Mick Hucknall, Simply Red’s frontman and leader, wrote “Something Got Me Started” with the band’s keyboardist Fritz McIntrye while traveling in 1990. The song appeared as the first single from the band’s fourth album Stars. Hucknall’s feverish soul and the jazzy arrangement were a clear hit on the dancefloor and charts. Simply Red’s previous album, A New Flame, achieved worldwide success for the British natives thanks to their inimitable soul and Hucknall’s collaboration with Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier. He wanted Stars to pull from dance music because this style was charting courtesy of groups like Soul II Soul. Hucknall ensured “Something’s Got Me Started'” reached dance and club audiences by having Chicago producer Steve “Silk” Hurley and English producer Paul Oakenfold remix it. Their remixes got the single on the UK and European dance charts. Stars went multi-platinum in the UK and was the best-selling album in 1991 and 1992. “Something’s Get Me Started” was re-recorded for Simply Red’s 2005 ninth studio album Simplified. The band released their 13th album, Time in 2023.
