"Start!" is the eleventh UK single release by punk rock band, The Jam

The Jam

The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...

 and their second number-one, following "Going Underground

Going Underground

"Going Underground" is the first British number-one chart single by The Jam, released in March 1980. It went straight in at number one, a rare feat at the time, and spent three weeks at the top...

"/"Dreams of Children

Dreams of Children

Dreams Of Children is a song which is the second part of The Jam's Double A-side single Going Underground, which successfully went to #1 in 1980...

". Upon its release on 15 August 1980, it debuted at number three, and two weeks later reached number one for one week. Written by Paul Weller and produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven

Vic Coppersmith-Heaven

Vic Coppersmith-Heaven is an English sound engineer and record producer, best known for his production work with The Jam.-Career:...

 and The Jam, "Start!" was the lead single from the band's fifth album Sound Affects

Sound Affects

Sound Affects is the fifth studio album by British rock band The Jam. The cover art is a pastiche of the artwork used on various Sound Effects records produced by the BBC during the 1970s.-Influences:...

. The single's B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 is "Liza Radley".

"Start!" is based on both the main guitar riff

RIFF

The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....

 and bass riff of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' 1966 song "Taxman

Taxman

"Taxman" is a song written by George Harrison released as the opening track on The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver. Its lyrics attack the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British Labour government of Harold Wilson.-Composition:...

" from the album Revolver

Revolver (album)

Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...

, written by George Harrison

George Harrison

George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

. Likewise, The Jam's "Dreams of Children" had featured the same "Taxman" bassline, played then as a lead guitar riff.

The album version of the song runs at 2:30 and features trumpets in the final section. The single version, also featured on the "Snap!" compilation, is edited and slightly remixed, and omits the trumpets.

Sources

1. Martin Roach (ed) (2008) The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles, Virgin Books, London.
2. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=8978
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/pmw6/