uncaught exception: cannot call methods on button prior to initialization; attempted to call method 'disable'

uncaught exception: cannot call methods on button prior to initialization; attempted to call method 'disable'

I've got a button on my page, and when I click it, I get this exception:

"uncaught exception: cannot call methods on button prior to initialization; attempted to call method 'disable'"

      $('#start').live('click', function() {
        alert('disabled');
        $('#start').button('disable');
        alert('disabled');
     }



      <div>
        <a id="start" data-inline="true" href="#" data-role="button" data-theme="b">Start</a>
      </div>

Any ideas? Given that the page has rendered and I've clicked the button, doesn't that mean its been initialized?