“Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue

"Kickstart My Heart" roars out of Mötley Crüe's 1989 album Dr. Feelgood, the second single from the record and a Nikki Sixx song through and through. Sixx wrote it on an acoustic guitar during the sessions and was reluctant to show it to anyone, until the band's former manager read the words and pushed him to bring it in. After that it came together fast.

The title points to Sixx's own drug overdose and a story that a paramedic brought him back with a shot of adrenaline to the heart, though Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler has told it differently. Bob Rock produced it as pure velocity: Tommy Lee flooring it, Mick Mars' guitar revving like an engine, Vince Neil shrieking over the top. The video was shot live at the Whisky a Go Go, with the band billed as the Foreskins and Sam Kinison playing their limo driver.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.