‘NIGHT PEOPLE’ by MARK RONSON
Published by Penguin Random House
4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Danny Corvini
Mark Ronson is best known to most people as the maker of hit singles for the likes of Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus. However, ‘Night People’ is about a wildly different, much earlier time in his life when he was a young DJ climbing up the ‘90s New York nightclub ladder. It was a time when DJs still played vinyl and the hip hop turntablists ruled Manhattan.
The action starts at the cusp of the new decade with Mark in his late teens/early 20’s and finding himself having to strike a balance between his university/home-life with his rapidly-growing nocturnal one. It was a period when obscene amounts of street culture was being created in New York City—ultimately a period that was cut short by NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s so-called war on nightlife and the gentrification of Manhattan—and Mark Ronson was right there in the thick of it and hauling crates of records to a gig.
The young DJ has circumstances unlike any other on the block: a Jewish British-American dual citizen, Mick Jones from Foreigner is his step-dad, with spades of privilege and hedonistic parents who would party all night. Would he breakthrough in this black music world, where street cred is everything?
It’s an impressive writing debut. Mark documents the action, the sights, sounds—and yes, the smells—of New York’s bars and clubs of the ‘90s with an astonishing amount of detail and lots of laughs. He recalls the minutiae of conversations had and the names and order of records he played. There are no photos anywhere but a Spotify playlist that comes with the book features every track mentioned to ensure that the music itself has the last word.
He also manages to slide a mighty list of ‘90s legends into his pages with stories featuring Lady Miss Kier and DJ Dmitry from Deee-Lite, Sean Lennon, Michael Alig, Junior Vasquez, Biggie, Jay Z, Tupac, DJ Premier, Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, Prince, Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson, Tommy Hilfiger and Aaliyah, to name a few. Even Donald Trump gets a mention!
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of soul-baring and even self-depreciation that sometimes appears in the book, which comes across like a struggle with an imposter syndrome and a need to apologise for the being born into privilege. He also writes about drugs and anxiety and describes the paradox of being a DJ and experiencing the overwhelming joy and sense of connectedness while playing to a crowd and the crushing loneliness that can follow.
However, it’s Mark Ronson’s love for music and sheer, bloody-minded talent—expressed as a DJ, producer and now as a music journalist—that’s really the main feature.
Highly recommended.
