The Smiths give Ronson blessing

The Smiths have given full approval to Mark Ronson's cover of "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", he has revealed.

Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr are said to have backed his controversial reworking of the song, which features on upcoming new solo album "Version".

Ronson reveals the news in a new posting on his MySpace blog, following criticism from the likes of Arctic Monkeys over the track.

He explained that after recording the demo, "the first thing I did was send it to Morrissey and Marr immediately."

"I needed to know if they would be alright with it, basically like a kid showing his parents his finger painting for their approval."

In the blog, Ronson says both stars backed his version, before concluding: "This is not an apology but a way of showing respect for people who love The Smiths like I do."

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