In the world of music, the line between inspiration and unintentional borrowing often gets blurred. When two songs sound strikingly similar, it’s inevitable that the conversation will turn to whether it’s mere coincidence or something more.
Recently, Sweet guitarist Andy Scott discussed the obvious resemblance between the opening riff of Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart” and Sweet’s 1973 track “Hell Raiser.” Scott shared his story during an interview, recalling: “I’ll tell you who played [‘Kickstart My Heart’] to me the first time. We were going to see Mötley Crüe and Skid Row in Sweden. I was producing a band called Sha-Boom in Sweden, and the guys from the Swedish band Europe came into the studio. They said, ‘Come with us tonight. We’re going to see Mötley Crüe.’ They told me, ‘Our keyboard player saw them last night in Gothenburg, and now we’re going to see them at the ice hockey arena in Stockholm.’ I said, ‘Sure, as long as these guys are okay.’ And they assured me they were, so we all hopped into taxis and went.”
On the way to the concert, someone played the intro to “Kickstart My Heart” for Scott without revealing who the artist was. He immediately recognized something familiar.
“I said, ‘Well, somebody’s using my guitar riff.’ I thought, ‘It happens.’ And when we got to the gig, they kicked off the show with ‘The Stripper,’ just like we did in the ’70s. The first song they played was ‘Kickstart My Heart,’ and we used to perform ‘Hell Raiser.’ The whole Europe band, who used to watch us in Sweden back in the ’70s, started laughing when they saw my reaction, and I just thought, ‘Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Lovely.'”
This isn’t the first time that Mötley Crüe and Sweet have been linked. Mötley Crüe bassist and main songwriter Nikki Sixx has spoken openly about his admiration for Sweet. In his book The First 21, he even shared how he once tried to recruit Sweet’s singer Brian Connolly for his pre-Mötley Crüe band, London.
Sixx wrote: “How hard could it be for the top band of the Strip to find a new singer? ‘Forget Nigel Benjamin,’ I told the guys. ‘We’re going to get Brian Connolly!’ Brian Connolly was the voice behind ‘Ballroom Blitz’ and ‘Solid Gold Brass.’ He had left Sweet by that time and recorded a single, but he never released a solo album. I called Uncle Don and asked him, ‘Can you help me get a hold of Brian Connolly from Sweet?'”
Whether Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart” was directly inspired by Sweet’s “Hell Raiser” or if it’s just a case of rock’s cyclical nature remains up for debate. What’s undeniable, however, is that Sweet played a crucial role in shaping the sound that bands like Mötley Crüe later brought to the mainstream. Interestingly, “Hell Raiser” was written by the powerhouse songwriting duo Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were also behind hits for Mud, Suzi Quatro, and many others.
As for the riff? Some may call it borrowing, while others might argue it’s just coincidence. Either way, it’s another example of how rock’s past continues to reverberate in the biggest anthems of the genre.
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