Mark Ronson recalls the night he nearly played Michael Jackson in front of his rival Prince
Mark Ronson was warned not to play Michael Jackson's music in front of Prince.
Mark Ronson has shared a jaw-dropping moment from his early DJ days that nearly sparked a musical faux pas of legendary proportions.
In his new memoir Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City, the Grammy-winning producer recalls being warned not to play a Michael Jackson track while spinning for none other than Prince.
The incident took place at New York’s exclusive Spy Bar in the late ’90s, where Ronson was DJing alongside his friend Q-Tip. Prince, seated regally in a purple throne and holding court in the VIP section, was the guest of honour.
As Ronson reached for Jackson’s Off the Wall album, Q-Tip urgently intervened: “Uh-uh. Can’t play Michael here."
Jackson and Prince had a long-standing rivalry which reportedly began in 1983 during a James Brown concert in Los Angeles. That night, Jackson dazzled the crowd with his signature moves before Prince took the stage with a flamboyant guitar solo that ended in a dramatic tumble from a stage prop. It marked the only time the two ever shared a stage.
Ronson quickly swapped the record for War’s Galaxy, but the tempo mismatch earned him a sharp glare from Prince.
He penned: “Nothing like rhythmic judgment from a musical deity."
The anecdote is just one of many in Night People, which chronicles Ronson’s rise through New York’s club scene before his breakout success with artists like Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga.
He also recalled the bizarre night he spent in Jackson's hotel room when he was 13.
The producer was introduced to the late King of Pop though his friend Sean Lennon - son of Beatles legend John Lennon and Yoko Ono - and revealed the singer enjoyed throwing lumps of wet toilet paper out of the hotel room window.
He was forced to "re-examine" the events since allegations of child sex abuse were levied against the singer.
Ronson writes: "I think Michael hung out at Sean’s house and then the next night we went to see the Bad Tour. And then Michael had a big after-party in his hotel room.
"He was just obsessed with throwing these soggies out the window – like taking big mounds of toilet paper and making them damp and then throwing them at parked cars. It’s so crazy to say it out loud.
"Even at that time I already loved being in the studio. That was my obsession. I wanted to get a cool hook from Michael Jackson to take back.
"Like: 'You guys go play and run around like kids, I am going to use this Michael Jackson meeting to like get something, get a song out of it’."
Prior to his death in 2009, Jackson was accused of abusing young boys - he always denied any wrongdoing and was acquitted at a trial in California in 2005 - but Ronson admits the accusations made him look back on the party differently.
He added: "Obviously with allegations that came later, of course it made me re-examine that event too many times. I wouldn’t say it’s a highlight of my childhood, but it was certainly one of the most memorable experiences.
"And of course I put it back through that lens a hundred times. I was like, for whatever reason, there was nothing weird or untoward on that night."
