Far Out Magazine revisits the story behind one of The Rolling Stones' biggest hits, "Start Me Up", explaining that the track featured on their 1981 album Tattoo You only came together after roughly a decade of false starts. Keith Richards first sketched out the riff during sessions years earlier, but the band repeatedly shelved and revisited the song before settling on the version fans know, illustrating how even the group's most enduring anthems could emerge from a long, uncertain writing process.

The song was originally attempted in the mid-1970s, with the band experimenting with a reggae-inflected arrangement that never quite worked, before it was set aside for years. It was eventually rediscovered and reworked during later recording sessions, with Richards' guitar riff ultimately anchoring the rock version released as the lead single from Tattoo You, which went on to become a top-five hit and a staple of the Stones' live shows.