Mark Ronson & Lily Allen on Friday Night Project

Mark Ronson featuring Lily Allen performing "Oh My God" on Friday Night Project.

Mark Ronson/Lily Allen Interview

This interview is pretty damn hilarious.

Flowered up

She's the pop starlet from LDN. He's the pop producer and socialite from NYC. Together, Lily Allen and Mark Ronson are music's mouthiest couple. Peter Robinson runs for cover

Saturday June 23, 2007
The Guardian

Looking for a nice frock for today's photo shoot, Lily Allen walked into one shop in Ladbroke Grove and saw the assistant virtually dive across the room in an attempt to stop the Amy Winehouse CD playing in the background. She arrives back at the shoot and immediately starts discussing the possibility of gastric bypass surgery due to being "fat", then announces that it is all "off the record", even though she will post the whole thing on her MySpace blog within 48 hours. Mark Ronson, enjoying unexpectedly huge success with his Version album, seems less besieged by life, chatting happily about Prince parties and meeting Mani. She is the sort-of demure English rose. He is the smart-talking New Yorker. They are Dempsey and Makepeace of pop and today, On the eve of this weekend's Glastonbury festival Lily Allen and Mark Ronson seem like the best of friends

To kick things off, please introduce each other to the Guide.

Lily: This is Mark Ronson and he is an overrated, over-hyped pop producer from New York City. He's basically a DJ.

Mark: I think Lily Allen is one of the most gifted pop melody writers of her generation.

Lily: ONE OF? Who are the others? (Guffaws)

Mark: Anyway, Lily and I are friends even though I've never done anything nice for her.

When and where did you first meet?

Lily: It was at [Notting Hill club night] YoYo.

Mark: Yes, you put that smiley face pin badge on my really expensive leather jacket. I was almost crying.

Lily: I told Mark I was a singer and he went, "Oh, give me a CD then".

What was on the CD?

Lily: Smile, and a couple of demos from when I was signed to Warners.

Mark: I actually had to ask you twice for the CD.

Lily: Oh come on - you were not interested at ALL!

Mark: But then I listened to it on the plane, and ...

Lily: No you didn't! You listened to it about six months later!

Mark: BUT I WAS ON A PLANE. So anyway, I asked Lily if I could play it on my radio show, and then I asked her to come out to my studio [in New York] and sing Oh My God for my album.

Lily: NO! You asked me to suggest some songs for your album, then you gave all the good ones to other people! Then you went, "Oh, you can have the Kaiser Chiefs". THANKS! And then I said, "Oh, can you do some stuff for my album?". And you said, "Yeah, for $200,000". Hahahaha!

Busta Rhymes is on the new version of Oh My God. Was he expensive?

Mark: Well, as soon as I knew it'd be a single I called him up ... I thought he might not get it, but he understood it immediately. He gets about $60,000 every time he rhymes on a record!

Lily: $60,000 isn't much.

Mark: It's kind of a lot, Lily.

How much did you pay him?

Mark: Erm, something in the neighbourhood of a nice car.

Lily: Bentley or Golf?

Mark: Let's say a second hand Bentley. He got arrested half an hour after he left the studio ... (Distracted by mark on Lily's arm) Are you self-harming? What's this?

Lily: Yeah, I'm self-harming - I just want to be Amy Winehouse.

Mark: AHEM! You see THAT'S why you walk into a shop and the people behind the counter turn Amy's music off! You've got beef Tourette's!

Who's the worst drunk?

Lily: Me.

Mark: Yes.

Lily: I get really aggressive when I'm drunk. None of my label bosses will take me out any more because after one glass of champagne I'm standing up going "And another fucking thing! People like you are ruining music! You're ruining our country! Let me do it and I'll fix it!"

Would either of you say that you had normal childhoods?

Mark: I'll never say I had a normal childhood. My dad would manage bands - I'd come down in the middle of the night and Keith Moon was there playing air drums. That's not a normal childhood.

Lily: For the first 11 or so years of my life things were, well, not so nice, and we lived on a council estate. The thing is, I'm proud of being middle class now - my mum was working class, as was my dad, and they worked really fucking hard to provide me with what I had. Well, my mum did. It's funny when Lady Sovereign said that thing about me, "She doesn't have to work as hard as me because her dad's Keith Allen". Do you know what, Lady Sovereign? HAVE my dad. Go on! I'd love to see how many people buy your records. Go on! Take him!

Having said that, your first deal did come about because of your dad ...

Lily: Yeah, and it didn't work. It was rubbish folk music - my dad and another guy wrote it all. Then it didn't happen. Things only worked for me when I worked really, really hard myself.

Well done, Lily. Do you think the two of you would ever have met without having come from privileged backgrounds?

Lily: Probably not. You bump into people in LA, and they go "Oh, it's such a small world" and really it's not - it's just that you all go to the same places where you spend pounds 7 on a drink. We're bumping into each other in the middle of Ghana.

Mark: At the same time the reason we met is that I was DJing at YoYo. And so we could easily have met anyway. While I shouldn't care those exaggerated myths do just make me cringe. It's all stuff like "You hung out with Stella McCartney and had picnics with Michael Jackson".

Did you have picnics with Michael Jackson?

Mark: No. I did have a sleepover once ...

Lily: WHAT?

Mark: Er, yeah, I did. It was at Sean Lennon's house ... And ...

Lily: YOU DIDN'T! Did he do anything to you?

Mark: Oh, this is just going to get ridiculous. Thing is, Sean was friends with Michael Jackson when he was growing up and when we were about 12 years old he was like, "Michael Jackson's coming over tonight". I remember turning on Channel J which is the public access channel and ...

Lily: ... and Michael Jackson unzipped your trousers and ...

Mark: No, and so Channel J had this picture of this girl with her top off and Michael went (handbag action) "OOOH! Turn it OFF!" And me and Sean were like, "Why? This is great!".

What time did you go to bed?

Mark: We went to bed at one o'clock and we closed the window because there was a draught and he didn't want it to interfere with his voice. He slept on the floor.

Lily: FUCKING HELL. (Clapping like an excited seal) Ronson! I can't believe you slept with Michael Jackson!

Mark: Nothing happened!

Mark, is Stop Me still attracting hate mail from Smiths fans?

Mark: Not recently. I got two things from this little 15-year-old boy, going, "I want to stab you in the eye ..."

Lily: He phoned me up asking about what to do! I get things like "Give me a grand and I won't slit your mum's throat". So cheers for that. I've got five mobile phones because of all the hate phone calls. "I'm going to kidnap your dog." Please.

What don't you like about each other?

Mark: Lily's one of the few people I'm naturally intimidated by.

Lily: Why?

Mark: Not in a bad way ... But you're a bit "cult of personality" ...

Lily: No I'm not! People say I'm a complete bitch and I'm not, I'm just really insecure and when people meet me I'm just ... not very good at it. But I'm a nice person. I bought Mark a kebab only today.

What has Mark done for you, Lily?

Lily: He definitely needs to do more. It was my birthday the other week and I still don't have a present from him. One time I was on the fire escape of Mark's studio in New York, crying because I'd split up with my boyfriend. He came out, saw me crying, and went back inside! Hahahaha!

Mark: I'm not Joan Collins!

Lily: What?

Mark: Hang on. I'm still trying to think of something nice I've done for you. There must be something.

Lily: Mark, there's nothing.

· Lily and Mark play Glastonbury this weekend. Oh My God is out July 16. The Guardian sponsors Glastonbury

Source

Mark Ronson's "Oh My God" Video

Featuring a cartoon Lily Allen. It's very Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Mark Ronson - Oh My God

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Lily Allen at The Crest Theatre

Lily Allen/The Bird and the Bee
Sunday, 1 April 2007
The Crest Theatre
Sacramento, CA

Yes, I know. It's been over a month, but I had to post these photos. I thought the show could've been a lot better. There was nothing wrong with Lily's performance, but the venue sucked. With a performance like Lily's, it's better to perform in a venue with an open floor. That's just my 2 cents.

Blondie & Lily Allen on the Today Show

Were you unable to wake up in the morning and you missed this performance? Watch it on MSNBC here. Lily has been covering Blondie's "Heart of Glass" and it was only fitting to bring the two together on the show for that song. For the MP3 of the performance, visit Culture Bully.

Mark Ronson's 'Version' and Justice's '†'

I know I have not posted in a long time, but I'll slowly get back on track for the summer after finals are over. The past few months has just been hectic for me I didn't have time to update. Anyway, I'll put up some of my Coachella photos when I have time, but I just wanted to post some announcements of albums that will finally arrive in the States on July 10th: Mark Ronson and Justice.

I had the chance to meet Mark Ronson right before Lily Allen's set at Coachella and compliment him on his latest album, not that my opinion would really matter. I could tell that he was a busy guy and had places to go and people to see, yet he was nice enough (though maybe a little impatient) to take time to speak to me, but I appreciate it since he didn't turn me away or anything. Some girls asked "is he famous?" Well, you'll see. I have to admit that I didn't become a huge fan until I heard both Lily Allen's and Amy Winehouse's albums. It's been over a month since Version came out in the UK and I think it's obvious by now how successful it is there. The album's release date has just been delayed until July 10th, which I'm a little disappointed by. I'm curious to see if he will be doing a lot of touring in the States. As successful as Allen and Winehouse are now, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ronson finally topping the US charts. It's about time.

1. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (featuring The Daptone Horns)

2. Oh My God (featuring Lily Allen)

3. Stop Me (featuring Daniel Merriweather)

4. Toxic (featuring Tiggers)

5. Valerie (featuring Amy Winehouse)

6. Apply Some Pressure (featuring Paul Smith)

7. Inversion

8. Pretty Green (featuring Santo Gold)

9. Just (featuring (Phantom Planet)

10. Amy (featuring Kenna)

11. The Only One I Know (featuring Robbie Williams

12. Diversion

13. L.S.F. (featuring Kasabian)

14. Outversion

Highlights: "Oh My God", "Stop Me", "Valerie"

For this next artist, I probably would have never heard of them or heard of them before Coachella if it weren't for Ronson. I don't want to call them the next Daft Punk, but they really are amazing an DJ duo from Paris, France. They hit the scene with "We Are Your Friends", and exploded with their song and video (by So Me), "D.A.N.C.E.". If you don't like them, then I don't know what the hell is wrong with you. Justice is one of the reasons I've been so interested in dance music lately, and with their debut album coming out June 11th worldwide and July 10th in the States, I hope the rest of the world will feel the same way. They were one of my highlights at this year's Coachella. Everyone has to experience them live, and if you downloaded their album since it has been leaked for awhile, I hope you will buy it when it is officially released.

1. Genesis

2. Let There Be Light

3. DANCE

4. Newjack

5. Phantom Pt. 1

6. Phantom Pt. 2

7. Valentine

8. Party

9. DVNO

10. Stress

11. Waters Of Nazareth

12. One Minute To Midnight

Highlights: "Genesis", "D.A.N.C.E.", "The Party", "DVNO", "Waters of Nazareth"

Week of January 28, 2007: Notable Releases This Week

MONDAY


Klaxons' Myths of the Near Future (UK)

TUESDAY


Lily Allen's Alright, Still

For the few of you in the US who are slow and still haven't picked up this album yet, buy it now. Don't forget to catch her on the MTV Download & Discover tour this Spring.

Highlights: "Smile", "Everything's Just Wonderful", "Littlest Things", "Friend of Mine"


Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Some Loud Thunder

Youth Group's Casino Twilight Dogs

It's about time this one was released in the States.

Highlights: "Under The Underpass", "Daisychains", "Forever Young"