How Microsoft gave The Rolling Stones new life
‘Start Me Up’ has to be one of the most storied tracks in The Rolling Stones catalogue. Originally languishing in the archives as a failed reggae number, having been written and cast aside during the 1978 sessions of Some Girls, its inclusion in an infamous 1995 advert led some to call it a ‘second wind song’.
The song was built on a Keith Richards riff in its initial stages, with Mick Jagger providing the lyrics. “The funny thing was that it turned into this reggae song after two takes,” explained Jagger. “And that take on Tattoo You was the only take that was a complete rock and roll take. And then it went to reggae completely for about 20 takes. And that’s why everyone said, ‘Oh, that’s crap. We don’t want to use that.’ And no one went back to Take 2, which was the one we used, the rock track.”
The demo version that Jagger called “Take 2” eventually wound up online, titled ‘Never Stop’, and the rock version was eventually resurrected when it turned up in the archives. “We did a few overdubs on it, and it was like a gift, you know?” said Richards. “One of the great luxuries of The Stones is we have an enormous, great big can of stuff”. His infamous riff opened the song, its infectious claps and percussion making it an instant hit, going to number one in the UK and US.
While the track could never be accused of becoming irrelevant, having been a setlist mainstay since its 1981 release, tech giant Microsoft did reinforce the song’s popularity in 1995. The company paid an eye-watering $3million to license the song on an advert promoting Windows ’95, its new operating system that had a “start” button on the main screen that apparently justified the use of the hugely expensive song.
The fervour over a new operating system gave the song a welcome boost years after its release and reaffirmed the shrewd marketing tactics of Microsoft. “The purchase of that classic hook,” Newsweek reported at the time, “Symbolises the brilliant way that Microsoft marketing wizards have managed to transmogrify a technological molehill into the Mount McKinley of software.”
Bizarrely, the million-dollar song wasn’t the only weapon in Microsoft’s arsenal. Going one step further, they commissioned what they called the “world’s first cyber sitcom”, which now sounds incredibly dated but was revolutionary at the time. Friends stars Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston starred in it and were personally invited to Bill Gates’ office to tinker around with Windows 95 themselves.
See a clip of the promo below.
