| "Start Me Up" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single bythe Rolling Stones | ||||
| from the albumTattoo You | ||||
| B-side | "No Use in Crying" | |||
| Released | 14 August 1981 (1981-08-14) | |||
| Recorded |
| |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 3:34 | |||
| Label | Rolling Stones | |||
| Songwriter | Jagger–Richards | |||
| Producer | The Glimmer Twins | |||
| The Rolling Stones singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Start Me Up" onYouTube | ||||
| Tattoo You track listing | ||||
11 tracks | ||||
"Start Me Up" is a song by the English rock bandthe Rolling Stones from their 1981 albumTattoo You. The song is a crowd-pleaser, often performed by the band at the beginning of their concerts. It has also become a sports anthem.
Released as the album'slead single, it reached the number 1 position onAustralian,Spanish andUSBillboard Mainstream Rock charts, number 2 position inCanadian andUSBillboard Hot 100 charts, number 7 position on theUK Singles Chart, and it performed well in other European countries. Themusic video for "Start Me Up" was placed in heavy rotation on the newMTV channel in 1981, adding to the song's lengthy chart run in the US.[2]
The single's B-side is a slow blues number called "No Use in Crying", which is an album track onTattoo You.
"Start Me Up" was originally areggae song recorded in March 1975 during sessions for the Rolling Stones' albumBlack and Blue before it was re-worked during the January and March 1978 sessions for theSome Girls album.[1] The song began as areggae rock track named "Never Stop", but after dozens of takes it was abandoned. "Start Me Up" was not chosen for the album and was saved for later use. Richards commented:
It was one of those things we cut a lot of times; one of those cuts that you can play forever and ever in the studio. Twenty minutes go by and you're still locked into those two chords ... Sometimes you become conscious of the fact that, 'Oh, it's "Brown Sugar" again,' so you begin to explore other rhythmic possibilities. It's basically trial and error. As I said, that one was pretty locked into a reggae rhythm for quite a few weeks. We were cutting it forEmotional Rescue, but it was nowhere near coming through, and we put it aside and almost forgot about it.[3]
In 1981, with the band looking to tour, engineerChris Kimsey proposed to lead singerMick Jagger that archived songs could comprise the set. While searching through the vaults, Kimsey found the two takes of the song with a more rock vibe among some fifty reggae versions. Overdubs were completed on the track in early 1981 in New York City at the recording studiosElectric Lady Studios andThe Hit Factory.[1] On the band's recording style for this track in particular, Kimsey commented in 2004:
Including run-throughs, 'Start Me Up' took about six hours to record. You see, if they all played the right chords in the right time, went to the chorus at the right time and got to the middle eight together, that was a master. It was like, 'Oh, wow!' Don't forget, they would never sit down and work out a song. They would jam it and the song would evolve out of that. That's their magic.[1]
The "thump" to the song was achieved using mixerBob Clearmountain's "bathroom reverb", a process involving the recording of some of the song's vocal and drum tracks with a miked speaker in the bathroom of thePower Station recording studio in New York City.[1] It was there where final touches were added to the song, including Jagger's switch of the main lyrics from "start it up" to "start me up".
The song opens with what has since become a trademarkriff for Richards. It is this, coupled withCharlie Watts' steadybackbeat andBill Wyman's echoing bass, that comprises most of the song. Lead guitaristRonnie Wood can clearly be heard playing a layered variation of Richards' main riff (often live versions of the song are lengthened by giving Wood a solo near the middle of the song, pieces of which can be heard throughout the original recording). Throughout the song Jagger breaks in with a repeated bridge of "You make a grown man cry", followed by various pronouncements of sexual innuendo with automobile terminology. Percussion (cowbell andguiro) byMike Carabello and handclaps by Jagger,Chris Kimsey andBarry Sage were added during overdub sessions in April and June 1981.
Billboard said that "its catchy refrain easily worms its way into the memory."[4]Record World said that the song is highlighted by "biting, raunchy guitars and a rhythm kick that spanks hard".[5]
A music video was produced for the single, directed byMichael Lindsay-Hogg.[2] According to Lindsay-Hogg's recollection, Jagger and Watts proposed the collaboration to him over lunch with Jagger particularly keen to emulate the style of video shown onMTV, which he regarded as "the future".[2] The subsequent production became one of the most programmed videos of MTV's early years.[2]
"Start Me Up" peaked at number 7 on theUK Singles Charts in September 1981 and remains the last Rolling Stones song to appear in the UK Top 10. In Australia and Spain, the song reached number 1 in November 1981. In the US, "Start Me Up" spent three weeks at number 2 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in October and November 1981, behindChristopher Cross' "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)",[6] becoming the Stones' biggest hit of the 1980s in the United States.[7]
The single spent thirteen weeks atop theBillboardTop Rock Tracks chart.[8] This set a record that was not broken until 1994 whenStone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" spent fifteen weeks at number 1.
"Start Me Up" is often used to open the Rolling Stones' live shows and has been featured on the live albumsStill Life (recorded 1981, released 1982),Flashpoint (recorded 1989, released 1991),Live Licks (recorded 2003, released 2004),Shine a Light (recorded 2006, released 2008), andHyde Park Live (2013). It also features on several Stones live concert films and DVD/Blu-ray sets:Let's Spend the Night Together (filmed 1981, released 1983),Stones at the Max (filmed 1990, released 1991),The Rolling Stones: Voodoo Lounge Live (filmed 1994, released 1995),Bridges to Babylon Tour '97–98 (filmed 1997, released 1998),Four Flicks (2003),The Biggest Bang (filmed 2006, released 2007),Shine a Light (filmed 2006, released 2008),Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live (2013), andHavana Moon (2016, bonus track). The song was the first of three songs played by the Stones at halftime duringSuper Bowl XL in 2006.[2]
The song has been included on every major Stones compilation album since its release, includingRewind (1971–1984),Jump Back,Forty Licks andGRRR!. Writing forAllMusic, Stewart Mason called it "the last great Rolling Stones song."[9]Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the 8th Best Sports Anthem.[10]
Credits sourced from Sound On Sound.[11]
The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[33] | 3× Platinum | 210,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[34] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[35] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[36] | 3× Platinum | 90,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[37] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[38] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Microsoft paid about US$3 million to use this song in theirWindows 95 marketing campaign.[39][40] This was the first time that the Rolling Stones allowed a company to use their songs in an advertising campaign.[41] In 2012, a remixed version of the song was used as the soundtrack to anOmega advertising campaign for their role as official timekeepers of the2012 Summer Olympics.[42]
CBS Sports played the song began the2025 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament Selection Show as a tribute toGreg Gumbel, the longtime host of "March Madness" who died towards the end of 2024.[43]
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