Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995.
Their first single, “Sultans of Swing”, from their 1978 self-titled debut album, reached the top ten in the UK and US charts. It was followed by hit singles including “Romeo and Juliet” (1981), “Private Investigations” (1982), “Twisting by the Pool” (1983), “Money for Nothing” (1985), and “Walk of Life” (1985). Their most commercially successful album, Brothers in Arms (1985), has sold more than 30 million copies; it was the first album to sell a million copies on compact disc and is the eighth-bestselling album in UK history. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, Dire Straits have spent over 1,100 weeks on the UK albums chart, the fifth most of all time.
Dire Straits’ sound draws from various influences, including country, folk, the blues rock of J. J. Cale, and jazz. Their stripped-down sound contrasted with punk rock and demonstrated a roots rock influence that emerged from pub rock. There were several changes in personnel, with Mark Knopfler and Illsley being the only members who lasted from the beginning of the band’s existence to the end. After their first breakup in 1988, Knopfler told Rolling Stone: “A lot of press reports were saying we were the biggest band in the world. There’s not an accent then on the music, there’s an accent on popularity. I needed a rest.” They disbanded for good in 1995, after which Knopfler launched a solo career full-time. He has since declined reunion offers.
Dire Straits were called “the biggest British rock band of the 80s” by Classic Rock magazine; their 1985–1986 world tour, which included a performance at Live Aid in July 1985, set a record in Australasia.[10] Their final world tour from 1991 to 1992 sold 7.1 million tickets. Dire Straits won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards (Best British Group twice), two MTV Video Music Awards, and various other awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Dire Straits have sold over 120 million units worldwide, including 51.4 million certified units, making them one of the best-selling music artists.
On Every Street is the sixth and final studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 9 September 1991 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The follow-up to the band’s massively successful album Brothers in Arms, On Every Street reached the top of the UK Albums Chart and was also certified platinum by the RIAA.
On Every Street was released more than six years after the band’s previous album, Brothers in Arms, and was Dire Straits’ final studio album. It reached number 12 in the United States and number one in the United Kingdom and numerous European countries. The album was produced by Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits.
By this time, the band comprised Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher, and the album features session musicians including Paul Franklin, Phil Palmer, Danny Cummings and American drummer Jeff Porcaro from Toto.
Dire Straits promoted the album with a world tour which lasted until the end of 1992. The group disbanded in 1995, after which Mark Knopfler pursued a solo career. (wikipedia)
It took Mark Knopfler more than six years to craft a followup to Dire Straits’ international chart-topper, Brothers In Arms, but though On Every Street sold in the expected multi-millions worldwide on the back of the band’s renown and a year-long tour, it was a disappointment. Knopfler remained a gifted guitar player with tastes in folk (“Iron Hand”), blues (“Fade To Black”), and rockabilly (“The Bug”), among other styles, but much of the album was low-key to the point of being background music. The group had long-since dwindled to original members Knopfler and bassist John Illsley, plus a collection of semi-permanent sidemen who provided support but no real musical chemistry. The closest thing to a successor to “Money For Nothing,” the big hit from Brothers In Arms, was the sarcastic rocker “Heavy Fuel.” It became an album rock radio favorite (though not a chart single), and fans still filled stadiums to hear “Sultans Of Swing,” but On Every Street was not the comeback it should have been. (by William Ruhlmann)
The sound of Mark Knopfler at a major professional and personal career crossroads; it’s the early ’90s, he’s now a few years removed from album-rock-tinged-with-new-wave-made-for-MTV mega stardom, his marriage is showing the strains of it, he’s a bit older, his taste in music has audibly changed during his sidelines with Chet Atkins and the Notting Hillbillies and he’s happy enough composing his film soundtracks, yet all the while there is nagging public and record company pressure to reform the band of brothers who joined arms and made everybody at Warner Bros. and Vertigo very rich half a decade earlier.
So here’s the result, an album which comes out as a now-obvious hybrid of who Dire Straits used to be and who Knopfler would eventually go on to be. Some of the songs, such as the lead single ‘Calling Elvis’ and ‘My Parties’ are an underwhelming comeback from a man who deep down doesn’t really want to do this anymore. Having said that, there are a few songs – ‘Heavy Fuel’, ‘The Bug’, the title track and ‘Iron Hand’ – which give one final chink of light at the end of the tunnel, providing either the memorable hooks, witty lines or stark storytelling that made this man one of the greatest songwriters of the ’70s and the ’80s, not to mention one of the most gifted and tasteful guitar players of all time.
Nevertheless, the end of the road had clearly come and frankly it had probably arrived in Mark’s mind by 1987. Brothers in Arms would have been the better way to bow out, but this doesn’t disgrace the Straits catalogue. (Azapro Nineoneone)
Personnel:
Alan Clark (keyboards, synthesizer)
Guy Fletcher (synthesizer, background vocals)
John Illsley (bass)
Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals)
+
Danny Cummings (percussion)
Paul Franklin (pedal steel-guitar, acoustic lap-steel on 06.)
Vince Gill (guitar, background vocals on 05.)
Manu Katché (drums, percussion on 07. + 11.)
Phil Palmer (guitar)
Jeff Porcaro (drums, percussion)
Chris White (flute, saxophone)
Tracklist:
01. Calling Elvis 6:26
2. “On Every Street” 5:04
3. “When It Comes to You” 5:02
4. “Fade to Black” 3:49
5. “The Bug” 4:18
6. “You and Your Friend” 5:59
Side twoNo. Title Length
7. “Heavy Fuel” 4:57 / 5:10 ^
8. “Iron Hand” 3:09
9. “Ticket to Heaven” 4:26
10. “My Parties” 5:32
11. “Planet of New Orleans” 7:47
12. “How Long” 3:53
All songs written by Mark Knopfler
More from Dire Straits:
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995.
Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, from Newcastle in northeast England, and friends John Illsley and Pick Withers, from Leicester in the east midlands, formed Dire Straits in London in 1977.[8] Withers was already a 10-year music business veteran, having been a session drummer for Dave Edmunds, Gerry Rafferty, Magna Carta and others through the 1970s; he was part of the group Spring, which recorded an album for RCA in 1971. At the time of the band’s formation, Mark was working as a teacher at art college, Illsley was studying at Goldsmiths’ College, and David was a social worker. Mark and Withers had both been part of the pub rock group Brewers Droop at different points in around 1973.
The group’s first album, Dire Straits, was recorded at Basing Street studios in Notting Hill, London in February 1978, at a cost of £12,500. Produced by Muff Winwood, it was first released in the United Kingdom on Vertigo Records, then a division of Phonogram Inc. It came to the attention of A&R representative Karin Berg, working at Warner Bros. Records in New York City. She felt that it was the kind of music audiences were hungry for, but only one person in her department agreed at first. Many of the songs on the album reflected Mark Knopfler’s experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London. “Down to the Waterline” recalled images of life in Newcastle; “In the Gallery” is a tribute to Leeds sculptor/artist Harry Phillips (father of Steve Phillips); “Wild West End” and “Lions” were drawn from Knopfler’s early days in the capital (b wikipedia)
Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, from Newcastle in northeast England, and friends John Illsley and Pick Withers, from Leicester in the east midlands, formed Dire Straits in London in 1977.[8] Withers was already a 10-year music business veteran, having been a session drummer for Dave Edmunds, Gerry Rafferty, Magna Carta and others through the 1970s; he was part of the group Spring, which recorded an album for RCA in 1971. At the time of the band’s formation, Mark was working as a teacher at art college, Illsley was studying at Goldsmiths’ College, and David was a social worker. Mark and Withers had both been part of the pub rock group Brewers Droop at different points in around 1973.
The 1985–1986 Brothers in Arms world tour which followed the album’s release was phenomenally successful, with over 2.5 million tickets sold. The tour included dates in Europe, Israel, North America, and Australia and New Zealand. The band played 248 shows in over 100 different cities.[48] Saxophonist Chris White joined the band, and the tour began on 25 April 1985 in Split, Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia). While playing a 13-night residency at Wembley Arena in London, the band moved down the road to Wembley Stadium on the afternoon of 13 July 1985, to appear in a Live Aid slot,[49] in which their set included “Money For Nothing” with Sting as guest vocalist. The tour ended at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia on 26 April 1986, where Dire Straits still holds the record for consecutive appearances at 21 nights.[50] The band also made an impromptu attempt at the Australian folk song “Waltzing Matilda”. With 900,000 tickets sold in Australia and New Zealand it was the biggest concert tour in Australasian music history, until it was overtaken in 2017–2018 by Ed Sheeran.
Love over Gold is the fourth studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 20 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album featured two singles: “Private Investigations,” which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and “Industrial Disease,” which reached number 9 on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. The album reached number 1 on album charts in Australia, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and number 19 in the United States. Love over Gold was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in France and Germany and double-platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Love over Gold was recorded at the Power Station in New York from 8 March to 11 June 1982. Knopfler produced the album, with Neil Dorfsman as his engineer—the first in a long line of collaborations between the two.
The Prince’s Trust celebrated it’s 10th anniversary in 1986 with a concert at Wembley Arena attended by the then Prince and Princess of Wales. It is a more of a curiosity concert now in light of the fact that most of the stars and groups on show have either split up, moved on, or have shuffled off this planet (Stuart Adamson committed suicide years later) Inevitably, the performances are some of the big names at the time, for example, Suzanne Vega and Level 42 were top ten in England and Mark Knopfler was riding high post-BROTHERS IN ARMS with Dire Straits. Tina Turner and Eric Clapton duetted on “Better Be Good To Me”, Rod Stewart performed his classic “Sailing” …. and the concert culminates in Paul McCartney singing “Long Tall Sally” and “Get Back”with Tina Turner.
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