Rolling Stones – Start Me Up

I’ve been running hot
You got me ticking gonna blow my top
If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

I’ve never covered this song before because of all the Stones songs…this one is up there with the ones that radio has simply worn out. But the bottom line is…it’s a great rock song. Even if you don’t like it…you would have to admit that. It might be one of their albums’ best intro songs.

Let’s go back to 1981…I was over at my friend Kenny’s house and I heard this song. Kenny loved animals and had a tarantula, piranha, and other sorts of fun animals. I think it was his radio alarm that went off but I heard this song and knew exactly who it was and I was hooked. This was before it was worn completely out. The opening riff is straight out of the 5-string open G tuning for all of you guitarists. That tuning helped Keith come up with all of those great riffs.

All the news at the time was on their tour. They were called old and over the hill…funny now thinking back…they were only in their late 30s and early 40s. Nowadays that is a young band. I went out and bought the album and loved it. The next year I bought the live (from that tour) Time is On My Side and Going To A Go-Go singles. I then broke down and bought the Still Life live album they came from.

In my opinion, Tattoo You was their last brush with greatness. They did have Undercover, Steel Wheels, and others but this one is very good. The album was made up of outtakes and songs that were almost a decade old going back to Emotional Rescue and the Goats Head Soup album. They would never be this raw again…but there still is time.

Start Me Up started as a reggae-type song but soon developed into a full-blown rock song that kicked the doors down. It has become a staple in their concerts along with Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Satisfaction.

It peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #7 in the UK, and #33 in New Zealand in 1981. I loved the low quality of the main video for the song. It looked like it was made by a poor high school rock band…it fit perfectly. It’s what you call a one-take video. You can see Charlie laughing at the front three.

The early version of Start Me Up

Start Me Up

If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop
If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop

I’ve been running hot
You got me ticking gonna blow my top
If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop
Never stop, never stop, never stop

You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
Spread out the oil, the gasoline
I walk smooth, ride in a mean, mean machine

Start it up
If you start it up
Kick on the starter give it all you got, you got to, you got to
I can’t compete with the riders in the other heats

If you rough it up
If you like it I can slide it up, slide it up, slide it up, slide it up

Don’t make a grown man cry
Don’t make a grown man cry
Don’t make a grown man cry
My eyes dilate, my lips go green
My hands are greasy
She’s a mean, mean machine

Start it up
Start me up
Give it all you got
You got to never, never, never stop

Slide it up
Baby up just slide it up
Start it up, start it up, start it up
Never, never, never

You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
Ride like the wind at double speed
I’ll take you places that you’ve never, never seen

If you start it up
Love the day and we will never stop, never stop, never stop, never stop
Tough me up
Never stop, never stop

You, you, you make a grown man cry
You, you make a dead man cum
You, you make a dead man cum

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

35 thoughts on “Rolling Stones – Start Me Up”

  1. I first saw and heard this on Casey Kasem’s weekly show on TV. The power of video and Keiths boozed up opening riff caught em right away. The best was my Dad was watching it with me and when I heard Start Me Up, I said to my Pop “Can I get my allowance a week early?” lol and he did and told me not to worry about it…
    Great memory. One more thing Max….
    Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  3. I can see Mick, now…dancing his jerk-dance moves. White man with no rhythm. LOL! This has been played to death. I am surprised Jagger & Richards are still alive. I’m also remembering my ex…the Zappa/Iggy/Rundgren/Beefheart fan. He’d make fun of the Stones, singing “If you prop me up…” He’d sound like an old man and walk around with an imaginary cane. LOL!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I remember when I wrote about ‘Tattoo You’ I was very surprised to find how it came together, mainly old outtakes finished or just dropped in. It sounds surprisingly good and coherent considering that. For this song, as you say, it really does seem one of the most overplayed of the 80s to this date… not a bad song by any means but not one I much care to hear these days between it being run into the ground by radio & their selling it to Microsoft back in the day. Sure seems funny how they were thought ‘old’ at that time yet were barely 1/3 of the way into their career!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. The old part…man have things changed! I still can remember the jokes about them. They were just getting started. It was love at first hearing for me with this song. I can still listen to it pretty much at anytime.

      Like

      Reply

    1. That riff is all it took for me. Around the time Microsoft had the song I ran away from it also…as did you. Now I am beginning to enjoy it again.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. This certainly brings back memories for me. Maybe the most memorable concert I’ve ever been to was their stop in KC in 1981. Not only was everyone talking about how old they were on that tour, but the Stones were sort of billing this as their ‘farewell’ tour, haha! I agree with everyone about how much this was song has been played to death. When I’m driving through KC even today, there’s a chance I’ll hear it on the radio. But just the same, hearing it in KC still hypes me up a bit, remembering that concert.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yea that was a year before I started to go but they would not come here at that time…Nashville only had a 10,000 capacity arena. We missed all of the big ones.
      I’m just now enjoying it again….I haven’t heard it in years now.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. To me it was their last great album and single. After this I liked some of them but there was never a great album again…not as full as this one. And they got most of this out of the vaults…and I’m happy they did.
      Yea that would make sense…they could get by with more back then…I’m still surprised the Stones got by with that.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Do you know Max…! I know this song backwards and have even sung along with it at parties etc. and have always thought the words were “Stuff me up”. I can’t believe I have gone all these years not knowing the proper words.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh yea…that is what hooked me…that open G tuning. Dude….if I tuned my guitar to that tuning…I promise I coudl show you 10 Stones songs that you could play right off the bat…it’s that easy

      Like

      Reply

  15. Yes, “Start Me Up” hasn’t suffered from underexposure, but I think it’s a classic and I still like it, yes I do! Heck, I can even still hear “Satisfaction” and get, well, satisfaction out of it – I’m talking about the original studio version, not some extended live rendition.

    It’s also interesting to listen to the early version of “Start Me Up”, which compared to the one on “Tattoo You” really sounds pretty underwhelming.

    To me, the last decent Stones album is “Steel Wheels”. “Undercover” and “Dirty Work”, on the other hand, don’t particularly excite me, based on what I’ve heard.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Steel Wheels was good and I liked it…I always thought Tattoo You bordered on great but they dipped into their past to make it…it was a smart move on their part.
      Yea the early version was missing that punch.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  16. Pingback: Rolling Stones – Start Me Up – Joe Stilez Music

  17. This was my real introduction to the Stones. I had heard of them for sure, but never listened to them back in 1981 as I was only 12. But I heard this song and loved it. Tattoo You is one of my personal favorites of the band since it was my intro.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to nostalgicitalian Cancel reply