Sticking with producer Mark Ronson, I’ve selected a song from his most celebrated album, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.
This was a perfect match of producer and artist, with Ronson’s gift for modernizing old jazz and big band sounds complementing Winehouse’s old-school vocal chops and decidedly contemporary image. I’m not familiar with Winehouse’s first album, but I’m guessing this is a case where a producer is integral to an album’s success.
(Note: Rather than guess, I just went to iTunes and listened to some samples from Winehouse’s debut album, Frank… the songs are similar, as is the retro vibe, but there is definitely a groovy sheen on Ronson’s work that’s absent on the debut)
‘Just Friends’ is a sultry jazz number written, like several Back to Black songs, from the perspective of a cheating lover. Actually, in this case the singer is the other woman and it’s the man who’s cheating. They’d like to be “just friends” but can’t seem to help falling into bed together.
It’s never safe for us, not even in the evening
‘Cos I’ve been drinking
Not in the morning where your shit works
It’s always dangerous when everybody’s sleeping
And I’ve been thinking
Can we be alone?
Can we be alone?
When will we get the time to be just friends?
When will we get the time to be just friends?
And no I’m not ashamed but the guilt will kill you
If she don’t first
I’ll never love you like her
Though we need to find the time
To just do this shit together
For it gets worse
I wanna touch you
But that just hurts
When will we get the time to be just just friends?
When will we get the time to be just friends, just friends?
When will we get the time to be just friends, just friends?
When will we get the time to be just friends, just friends
Just friends
Meet Me In Montauk 
I love this album, though this song isn’t a particular favorite. This is one of those rare wonderful cases where the first time you listen to the album it is simultaneously brand new and as comfortable as a favorite pair of jeans. In this case, that magic is probably due to the producer and Winehouse’s “throwback” style. Regardless, it works perfectly.
I also am a fan of Winehoud and this album. The marriage of producer and artist is, indeed, a crucial elemnt to a successful product. Billy Joel needed Phil Roamone. Elvis Costello needed T Bone Burnett. REM needed Don Dixon, and on and on. This is not to say that an artist can’t do well without the producer, but it is that collaberation where true magic can occur–taking the album from good or very good to the extraordinary.