Post by erik on Jun 26, 2021 20:30:05 GMT -5
Sometimes a lot of what was once considered old can become new again. Case in point: the massive #1 hit from the winter of 2014-2015 in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
UPTOWN FUNK (Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars; CBS; 2014)—Some of the biggest pop hits during this millennium seem to make everything old new again, with various producers and artists noticing the old-school way of doing things. The French electro-pop group Daft Punk, with help from Pharrell Williams and Chic’s producer/guitarist Nile Rodgers, made this true in 2013 with the Grammy-winning retro single “Get Lucky”. The following year, in 2014, British-American producer Mark Ronson went to this mat again when he collaborated with Bruno Mars, who had just come into his own with a 21st century approach to music and choreography straight out of Michael Jackson and James Brown. What both Ronson and Mars came up with was “Uptown Funk”, which combined old-school Minneapolis R&B (a la Prince), disco, jazz, and 1970’s funk. The two of them, along with producer Jeff Bhasker, and Phillip Lawrence, concocted the song in the spring of 2014. The song’s release to radio was made via Twitter on October 30, 2014; and following Ronson’s and Mars’ performance of the song on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, “Uptown Funk” made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at #65 on November 22nd, 2014. Though it was a little slower than what might be expected in mega-hits getting up the charts, on January 17, 2015, “Uptown Funk” eventually dislodged Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” at #1 on the Hot 100; and it stayed in that position for fourteen straight weeks, not being dislodged until the week of Easter Sunday at the end of April. “Uptown Funk” was the subject of a number of copyright controversies, including the similarities to the Gap Band’s 1979 song “Oops Upside Your Head” and other R&B, funk, and rap hits of the previous thirty-five years; but all were eventually settled out of court, with the plaintiffs getting a piece of the action on what would appear to be one of the more enduring dance hits of the 21st century. “Uptown Funk” eventually won Grammy Awards in February 2016, for Record of the Year and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance.
UPTOWN FUNK (Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars; CBS; 2014)—Some of the biggest pop hits during this millennium seem to make everything old new again, with various producers and artists noticing the old-school way of doing things. The French electro-pop group Daft Punk, with help from Pharrell Williams and Chic’s producer/guitarist Nile Rodgers, made this true in 2013 with the Grammy-winning retro single “Get Lucky”. The following year, in 2014, British-American producer Mark Ronson went to this mat again when he collaborated with Bruno Mars, who had just come into his own with a 21st century approach to music and choreography straight out of Michael Jackson and James Brown. What both Ronson and Mars came up with was “Uptown Funk”, which combined old-school Minneapolis R&B (a la Prince), disco, jazz, and 1970’s funk. The two of them, along with producer Jeff Bhasker, and Phillip Lawrence, concocted the song in the spring of 2014. The song’s release to radio was made via Twitter on October 30, 2014; and following Ronson’s and Mars’ performance of the song on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, “Uptown Funk” made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at #65 on November 22nd, 2014. Though it was a little slower than what might be expected in mega-hits getting up the charts, on January 17, 2015, “Uptown Funk” eventually dislodged Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” at #1 on the Hot 100; and it stayed in that position for fourteen straight weeks, not being dislodged until the week of Easter Sunday at the end of April. “Uptown Funk” was the subject of a number of copyright controversies, including the similarities to the Gap Band’s 1979 song “Oops Upside Your Head” and other R&B, funk, and rap hits of the previous thirty-five years; but all were eventually settled out of court, with the plaintiffs getting a piece of the action on what would appear to be one of the more enduring dance hits of the 21st century. “Uptown Funk” eventually won Grammy Awards in February 2016, for Record of the Year and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance.