Mark Ronson has responded to critics who panned his version of a track by The Smiths.

The artist has hit out at the cynics and revealed that both Morrissey and Johnny Marr both personally approved the song before he released it.

"When I recorded the original demo of 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before' ...the first thing I did was send it to Morrissey and Marr immediately," he wrote on his MySpace. "I needed to know if they would be alright with it, basically like a kid showing his parents his finger painting for their approval!"

"It took a long time to hear back from them, but when I found out that Morrissey liked it, and especially liked Daniel's (Merriweather) vocal, you can imagine how I felt when (Johnny) Marr approved it as well - but I don't know his exact thoughts. The man who co-wrote my favourite song of all time gave (his) blessing to this new interpretation."

The single is taken from Ronson's album Version, which is set for release on Apirl 16.