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Dire Straits Music CD's, DVD's Books
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Dire Straits' fifth album will probably be remembered as the record that ushered in the CD generation, and therefore (depending on your affiliations) a work of extreme evil or an object lesson in craftsmanship. In truth though, it's neither. Inevitably, some moments haven't dated so well. "Money For...
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Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits
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A music fan, April 13, 2005 Classic Dire Straits
I've been listening to Dire Straits since I was little (my parents were fans from the beginning, so I didn't really have a choice!) and I bought this as it's been years since I heard their classic songs, which brought back sentimental memories of my childhood in the 80's! |
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Alchemy - Live
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A music fan, Telford, Shropshire United Kingdom, September 28, 2004
Essential To Own
I bought the two tape version of Alchemy back in '84 and only threw the tapes away - reluctantly - when they wouldn't play any more about 12 years later. At the time I did not expect to to get another copy. However with the re-release I can once again listen to one of the best live albums I have... |
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Love Over Gold
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A music fan, Twickenham, Middlesex United Kingdom, October 29, 2004
Love over gold - Seminal
I am nothing but a simple man of classical education. In the 80's there was one band that your parents liked but secretly so did you. As you hear Telegraph Road for the first time in over 10 years you will understand. One word - ANTHEM |
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Making Movies [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]
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Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the only Dire Straits album not to feature a rhythm guitarist; instead, an added dimension is given to the sound by the addition of Roy Bittan, Bruce Springsteen's pianist. In fact, there were several Springsteen connections to this album: Jimmy Iovine, the producer, was the engineer on Born... |
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Dire Straits
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Free UK delivery on orders over 19 with Super Saver Delivery.
A music fan, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset United Kingdom, July 14, 2004
Absolutely Breathtaking
There are not many superlatives to heap upon this album that have not already been used. It is rare in modern music to find anything near as witty, evocative, emotional yet enjoyable as this debut album from Dire Straits. Essentially this is the "real" Dire Straits, not the electronically influenced... |
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On the Night
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Amazon.co.uk Review
This live album finds Mark Knopfler well into his decadent phase: prosperous, internationally acclaimed, and long past remembering the hard times and hungry years from which his band originally drew both its name and its attitude. Where the first three Dire Straits albums evinced a gritty.. |
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On Every Street
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Free UK delivery on orders over 19 with Super Saver Delivery. Amazon.co.uk Review
A strain of deep ennui pervades this, the sixth (and, to date, final) studio album from one of the most wildly successful bands of the 1980s. This time, though, it's the sound of an older, rather less inspired songwriter: from the amiable R&B of "Calling Elvis", to the modest countrified picking of... |
| Dire Straits DVD's ~ Books |
Dire Straits Biography
Among the successful British pop music acts of the past twenty years, few have retained the integrity of Dire Straits; perhaps only UB40 have been as determined to stay out of the showbiz spotlight and simply do what they always set out to do, playing the music they loved, and taking it to as many people as possible.
When they started out in 1977, Dire Straits fell between all the cracks - they had none of the aggressive front of the punk or new wave groups that the industry was looking out for, and didn't even have the lets-all-have-a-good-time approach of pub rockers like Dr. Feelgood. The group's leader Mark Knopfler told sound engineers at gigs to keep the music quiet, so people in the audience could talk to each other!
When first encountered, Mark's laconic vocal delivery was reminiscent of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, and his apparently effortless guitar wizardry brought to mind J.J. Cale & Barry Burton of the Amazing Rhythm Aces. I had a show on BBC Radio London at the time, one of the few which featured laid-back music of that kind, and when I played the group's demo tape in July 1977, the phones went on ringing for a week. Among the callers were several A&R men who wanted to know who that band was, "you know, that one wich sounded so American." But although several personally loved the group's sound, most couldn't convince themselves or their superiors that the rest of the world would agree.
By the time they recorded this concert for BBC Radio One a year later, Dire Straits had made their album for Phonogram with the producer Muff Winwood, who simply documented the group's sound with no attempt to stamp his own mark on top of theirs. The reaction in the UK was minimal, as you can hear from the-matter-of-fact introductions and muted audience reaction. "Sultans of Swing" had been released as a single in the UK where it sank without a trace; the album had tickled the top 50 - no big deal.
As so often in our pop-obsessed climate, it took success in the rest of the world to convince UK radio programmers that this band of anti-pop, unassuming music deserved daytime play. Holland was first to bite, then Germany, Australia, and finally the United States, where radio programmers loved the album so much that Warner A&R man Jerry Wexler commented, "We would have to get up very early in the morning and work exceedingly hard to stop that thing from selling - it would have been a hit if you could have only bought it in grocery stores."
It's always impossible to pin down the reasons why one artist survives for years where another disappears, but as well as his clarity of purpose and vision. Mark Knopfler has always had something to say - most of his songs are about something in particular, often seen from an unusual point of view. Listeners may have to go in search of the meaning - he doesn't push it in your face - but it's usually worth the effort.
Eventually, listeners in Britain caught up with the rest of the world, and Dire Straits' album "Brothers In Arms" became one of the UK's all-time best sellers. But that was long after most of the performances on this CD; apart from Tunnel Of Love, recorded for BBC-TV's Old Grey Whistle Test after Britain had finally caught on to the band's magic, the rest of this CD was recorded for BBC Radio One while they were still unknown. Here we can go back in time and hear the band deliver the goods with no sense of pomp or self-importance, four craftsmen just doing their job: making music.
Charlie Gillett, London, March 1995 from the album "Live At The BBC". |  |
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