Mark Ronson had Jo Whiley laughing when he recalled the moment he first met Amy Winehouse in New York in 2006. She'd heard his name for so long she assumed he'd be far older, telling him in the lift up to his studio "I thought you were old Jewish guy with a beard." Ronson said once they got talking over coffee they hit it off instantly, and within days she'd written the skeleton of Back to Black and Rehab.
Listen: Mark Ronson on meeting Amy Winehouse
Ronson was candid about the guilt he still carries. "I always have a little bit of, it's not guilt, it's just something that I think about," he told Jo, reflecting that he got all the success from the record without having to endure the pain Winehouse went through to write it. He also revealed Winehouse was brutally blunt in the studio, once flatly telling him she still didn't like a track no matter how he tweaked it, a lesson he called "a brilliant lesson to learn about being in the studio."
Listen: Mark Ronson on the guilt of Back to Black's success
The second hour brought the Roundhouse concert itself, with the Amy Winehouse band backing a run of guest vocalists through the album in full. Highlights included Corinne Bailey Rae opening with Mark Ronson, Yebba's "achingly beautiful" Love Is A Losing Game, Lianne La Havas on Love Is A Losing Game… sorry, on You Know I'm No Good, and Jesse Reyez closing with Rehab. Sky Newman spoke movingly about what Winehouse's honesty about her struggles meant to her personally, saying "that's why I love singing this song."
More from Jo Whiley
Discuss this show and more on our forums and chatbox.
This update was produced using AI transcription. Spotted an error? Get in contact.
What did you think? Talk about this with other listeners in the forum and chat.
