How The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” Became a Late-Career Anthem After Years on the Shelf

Coming up, we’re taking a deep dive into one of the most recognizable songs of the rock era from one of the most storied and long-tenured bands of the rock era… Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones… The band actually first wrote it as a reggae song, a pretty big risk for a bunch of white guys.. even though this song came from later in their catalog, it was a smashing success, just missing out on that #1 spot… a coveted prize they would never achieve again. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards first wrote it in the mid-1970s and then a few years later they did even more takes. More than 70. One was a rock and roll take… Years later an associate producer was looking through the vaults and took found the one take they did that was a rock version and the band released it off of the 1981 album Tatoo You…becoming a classic. Which begs an interesting question, was this song their last stand? Was it their last gasp for mainstream music relevancy? Or is chart success overrated? Let’s find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .