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Lily Allen · S2 E5
Regal Records
Getting signed in the middle of a cultural revolution
New York City, early 2006. Mark Ronson finds a stack of demo CDs at the bottom of his bag, puts on "Smile," and is blown away. The problem: he is not famous enough for the label to fly a new signing across the Atlantic, so he uses his own air miles.
Mark Ronson, a profile of the producer who heard Lily Allen's demos at the bottom of a bag and flew her to New York on air miles. He produced "Littlest Things" for Alright, Still and went on to work with Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, and Lady Gaga.
The Imprint
Regal Recordings is not Parlophone. It is Parlophone's development imprint, the label where you park artists nobody is sure about yet. In 2005, Parlophone is printing money from Coldplay's X&Y and Gorillaz' Demon Days. Lily Allen's 25,000-pound deal is a rounding error in that budget.
Sources
Allen, Lily. "My Thoughts Exactly." Blink Publishing, 2018, Ch. 8-9.
Ronson, Mark. Interview with Pitchfork, January 2015.
Valerie, Mark Ronson (Ft. Amy Winehouse) (2007)
Originally a 2006 single by The Zutons, Ronson strips away the indie rock and rebuilds it as a Northern Soul stomper with a Motown brass section. Amy Winehouse's vocal is loose, warm, and completely live-sounding, as if she is singing to you across a pub table. The arrangement Ronson perfected here, vintage soul samples plus a modern vocal force, is the exact template he used on Lily's "Littlest Things" and Amy's entire Back to Black album.
TAP TO REVEAL: How Alright, Still was actually made
Allido Studios, New York City
Mark Ronson's personal studio, formerly known as Sorcerer Sound, purchased in 2005. This is where "Littlest Things" was recorded. Lily Allen's first session outside London, booked on air miles because the label would not pay for the flight.
Everything's Just Wonderful
From Alright, Still (2006). Produced by Greg Kurstin, the quiet American genius who would later produce Lily's entire second album. A song about anxiety dressed up as optimism. The sarcasm is lethal. Kurstin's production is brighter and tighter than Future Cut's, a preview of what comes next.
Everything's Just Wonderful, Lily Allen (2006)
Follow the lyrics while you listen. Anxiety dressed up as optimism. Greg Kurstin's production is brighter and tighter than Future Cut's, and the sarcasm is lethal.
How did Mark Ronson fund Lily Allen's first trip to his New York studio?
Five producers, two continents, one album held together by a voice that sounds like nobody else in British pop. Next episode: the Notting Hill set, the friends, the fashion, and the London scene that raised her.
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