange Knowles Sean Paul Probably a lot more, these were people who’s names I recognized and didn’t have the words rehab or drugs on the wiki page. I didn’t click on names I didn’t know and didn’t count pages that mentioned drugs, but probably ‘couldn’t use a stint in rehab’. IMO, just because you use drugs, doesn’t mean you need to go to rehab. Amy Winehouse needed rehab, plenty of people can use drugs and not wreck their life. But seriously, watch that video, it’s how I got to know who Mark Ronson was. Oh, and blaming him for Amy’s death is like blaming Adele’s or Taylor Swifts or Alanis Morissette’s producer for their broken relationships. Sure, they might see $ signs when it happens, doesn’t mean their sabbotaging them just to make records. Way to take things way out of context, unless, you know, you have all the details. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-mark-ronson-record-producer/722520.md?page=2)