1. Notice stuff, 2. Write a catchy hook, 3. Profit!
June 12, 2024 1:36 PM Subscribe
Dire Straits were a massively successful band; they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, each of their albums was top-5 in the US, their hallmark record Brothers in Arms was #1 in 18 countries, and they are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mark Knopfler is so admired by (at least some) paleontologists that he is the namesake of a dinosaur species discovered in 2001. (Ed. note: it turns out that a whole bunch of rockers are real-life dinosaurs.) With all that success, the pedestrian inspirations behind two of their biggest hit songs are a fun bit of trivia.
The band’s first single “Sultans of Swing” was released in 1978. It was originally recorded a year before as a demo, and a cassette with the resulting track made its way to Charlie Gillett (RIP), a legendary DJ at BBC Radio in London. Gillett played the demo in heavy rotation, and shortly after the band had several major label offers.
The song lyrics tell the story of a jazz band playing uninspired music on a rainy night in a mostly-empty South London pub to an indifferent audience. And Mark Knopfler says that's basically just how it happened, including the band's real-life name. Talking to AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson for his “A Life on the Road” music series, Knopfler explained:
======================
And ‘Sultans of Swing’ was actually in a little pub. And there’s a dusty little dixieland jazz band playing down in Deptford or Greenwich and almost nobody in but some young lads were in the end of the pub playing pool in their baggies and their platform soles and all of that. I was just there to have a couple of pints. At the end of the night the trumpet player or whoever does the announcements says ‘well..um…right, that’s it, time to go,’ [and] he says, ‘we are the Sultans of Swing.’ And you couldn’t be less a sultan of anything, you know, if you were in that band on that night in that pub.
======================
“Sultans of Swing” (re-recorded in 1978 for Dire Straits’ debut album) was the band’s first big hit, reaching the top-10 in six countries and selling multi-platinum in four. Somewhere out there are (or were) the members of the real-life Sultans of Swing, who must have felt both honored and a little bit insulted that Dire Straits’s first #1 song was basically a narration of their underwhelming gig.
Several years later, when he was preparing material for Brothers in Arms, Knopfler was in a New York City appliance store when real-life inspiration struck again. In an interview with the late British rock journalist Robert Sandall, Knopfler told the story of how overhearing an appliance deliveryman watching MTV inspired “Money for Nothing”:
======================
Robert Sandall : "Money For Nothing" was reputedly based on an overheard conversation.
Mark Knopfler: Yeah, I was in New York in one of the big appliance shops. Basically, the layout was quite simple, the kitchen display unit in the front, the table and chairs and drawers and everything were all there in the shop window. Then you go inside and they had rows of microwaves and all the rest of it and at the back there were big walls of TVs all turned to MTV.
It was like a stage set because there was this big Joe Six Pack figure with his checked shirt and he had a barrel of some sort - he had been pulling boxes of something through the back door and he was holding forth to an audience of one or two about the performances on MTV. But the kind of stuff he was saying was so classic that I just managed to eavesdrop for a couple of minutes and then I went and got this piece of paper and started writing down the lines of things he was saying. Lines like, "That ain't working" and all that, and "Maybe get a blister on your finger", made me laugh. He said all that stuff and "What's that, Hawaiian noises?", so in a sense it was just a piece of reporting. But again, it's one of those things when you are aware that the situation has possibilities to create something.
======================
"Money for Nothing" became the band’s signature song - it was one of the two songs they played at Live Aid (the other being “Sultans of Swing”) - and the accompanying video was groundbreaking for its use of 3D animation. Reflective of its inspiration, the video features a blue collar, hardhat-type guy watching and commenting on music videos that are playing on a wall of TVs behind him, which it turns out was pretty much how it went down.
[On an unrelated note that is a piece of good trivia, the songwriting credits for “Money for Nothing” belong to both Mark Knopfler and Sting. Knopfler wrote the song himself, but he borrowed Sting’s rhythm and melody of “don’t stand, don’t stand so, don’t stand so close to me” and added it to the song as “I want my, I want my, I want my MTV.” He asked Sting to sing the part, and he happily obliged. Sting said in a 1987 interview that “I did it, and thought nothing of it, until my publishers, Virgin -who I've been at war with for years and who I have no respect for - decided that was a song they owned, 'Don't Stand So Close to Me'. They said that they wanted a percentage of the song, much to my embarrassment. So they took it.”]
Dire Straits previously (“Walk of Life” as perfect film exit music), and previously (Brothers in Arms written up by hippybear, of course), and previously (Brothers in Arms as the First Big CD). (And a deleted previously: this post was inspired by me accidentally posting an intended AskMe question on the main page earlier this week. Oops.)
The band’s first single “Sultans of Swing” was released in 1978. It was originally recorded a year before as a demo, and a cassette with the resulting track made its way to Charlie Gillett (RIP), a legendary DJ at BBC Radio in London. Gillett played the demo in heavy rotation, and shortly after the band had several major label offers.
The song lyrics tell the story of a jazz band playing uninspired music on a rainy night in a mostly-empty South London pub to an indifferent audience. And Mark Knopfler says that's basically just how it happened, including the band's real-life name. Talking to AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson for his “A Life on the Road” music series, Knopfler explained:
======================
And ‘Sultans of Swing’ was actually in a little pub. And there’s a dusty little dixieland jazz band playing down in Deptford or Greenwich and almost nobody in but some young lads were in the end of the pub playing pool in their baggies and their platform soles and all of that. I was just there to have a couple of pints. At the end of the night the trumpet player or whoever does the announcements says ‘well..um…right, that’s it, time to go,’ [and] he says, ‘we are the Sultans of Swing.’ And you couldn’t be less a sultan of anything, you know, if you were in that band on that night in that pub.
======================
“Sultans of Swing” (re-recorded in 1978 for Dire Straits’ debut album) was the band’s first big hit, reaching the top-10 in six countries and selling multi-platinum in four. Somewhere out there are (or were) the members of the real-life Sultans of Swing, who must have felt both honored and a little bit insulted that Dire Straits’s first #1 song was basically a narration of their underwhelming gig.
Several years later, when he was preparing material for Brothers in Arms, Knopfler was in a New York City appliance store when real-life inspiration struck again. In an interview with the late British rock journalist Robert Sandall, Knopfler told the story of how overhearing an appliance deliveryman watching MTV inspired “Money for Nothing”:
======================
Robert Sandall : "Money For Nothing" was reputedly based on an overheard conversation.
Mark Knopfler: Yeah, I was in New York in one of the big appliance shops. Basically, the layout was quite simple, the kitchen display unit in the front, the table and chairs and drawers and everything were all there in the shop window. Then you go inside and they had rows of microwaves and all the rest of it and at the back there were big walls of TVs all turned to MTV.
It was like a stage set because there was this big Joe Six Pack figure with his checked shirt and he had a barrel of some sort - he had been pulling boxes of something through the back door and he was holding forth to an audience of one or two about the performances on MTV. But the kind of stuff he was saying was so classic that I just managed to eavesdrop for a couple of minutes and then I went and got this piece of paper and started writing down the lines of things he was saying. Lines like, "That ain't working" and all that, and "Maybe get a blister on your finger", made me laugh. He said all that stuff and "What's that, Hawaiian noises?", so in a sense it was just a piece of reporting. But again, it's one of those things when you are aware that the situation has possibilities to create something.
======================
"Money for Nothing" became the band’s signature song - it was one of the two songs they played at Live Aid (the other being “Sultans of Swing”) - and the accompanying video was groundbreaking for its use of 3D animation. Reflective of its inspiration, the video features a blue collar, hardhat-type guy watching and commenting on music videos that are playing on a wall of TVs behind him, which it turns out was pretty much how it went down.
[On an unrelated note that is a piece of good trivia, the songwriting credits for “Money for Nothing” belong to both Mark Knopfler and Sting. Knopfler wrote the song himself, but he borrowed Sting’s rhythm and melody of “don’t stand, don’t stand so, don’t stand so close to me” and added it to the song as “I want my, I want my, I want my MTV.” He asked Sting to sing the part, and he happily obliged. Sting said in a 1987 interview that “I did it, and thought nothing of it, until my publishers, Virgin -who I've been at war with for years and who I have no respect for - decided that was a song they owned, 'Don't Stand So Close to Me'. They said that they wanted a percentage of the song, much to my embarrassment. So they took it.”]
Dire Straits previously (“Walk of Life” as perfect film exit music), and previously (Brothers in Arms written up by hippybear, of course), and previously (Brothers in Arms as the First Big CD). (And a deleted previously: this post was inspired by me accidentally posting an intended AskMe question on the main page earlier this week. Oops.)
I love Dire Straits, no doubt because Brothers in Arms came out my senior year of high school and “Walk of Life” was exit music for so…many…parties. That said, I think I love Mark Knopfler’s soundtrack to “Local Hero” maybe best of all.
posted by chavenet at 1:54 PM on June 12, 2024 [8 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 1:54 PM on June 12, 2024 [8 favorites]
The Princess Bride soundtrack. That is all.
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:02 PM on June 12, 2024 [14 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:02 PM on June 12, 2024 [14 favorites]
Telegraph Road and Private Investigations off love over gold are all time classics, but the title song on brothers in arms is also extremely beautiful.
posted by Sebmojo at 2:04 PM on June 12, 2024 [8 favorites]
posted by Sebmojo at 2:04 PM on June 12, 2024 [8 favorites]
The Princess Bride soundtrack. That is all.
Inconceivable!
(hey, somebody had to do it!)
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [8 favorites]
Inconceivable!
(hey, somebody had to do it!)
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [8 favorites]
The Dire Straits live album is something, but also a shout out to Mark Knopfler's work on the soundtracks to Cal and Local Hero - amazing stuff.
posted by whatevernot at 2:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by whatevernot at 2:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]
My favorite quote about Mark Knopfler is courtesy of Douglas Adams, who says he can make a guitar "hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night."
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:10 PM on June 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:10 PM on June 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
Toro, toro, taxi. See ya tomorrow my son.
posted by evilmomlady at 2:12 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
posted by evilmomlady at 2:12 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
The previously mentioned "Telegraph Road" provides the direct through line for his transformation to a film scorer.
And I can never get of their music. I've listened to all their albums countless times. Shame that the band did what bands do under that pressure.
Knopfler's style is so distinctive, but when John Mayer released "Wild Blue" a couple of years ago I would have sworn that Knopfler was playing on it.
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:15 PM on June 12, 2024
And I can never get of their music. I've listened to all their albums countless times. Shame that the band did what bands do under that pressure.
Knopfler's style is so distinctive, but when John Mayer released "Wild Blue" a couple of years ago I would have sworn that Knopfler was playing on it.
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:15 PM on June 12, 2024
The Sultan's of Swing guitar riff on the time bell ringing always felt to me like Knopfler absolutely showing off a la Chuck Berry's, "He could play a guitar just like ringing a bell."
I love love love that song, and have spent way too much time tweaking a car stereo's equalizer trying to make the notes sound like crystal raindrops.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:18 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
I love love love that song, and have spent way too much time tweaking a car stereo's equalizer trying to make the notes sound like crystal raindrops.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:18 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
And "Walk of Life" is always gonna be a baseball game song to me.
I like Walk of Life, but I think someone here described it as (paraphrasing) 'the Dire Straights have a guitarist who is supposedly one of the best of all time, but the Walk of Life is driven by a beginner's keyboard riff", which I always thought was funny and true.
My personal favorites by them not yet mentioned is Corned Beef City from 2012, still in the vein of 'notice stuff- write a catchy hook' school.
Also have to link Pat Finnery's cover of Sultans of Swing, in which starting in about the 3rd verse, he and another guitarist harmonize the Mark Knoffler guitar parts, so they basically Allman Brothers-ify Sultans of Swing.
And The Dire Straits are a lucky (and not eponisterically named) band if they've never played to themselves and that one guy and took home half the door.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:18 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
I like Walk of Life, but I think someone here described it as (paraphrasing) 'the Dire Straights have a guitarist who is supposedly one of the best of all time, but the Walk of Life is driven by a beginner's keyboard riff", which I always thought was funny and true.
My personal favorites by them not yet mentioned is Corned Beef City from 2012, still in the vein of 'notice stuff- write a catchy hook' school.
Also have to link Pat Finnery's cover of Sultans of Swing, in which starting in about the 3rd verse, he and another guitarist harmonize the Mark Knoffler guitar parts, so they basically Allman Brothers-ify Sultans of Swing.
And The Dire Straits are a lucky (and not eponisterically named) band if they've never played to themselves and that one guy and took home half the door.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:18 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
In the 1970s, friends of my father's started a night club in our small town; it was one of a very small handful of clubs in Connecticut, far enough away from other major cities that it didn't have any competition, and a well-situated midpoint between Boston and NYC so that it was easy for acts to get to in between bigger gigs. It was a major stop on the Blues circuit, but also got a lot of up-and-coming acts in the 70s, to the point that sometimes managers of new acts would hit them up like it was CBGB's or something.
Dire Strait's manager was one such manager, contacting the club owner in January of 1978 to talk him into booking the band. The owner did so, thinking nothing of it; he hadn't heard of them, no one had at that point. It'd fill out a night on the schedule, no big deal. He booked them for a night in early June of 1978; sometime on a Tuesday, maybe they'd pull in a couple extra people on top of the regulars.
Then "Sultans of Swing" came out in May of 1978, a month before they were slated to play the club.
The crowd to get in was reportedly completely ridiculous.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:23 PM on June 12, 2024 [31 favorites]
Dire Strait's manager was one such manager, contacting the club owner in January of 1978 to talk him into booking the band. The owner did so, thinking nothing of it; he hadn't heard of them, no one had at that point. It'd fill out a night on the schedule, no big deal. He booked them for a night in early June of 1978; sometime on a Tuesday, maybe they'd pull in a couple extra people on top of the regulars.
Then "Sultans of Swing" came out in May of 1978, a month before they were slated to play the club.
The crowd to get in was reportedly completely ridiculous.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:23 PM on June 12, 2024 [31 favorites]
A superb cover of Money for Nothing. I've watched it an embarrassing number of times. I just love the bassist's big, daffy grin when they get to the part about bangin' on the bongos like a chimpanzee.
But "Money for Nothing", to me, is basically THE song that catapulted MTV to the status it used to hold.
I don't think kids today can even understand how big a deal MTV used to be. It's kind of pathetic what's become of it. The other day I heard that Beavis and Butthead have a new season coming up... on Comedy Central. That really drove home to me that MTV is doomed and the people behind it have zero interest in doing anything to save it. Like, they could get some attention if they announced Beavis and Butthead was returning to MTV, but... no. They'd rather just rerun Ridiculousness until the channel is dead, thanks.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:27 PM on June 12, 2024 [17 favorites]
But "Money for Nothing", to me, is basically THE song that catapulted MTV to the status it used to hold.
I don't think kids today can even understand how big a deal MTV used to be. It's kind of pathetic what's become of it. The other day I heard that Beavis and Butthead have a new season coming up... on Comedy Central. That really drove home to me that MTV is doomed and the people behind it have zero interest in doing anything to save it. Like, they could get some attention if they announced Beavis and Butthead was returning to MTV, but... no. They'd rather just rerun Ridiculousness until the channel is dead, thanks.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:27 PM on June 12, 2024 [17 favorites]
turns out that a whole bunch of rockers are real-life dinosaurs
some are just Dinosaur Jr.
Romeo & Juliette covered by the Indigo Girls neatly connects to a recent post
posted by HearHere at 2:30 PM on June 12, 2024 [7 favorites]
some are just Dinosaur Jr.
Romeo & Juliette covered by the Indigo Girls neatly connects to a recent post
posted by HearHere at 2:30 PM on June 12, 2024 [7 favorites]
We drive to Florida every Christmas, my wife, my son, and I. My son, being the youngest, often gets the drive time after the sun goes down. When that shift starts, he almost always puts on Brothers in Arms. He & I agree this is the best driving-at-night album.
posted by MtDewd at 2:36 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by MtDewd at 2:36 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I really loved Brothers in Arms until a college roommate began overplaying *my* cassette tape of the album. After putting up with this for months, I decided to "accidentally" break the tape by stepping on it. It turns out that cassette tapes are surprisingly indestructible, so I had to pivot to *claiming* it had been broken by accidentally stepping on it while actually just having thrown it away.
Within a week, he had bought his own copy and I haven't deliberately listened to any song from the album since. It's not the album's fault; I still think it's a great album. It's just that the associated memories have ruined it for me.
posted by Slothrup at 2:43 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Within a week, he had bought his own copy and I haven't deliberately listened to any song from the album since. It's not the album's fault; I still think it's a great album. It's just that the associated memories have ruined it for me.
posted by Slothrup at 2:43 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Knopfler also plays on Weird Al Yankovic's "Money for Nothing/Beverley Hillbillies*". He gave Weird Al the OK to make the parody on the condition that he would play the guitar part.
posted by penguinicity at 2:44 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
posted by penguinicity at 2:44 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
I've been surprised lately at how prescient My Parties is. That song should get covered more.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 3:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 3:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I knew the story behind "Money for Nothing," but hadn't heard that the Sultans of Swing were actually the Sultans of Swing.
I have fond memories of listening to Love Over Gold on cassette, over and over.
Excellent post, AgentRocket. Thank you!
posted by kristi at 3:27 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I have fond memories of listening to Love Over Gold on cassette, over and over.
Excellent post, AgentRocket. Thank you!
posted by kristi at 3:27 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
Down to the Waterline is perhaps the perfect first song for your debut album.
posted by Windopaene at 3:28 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 3:28 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
Leo Moracchioli (previously) has an amazing Sultans of Swing cover.
posted by hanov3r at 3:36 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by hanov3r at 3:36 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Knopfler appears in Under the Volcano about George Martin's Montserrat studio where Brothers in Arms was recorded. Perhaps its terroir is responsible for "So Far Away" being so impossibly chill.
posted by credulous at 3:39 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by credulous at 3:39 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I could take or leave Dire Straits, but the score for Local Hero is pretty close to perfection.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:42 PM on June 12, 2024 [7 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 3:42 PM on June 12, 2024 [7 favorites]
Mark Knoffler
This reminds that one of my high school friends mis-heard the name and forever after among us Dire Straits’ frontman was only ever called “One Muffler”
posted by chavenet at 3:51 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
This reminds that one of my high school friends mis-heard the name and forever after among us Dire Straits’ frontman was only ever called “One Muffler”
posted by chavenet at 3:51 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I was in college when Brothers in Arms came out and my buddy and I went to see the band in San Antonio, 4 hours away. I was able to order tickets for the front row of the mezzanine. But when we got to the show, our tickets were actually for the front row of the theater, center. Someone way back behind us must have been angry, but we had an awesome time.
posted by neuron at 3:57 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by neuron at 3:57 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
I will never forget the day I reunited with my best bud from high school after we'd left for different colleges and he popped in Dire Straits debut and said, "Have you heard these guys?" That was one among many - but not too many - singular moments when my extremely hyperactive musical muse changed instantly.
Also, later, the utter mystical experience of listening to Knopfler and Chet Atkins
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:18 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
Also, later, the utter mystical experience of listening to Knopfler and Chet Atkins
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:18 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
Also, later, the utter mystical experience of listening to Knopfler and Chet Atkins
I just now ran across Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - Full Concert - Real Live Roadrunning (14.11.2006) on YT because I was thinking about their duet, This Is Us.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:24 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
I just now ran across Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - Full Concert - Real Live Roadrunning (14.11.2006) on YT because I was thinking about their duet, This Is Us.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:24 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
I loved the use of their music in the West Wing
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 4:28 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 4:28 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
I just now ran across Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - Full Concert - Real Live Roadrunning (14.11.2006) on YT because I was thinking about their duet, This Is Us.
An absolute favorite of ours which in on our short list for play at either/both of our post-death soirees.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:29 PM on June 12, 2024
An absolute favorite of ours which in on our short list for play at either/both of our post-death soirees.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:29 PM on June 12, 2024
I like Walk of Life, but I think someone here described it as (paraphrasing) 'the Dire Straights have a guitarist who is supposedly one of the best of all time, but the Walk of Life is driven by a beginner's keyboard riff", which I always thought was funny and true.
"Guitar hero must always play so you know he's a guitar hero" is kind of the problem with guitar heroes tho.
posted by Sauce Trough at 4:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
"Guitar hero must always play so you know he's a guitar hero" is kind of the problem with guitar heroes tho.
posted by Sauce Trough at 4:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
And he did most of it without a pick >:o
posted by gottabefunky at 5:30 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by gottabefunky at 5:30 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I don't think kids today can even understand how big a deal MTV used to be. It's kind of pathetic what's become of it. The other day I heard that Beavis and Butthead have a new season coming up... on Comedy Central. That really drove home to me that MTV is doomed and the people behind it have zero interest in doing anything to save it. Like, they could get some attention if they announced Beavis and Butthead was returning to MTV, but... no. They'd rather just rerun Ridiculousness until the channel is dead, thanks.
PREACH.
One day I will create a very extensive FPP about how much 120 Minutes formed a huge core of my tween and adolescence. MTV is not even a shadow of what it is; it's just a corpse that doesn't know it's dead.
posted by Kitteh at 5:30 PM on June 12, 2024 [9 favorites]
PREACH.
One day I will create a very extensive FPP about how much 120 Minutes formed a huge core of my tween and adolescence. MTV is not even a shadow of what it is; it's just a corpse that doesn't know it's dead.
posted by Kitteh at 5:30 PM on June 12, 2024 [9 favorites]
Huh, Sultans of Swing always seemed like a song about stumbling upon a hidden gem of a small-time band enjoying the hell out of playing, so much that it doesn’t matter to them whether they’ve got an audience or anyone thinks they’re cool.
posted by corey flood at 5:54 PM on June 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
posted by corey flood at 5:54 PM on June 12, 2024 [10 favorites]
Such intense ambivalence about this band (I do not do dad-guitar rock) but the songs that I do like, I like a lot. The aching romanticism of "laying everybody low/ with the love song that he made." The sparse guitar opening "Sultans."
posted by praemunire at 6:01 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 6:01 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I agree with everything that everybody's said. There's so much to say about Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits - what an amazing man and band.
When I first heard Industrial Disease I fell in love with that amazing guitar sound. To be honest, I still am - like, I could listen to it all day. I've also been very fond of the lyric "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong"
It's not a perfect song but there's parts in Skateaway that I can listen to over and over again, like the echoing drums, the "hallelujah, here she comes, queen roller ball", the guitar solo at the end.
posted by ashbury at 6:33 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
When I first heard Industrial Disease I fell in love with that amazing guitar sound. To be honest, I still am - like, I could listen to it all day. I've also been very fond of the lyric "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong"
It's not a perfect song but there's parts in Skateaway that I can listen to over and over again, like the echoing drums, the "hallelujah, here she comes, queen roller ball", the guitar solo at the end.
posted by ashbury at 6:33 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]
I like Walk of Life, but I think someone here described it as (paraphrasing) 'the Dire Straights have a guitarist who is supposedly one of the best of all time, but the Walk of Life is driven by a beginner's keyboard riff", which I always thought was funny and true.
Ok I have to defend the guitar-playing on Walk of Life just a little bit. That may be a beginner keyboard riff, but just try playing Knopfler’s rhythm part, like, AT ALL. The esoteric way he plays it takes a helluva lot of practice. It sounds like a basic country blues shuffle but it really isn’t.
posted by wabbittwax at 6:38 PM on June 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
I’m surprised at all the love in this thread for the album “Brothers in Arms”. That album is just not good (with the exception of the title track). Schlocky trying-for-hits [side note: Objective Achieved!]
Prior 4 albums are top-notch though. Making Movies is their best.
posted by Ike_Arumba at 6:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Prior 4 albums are top-notch though. Making Movies is their best.
posted by Ike_Arumba at 6:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
One of my all-time favorite bands and a huge influence on my guitar playing. I never got to see them live, but I did see the Notting Hillbillies (low-key folky side project with friends) in the UK at UEA in 1989-90, which was really meaningful. Just this week I found the ticket and a little sheriff's badge I bought. It's a small SRO venue and I was literally at the front with my hands resting on the edge of the stage. I briefly met him afterward and got a signature. Very much a regular guy, not a fame guy.
Brothers In Arms was the first CD I ever bought after I saved up money for an early player. I couldn't afford speakers so it was headphones only. From there I went back to all the earlier stuff, which I ended up liking even better. Communique is sometimes my favorite, but that could be because the debut was such a perfect album front to back - all killer no filler - that I have sort of worn it out and can just play all the tracks in my head. I know a lot of focus is on the guitar heroics in stuff like Sultans of Swing, but I think Knopfler is maybe even a better lyricist than guitarist, and that's saying a lot. He's also one of the only guitarists of his caliber who rarely if ever overplays; basically the guitar is saying what he can't.
Today I'm picking Tunnel of Love as my fave because of the incredible evocation of an almost-romance at a seaside carnival. The extended outro is just perfect and some of the most emotional guitar playing there is. Also, there are great Springsteen connections there, in that there's a Springsteen song with the same name, AND Knopfler was a huge Springsteen fan, AND the feel and lyrics of the song are very Springsteen-y, AND the piano and organ are by Roy Bittan of the E Street Band, AND the song leads into Romeo and Juliet, whose main guitar figure is clearly an evolution of the piano part from Jungleland.
whatevernot - nice callout to Badges, Posters etc. that whole EP is good fun, but I especially love the winking foray into that sort of jazzy rockabilly sound. It's a hilarious and perfect vision of running the merch table (sorry for the full lyrics):
Me and my mate we think you're great
Some we like and some we hate
I know him I've seen him on the adverts
Got any badges posters stickers or t-shirts
You were bloody great last time you come
I thought me 'ead was stuck in the bass drum
Bloody loud, me bloody head hurts
Got any badges posters stickers and t-shirts
So how'd you get a start in show biz
My mate's as good on the drums as he is
My mate thinks I'm bloody cracked
Can you sign my jacket on the back
All them badges made of plastic
I think they're great, just fantastic
I'm unemployed, he's still at school
He gets annoyed 'cause I'm such a fool
You don't half sweat a lot up there
Have you got showers in here?
You're bloody great, my bloody head hurts
Got any badges posters stickers and t-shirts
Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy
My mom says we're a pair of perverts
Got any badges posters stickers and t-shirts
C'mon mister
We hitch-hiked here in pouring rain
Now we've missed the frigging train.
Hey! can I have one of them lagers?
Thanks very much, mate. can 'e have one?
A-one, a-two, a-one two three four... (guitar solo)
posted by caviar2d2 at 6:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]
Brothers In Arms was the first CD I ever bought after I saved up money for an early player. I couldn't afford speakers so it was headphones only. From there I went back to all the earlier stuff, which I ended up liking even better. Communique is sometimes my favorite, but that could be because the debut was such a perfect album front to back - all killer no filler - that I have sort of worn it out and can just play all the tracks in my head. I know a lot of focus is on the guitar heroics in stuff like Sultans of Swing, but I think Knopfler is maybe even a better lyricist than guitarist, and that's saying a lot. He's also one of the only guitarists of his caliber who rarely if ever overplays; basically the guitar is saying what he can't.
Today I'm picking Tunnel of Love as my fave because of the incredible evocation of an almost-romance at a seaside carnival. The extended outro is just perfect and some of the most emotional guitar playing there is. Also, there are great Springsteen connections there, in that there's a Springsteen song with the same name, AND Knopfler was a huge Springsteen fan, AND the feel and lyrics of the song are very Springsteen-y, AND the piano and organ are by Roy Bittan of the E Street Band, AND the song leads into Romeo and Juliet, whose main guitar figure is clearly an evolution of the piano part from Jungleland.
whatevernot - nice callout to Badges, Posters etc. that whole EP is good fun, but I especially love the winking foray into that sort of jazzy rockabilly sound. It's a hilarious and perfect vision of running the merch table (sorry for the full lyrics):
Me and my mate we think you're great
Some we like and some we hate
I know him I've seen him on the adverts
Got any badges posters stickers or t-shirts
You were bloody great last time you come
I thought me 'ead was stuck in the bass drum
Bloody loud, me bloody head hurts
Got any badges posters stickers and t-shirts
So how'd you get a start in show biz
My mate's as good on the drums as he is
My mate thinks I'm bloody cracked
Can you sign my jacket on the back
All them badges made of plastic
I think they're great, just fantastic
I'm unemployed, he's still at school
He gets annoyed 'cause I'm such a fool
You don't half sweat a lot up there
Have you got showers in here?
You're bloody great, my bloody head hurts
Got any badges posters stickers and t-shirts
Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy
My mom says we're a pair of perverts
Got any badges posters stickers and t-shirts
C'mon mister
We hitch-hiked here in pouring rain
Now we've missed the frigging train.
Hey! can I have one of them lagers?
Thanks very much, mate. can 'e have one?
A-one, a-two, a-one two three four... (guitar solo)
posted by caviar2d2 at 6:46 PM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]
To each their own, but despite the very out-of-character Money for Nothing and the jolly weirdness of Walk of Life, to me Brothers in Arms is pretty darn far from trying for hits. The title song, Ride Across the River, The Man's Too Strong ... not really radio fodder. But that could be because I discovered them in reverse order starting there and imprinted on it. I agree about the prior 4 being even better, though. So many bands have a hit and you go back and are like, eh, that was pretty much all they had to offer.
posted by caviar2d2 at 6:50 PM on June 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
posted by caviar2d2 at 6:50 PM on June 12, 2024 [6 favorites]
"Twisting by the Pool"
Making Movies is one of my all-time favorite albums (except for the embarrassing and regrettable "Les Boys").
posted by kirkaracha at 6:59 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
Making Movies is one of my all-time favorite albums (except for the embarrassing and regrettable "Les Boys").
posted by kirkaracha at 6:59 PM on June 12, 2024 [5 favorites]
Caviar2d2 - yeah I love how he sings “Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy”. Badges posters stickers & t-shirts is so much fun.
posted by whatevernot at 7:13 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by whatevernot at 7:13 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
I'm not much into live albums but Alchemy rivals any of the best live albums out there. It's got great sound, it's an interesting mix of moody tracks and some upbeat songs, the audience seems to be just as much a part of the show, it's got Private Investigations and the camera crew did a nifty job of catching the details (3:58, precisely), and then the single repeated bass note leading into the guitar solo, the buildup to the finale...that was some concert.
You know what's funny? I might sound like a Dire Straits fanatic but I'm really not. I would struggle to put their albums in the right order, I don't really know any deep cuts, couldn't likely name more than 2 or 3 songs on Brothers in Arms, I don't love love Sultans of Swing but the stuff I do like, I like a whole lot, as you can see. /shrug
posted by ashbury at 8:16 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
You know what's funny? I might sound like a Dire Straits fanatic but I'm really not. I would struggle to put their albums in the right order, I don't really know any deep cuts, couldn't likely name more than 2 or 3 songs on Brothers in Arms, I don't love love Sultans of Swing but the stuff I do like, I like a whole lot, as you can see. /shrug
posted by ashbury at 8:16 PM on June 12, 2024 [2 favorites]
One of my favorite bands, and "Making Movies" is the top of my favorite albums list. I actually got it three times (two cassettes (each eaten), and a CD).
Great post!
posted by MrGuilt at 9:09 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Great post!
posted by MrGuilt at 9:09 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Just had the algorithm bring up a Mark Knopfler track from 1984 called “Irish Boy” from a soundtrack for a movie called ‘Cal’ and the sneaky bastard reused the theme he’d only just been paid for the previous year on ‘Local Hero’ and set it to different instruments!
Shouldn’t be too critical though; it’s basically the same thing I do all the time in Excel and PowerBI.
posted by MarchHare at 10:33 PM on June 12, 2024
Shouldn’t be too critical though; it’s basically the same thing I do all the time in Excel and PowerBI.
posted by MarchHare at 10:33 PM on June 12, 2024
Money for Nothing came out when I was in high school and was played everywhere. I was sick of it before I even really knew who Dire Straits were. I still can't quite appreciate that song. I don't hate it or anything, but I would never put it on. I'm sure I'd love it if I heard it fresh, because I'm a big fan of everything else they've done.
So that's my only complaint with them. I was going to include Brothers in Arms as a whole in my complaint about overexposure, but when I checked out the track list again there are just a ton of good songs that I have nothing but love for. I still put Making Movies at the top of my personal list, but I don't know if I'd want to get into an argument that it's "better." BiA is a great album too.
posted by mark k at 11:35 PM on June 12, 2024
So that's my only complaint with them. I was going to include Brothers in Arms as a whole in my complaint about overexposure, but when I checked out the track list again there are just a ton of good songs that I have nothing but love for. I still put Making Movies at the top of my personal list, but I don't know if I'd want to get into an argument that it's "better." BiA is a great album too.
posted by mark k at 11:35 PM on June 12, 2024
1. Love Over Gold.
I'd sooner forget but I remember those nights / when life was just a bet on a race between the lights. (*)
2. ExtendedDancEPlay
I'm a twistin fool
3. Making Movies
laying everybody low with the love songs
4. Brothers in Arms
down in the tunnels tryin to make it pay
5. Dire Straits
coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down
6. Communique
even the hero gets a bullet in the chest
7. On Every Street
sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug
(*) seriously people, Telegraph Road is like Dylan and Springsteen and Chet Atkins had a baby.
posted by Sauce Trough at 12:42 AM on June 13, 2024 [3 favorites]
I'd sooner forget but I remember those nights / when life was just a bet on a race between the lights. (*)
2. ExtendedDancEPlay
I'm a twistin fool
3. Making Movies
laying everybody low with the love songs
4. Brothers in Arms
down in the tunnels tryin to make it pay
5. Dire Straits
coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down
6. Communique
even the hero gets a bullet in the chest
7. On Every Street
sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug
(*) seriously people, Telegraph Road is like Dylan and Springsteen and Chet Atkins had a baby.
posted by Sauce Trough at 12:42 AM on June 13, 2024 [3 favorites]
That album is just not good.
Mans too strong, latest trick, brothers in arms, ride across the river are all great songs imo, and money for nothing/walk of life are great hooky pop songs.
posted by Sebmojo at 1:26 AM on June 13, 2024 [3 favorites]
Mans too strong, latest trick, brothers in arms, ride across the river are all great songs imo, and money for nothing/walk of life are great hooky pop songs.
posted by Sebmojo at 1:26 AM on June 13, 2024 [3 favorites]
I looked for reaction videos and found this 23 minute one. "If you don't like this I don't know what you're hearing... I'm glad I wasn't born with your ears"
I'm a bit surprised how many reactors have never heard of Dire Straits considering how big they were. Maybe this kind of highly produced music got so obliterated by grunge it just disappeared from pop culture. But also you have a different reaction if it's fresh to you and never got played to death on the radio.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 3:49 AM on June 13, 2024
I'm a bit surprised how many reactors have never heard of Dire Straits considering how big they were. Maybe this kind of highly produced music got so obliterated by grunge it just disappeared from pop culture. But also you have a different reaction if it's fresh to you and never got played to death on the radio.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 3:49 AM on June 13, 2024
Something I am very proud of and really has nothing to do with Dire Straits... well... has everything to do with Dire Straits... and well... maybe I'm not very proud of... but well... hey this is one of those things that just hits the brain worm and... well apparently the sandworm:
"Spice for Nothin'" (Sorry Dire Straits)
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
(Desert, desert, desert)
Now look at them Harkonnens,
that's the way you do it
You fight the Fremen with your vile scheme
That ain't workin', that's the way you lose it
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
Now that ain't workin',
that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya, Harkonnen ain't no king
Maybe get some Arrakis dust under your fingernails
Maybe get a Shai-Hulud sting
Chorus:
We gotta move these spice melange shipments
We gotta fight these Fremen dreams
The little Baron with the golden needles
Yeah buddy, that's his own deceit
The little Baron got his own spice empire
The little Baron, he's an evil cheat
We gotta install these desert turbines
Transmitter sand traps, crysknife scenes
We gotta move these spice melange shipments
We gotta fight these Fremen dreams
I shoulda learned to fight like Paul
I shoulda learned to be Muad'Dib
Look at that spice girl, she's showin' me visions
Of a future that we all must heed
And he's up there, what's that? Writin' prophecy?
Staring at the stars, he got the blue-in-blue
Oh, that ain't workin', that's the way you do it
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
Chorus:
We gotta move these spice melange shipments
We gotta fight these Fremen dreams
Now that ain't workin', that's the way you lose it
You fight the Fremen with your vile scheme
That ain't workin', that's the way you lose it
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:52 AM on June 13, 2024 [5 favorites]
"Spice for Nothin'" (Sorry Dire Straits)
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
(Desert, desert, desert)
Now look at them Harkonnens,
that's the way you do it
You fight the Fremen with your vile scheme
That ain't workin', that's the way you lose it
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
Now that ain't workin',
that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya, Harkonnen ain't no king
Maybe get some Arrakis dust under your fingernails
Maybe get a Shai-Hulud sting
Chorus:
We gotta move these spice melange shipments
We gotta fight these Fremen dreams
The little Baron with the golden needles
Yeah buddy, that's his own deceit
The little Baron got his own spice empire
The little Baron, he's an evil cheat
We gotta install these desert turbines
Transmitter sand traps, crysknife scenes
We gotta move these spice melange shipments
We gotta fight these Fremen dreams
I shoulda learned to fight like Paul
I shoulda learned to be Muad'Dib
Look at that spice girl, she's showin' me visions
Of a future that we all must heed
And he's up there, what's that? Writin' prophecy?
Staring at the stars, he got the blue-in-blue
Oh, that ain't workin', that's the way you do it
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
Chorus:
We gotta move these spice melange shipments
We gotta fight these Fremen dreams
Now that ain't workin', that's the way you lose it
You fight the Fremen with your vile scheme
That ain't workin', that's the way you lose it
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
Spice for nothin' and your power for free
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:52 AM on June 13, 2024 [5 favorites]
Just had the algorithm bring up a Mark Knopfler track from 1984 called “Irish Boy” from a soundtrack for a movie called ‘Cal’ and the sneaky bastard reused the theme he’d only just been paid for the previous year on ‘Local Hero’ and set it to different instruments! [...] Shouldn’t be too critical though; it’s basically the same thing I do all the time in Excel and PowerBI.
Hell, he's not even the only musician who's done that - Peter Gabriel was tapped to do the music for a film called Birdy and it's all remixes of his own existing stuff.
Cal is actually a film worth tracking down; it's a sort of star-crossed lovers film set in Northern Ireland where a young Catholic man who drove the getaway car when his buddy assassinated a police chief, and he's so wracked with guilt that a year later he takes a job on the family's farm and he and the chief's widow start falling for each other. It's nowhere near as soap-opera-ish as I've made it sound, believe it or not. ....As for Mark Knopfler's music, another cut from it is The Long Road, which I think may be more unique.
And in finding that I've discovered Mark Knopfler also did the music for Last Exit to Brooklyn.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:39 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Hell, he's not even the only musician who's done that - Peter Gabriel was tapped to do the music for a film called Birdy and it's all remixes of his own existing stuff.
Cal is actually a film worth tracking down; it's a sort of star-crossed lovers film set in Northern Ireland where a young Catholic man who drove the getaway car when his buddy assassinated a police chief, and he's so wracked with guilt that a year later he takes a job on the family's farm and he and the chief's widow start falling for each other. It's nowhere near as soap-opera-ish as I've made it sound, believe it or not. ....As for Mark Knopfler's music, another cut from it is The Long Road, which I think may be more unique.
And in finding that I've discovered Mark Knopfler also did the music for Last Exit to Brooklyn.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:39 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
The first song by Dire Straits I ever heard was Industrial Diseas and it is still my favorite.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:24 AM on June 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:24 AM on June 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
My last name is Parkinson, so for a while there I was a Doctor who Declared.
posted by whatevernot at 7:16 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by whatevernot at 7:16 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
I always liked that Knopfler included little musical nods to all sorts of things, like the folkie way Brothers in Arms borrows its opening line from English translations of Chì mi na mòrbheanna, which he also included on the Local Hero soundtrack, and its chorus has a Scotch Snap.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:02 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:02 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
I adored Dire Straits as a youth and wore Brothers in Arms out on tape. One day, I was in the car with my dad, roughly 1990ish and my dad says "Tomorrow we're gonna go up to Dollywood and see a concert. You're coming." As I totally did not want to listen to anymore country music, I was somewhat bratty about it but also I knew that if we went to Dollywood, I could at least con my folks into going to the Donut Friar and getting some amazing donuts.
Imagine my surprise when we got to Dollywood and I discovered we were there to see Chet Atkins and MARK KNOPFLER!!
It was one of the best concerts I've seen and they both were so adorable with each other. On the way home, my dad asked if I knew who the "British fella" was and if I had any of his music. Thus began my father's love of a rock and roll band that was formed after 1965.
posted by teleri025 at 8:15 AM on June 13, 2024 [7 favorites]
Imagine my surprise when we got to Dollywood and I discovered we were there to see Chet Atkins and MARK KNOPFLER!!
It was one of the best concerts I've seen and they both were so adorable with each other. On the way home, my dad asked if I knew who the "British fella" was and if I had any of his music. Thus began my father's love of a rock and roll band that was formed after 1965.
posted by teleri025 at 8:15 AM on June 13, 2024 [7 favorites]
"Sultans of Swing" might be about an underwhelming gig played for nobody who cares, but for me, it's always been about the beauty of doing art for its own sake. Even when it's not great art. Even when nobody cares. Why is this underwhelming gig worth writing a whole song about? A song with that guitar part, with so much obviously invested care? But really it's a song about everyone everywhere who is working hard to put something interesting or beautiful out into the world, without much praise or recognition, and you can be depressed by that or you can be inspired by that, but... yeah, I still love it.
posted by Jeanne at 8:41 AM on June 13, 2024 [16 favorites]
posted by Jeanne at 8:41 AM on June 13, 2024 [16 favorites]
I grew up listening to a lot of music in the 1970s; first the top 40 station that my dad usually had on in the background, then when I started listening to my own choices more AOR/prog rock/hard rack/classic rock type stuff. But there were 2 songs from that decade that stand out so much that I actually remember where I was the first time I heard them. In 1974 I was in the back yard, cleaning off the patio and other yard work type stuff when Killer Queen came on. I would have been 9 or 10 at the time and it was like nothing I had heard before and I thought it was great. Needless to say, the band did pretty well subsequently. 4 years later I was in a car on the south side of town (maybe going to the airport) and Sultans of Swing came on. I had the same reaction to it; something wonderfully new and unexpected. Brothers in Arms was the first CD I ever heard, and of course that band became so big they ended up on the front page of MetaFilter in 2024.
posted by TedW at 8:48 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 8:48 AM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Not a fan or a hater of them (like a few of their songs/vids, though I've heard "Walk of Life" too many times to have positive thoughts about it). However, I did see Mark Knopfler open up for Bob Dylan a few years back and he was pretty good and probably even better than the headliner (which admittedly might not be saying much - I walked out during the middle of Dylan's set - but still).
MTV is not even a shadow of what it is; it's just a corpse that doesn't know it's dead.
You can't even say it's a zombie, since at least zombies actively take steps for "survival". MTV (and not a few other channels) seem like they're just running out the clock.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:20 AM on June 13, 2024
MTV is not even a shadow of what it is; it's just a corpse that doesn't know it's dead.
You can't even say it's a zombie, since at least zombies actively take steps for "survival". MTV (and not a few other channels) seem like they're just running out the clock.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:20 AM on June 13, 2024
I want my, I want my, I want my Muad'Dib
Still sung by Sting, this time dressed as Feyd-Rautha.
posted by Gelatin at 12:47 PM on June 13, 2024 [4 favorites]
Still sung by Sting, this time dressed as Feyd-Rautha.
posted by Gelatin at 12:47 PM on June 13, 2024 [4 favorites]
Still sung by Sting, this time dressed as Feyd-Rautha.
Battle armor or flying underpants?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:30 PM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Battle armor or flying underpants?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:30 PM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Some claim that "Guitar George" who "knows all the chords" and "Harry" who "doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene," are George Young and Harry Vanda, of EasyBeats, AC/DC, "Love is in the Air", and Flash and the Pan fame.
For example here:
https://direstraitsblog.com/blog/george-harry-sultans-swing/
It's mentioned in other places online too, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence.
posted by lockedroomguy at 5:01 PM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
For example here:
https://direstraitsblog.com/blog/george-harry-sultans-swing/
It's mentioned in other places online too, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence.
posted by lockedroomguy at 5:01 PM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
I swear I remember reading at the time the video came out that the animators' computers were working so hard on the processing that a couple of them blew up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:30 PM on June 13, 2024
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:30 PM on June 13, 2024
As a teenager during the Dire Straits peak I'd always assumed the band was American, so it was a jolt when I moved to North Shields in the North-east of England and discovered that Mark Knopfler was a sort of patron-saint for Whitley Bay, which was an increasingly dilapidated seaside town nearby.
This has led to inevitable puns by journalists.
Sting is also from that area - one of my colleagues claimed Sting used to be his local milkman.
posted by BinaryApe at 11:42 PM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
This has led to inevitable puns by journalists.
Sting is also from that area - one of my colleagues claimed Sting used to be his local milkman.
posted by BinaryApe at 11:42 PM on June 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
one of my colleagues claimed Sting used to be his local milkman.
Sting's father was a milkman; I don't think Sting ever took over for any length of time, but may have come along to help out now and then.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:37 AM on June 14, 2024 [3 favorites]
Sting's father was a milkman; I don't think Sting ever took over for any length of time, but may have come along to help out now and then.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:37 AM on June 14, 2024 [3 favorites]
Battle armor or flying underpants?
Both -- one for the theatrical release and the other for the Director's Cut.
posted by Gelatin at 4:43 AM on June 14, 2024
Both -- one for the theatrical release and the other for the Director's Cut.
posted by Gelatin at 4:43 AM on June 14, 2024
Mod note: No shivers in the dark over here, we're excited about this post being in the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:25 AM on June 14, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:25 AM on June 14, 2024 [5 favorites]
Two men say they're Jesus; one of 'em must be wrong.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:19 AM on June 14, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:19 AM on June 14, 2024 [1 favorite]
I want to note that ‘money for nothing’ has a slur in the lyrics and even though it’s in the mouth of the working class guy narrator, mark does NOT sing the slur when performing the song anymore. One more thing to love about him.
The album and live album with Emmylou Harris are phenomenal, and of his solo work - all of which I love - the Sailing to Philadelphia album is my favorite. How tone, my god! The tone! His beautiful playing and melancholy voice! I was lucky to meet him briefly after a show a few years ago and hope he didn’t notice how sobbing through ‘Romeo and Juliet’ had affected my mascara.
posted by Occula at 8:36 PM on June 15, 2024
The album and live album with Emmylou Harris are phenomenal, and of his solo work - all of which I love - the Sailing to Philadelphia album is my favorite. How tone, my god! The tone! His beautiful playing and melancholy voice! I was lucky to meet him briefly after a show a few years ago and hope he didn’t notice how sobbing through ‘Romeo and Juliet’ had affected my mascara.
posted by Occula at 8:36 PM on June 15, 2024
“average person knows 3 chords" factoid actualy just statistical error. average person knows 0 chords. Guitar George, who plays in bar band and knows all the chords, is an outlier adn should not have been counted
posted by boogieboy at 10:56 AM on June 22, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by boogieboy at 10:56 AM on June 22, 2024 [2 favorites]
Sting seems to have an inevitable pun.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:47 PM on June 22, 2024
posted by kirkaracha at 5:47 PM on June 22, 2024
Mary Spender plays some of Marks guitars which recently went up for auction at Christies.
posted by phigmov at 8:25 PM on June 22, 2024
posted by phigmov at 8:25 PM on June 22, 2024
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But "Money for Nothing", to me, is basically THE song that catapulted MTV to the status it used to hold. Admittedly I was eight when it came out!
And "Walk of Life" is always gonna be a baseball game song to me.
posted by Kitteh at 1:45 PM on June 12, 2024 [11 favorites]