Start Me Up
"Start Me Up" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album Tattoo You. Released as the album's lead single, it reached number one on Australian Kent Music Report, number two in Canada, number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number seven on the UK Singles Chart, and the top ten in a handful of European countries.
For other uses, see Start Me Up (disambiguation)."Start Me Up"
"No Use in Crying"
14 August 1981
- January & March 1978 (basic track)[1]
- April–June 1981 (vocals and overdubs)
3:34
Release[edit]
"Start Me Up" peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Charts in September 1981 and remains the last Rolling Stones song to appear in the UK top 10. In Australia, the song reached number one in November 1981. In the US, "Start Me Up" spent three weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October and November 1981, the Stones' biggest hit of the 1980s in the United States.[6]
It also spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard Top Tracks chart.[7] This set a record for most weeks at #1 that was not broken until 1994, when Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" spent 15 weeks on top. The B-side is a slow blues number called "No Use in Crying", which is also included on Tattoo You.
"Start Me Up" is often used to open the Rolling Stones' live shows and has been featured on the live albums Still Life (recorded 1981, released 1982), Flashpoint (recorded 1989, released 1991), Live Licks (recorded 2003, released 2004), Shine a Light (recorded 2006, released 2008), and Hyde 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), and Havana Moon (2016, bonus track). The song was the first of three songs played by the Stones at halftime during Super Bowl XL in 2006.[5]
The song has been included on every major Stones compilation album since its release, including Rewind (1971–1984), Jump Back, Forty Licks and GRRR!. Writing for AllMusic, Stewart Mason called it "the last great Rolling Stones song."[8] Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the 8th Best Sports Anthem.[9]
Credits sourced from Sound On Sound.[10]
The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel
Commercial usage[edit]
Microsoft paid about US$3 million to use this song in their Windows 95 marketing campaign.[32][33] This was the first time that the Rolling Stones allowed a company to use their songs in an advertising campaign.[34] In 2012, a remixed version of the song was used as the soundtrack to an Omega advertising campaign for their role as official timekeepers of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[35] The song was also used for the trailer for Transformers One.[36]