Various Artists – The Prince´s Trust 10th Anniversary Birthday Party (1987)

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.

Professionally done with some good music to boot, THE PRINCES TRUST BIRTHDAY PARTY is more of interest now to fans of the decade.(by Doom Templer)

Nothing special in term of performances,it’s only a curious relic piece on collector’s shelve like mine to satisfy our addiction of music performed by our darling masterclas. (by Guitar Kiko)

Personnel:
Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton, Francis Rossi, George Chandler, Jimmy Chambers, Jimmy Helms, John Illsley, Mark King, Paul Young, Ray Cooper, Rick Parfitt, Samantha Brown*, Sting, Trevor Morais, Vicki Brown and much more

Tracklist:
01. Dire Straits: Money For Nothing (Knopfler) 5.20
02. Midge Ure: Call Of The Wild (King/Mitchell/Ure) 4.21
03. Suzanne Vega: Marlene On The Wall (Vega) 3.16
04. Phil Collins: In The Air Tonight (Collins) 4.58
05. Big Country: Fields Of Fire (Adamson/Brzezicki/Butler/Watson) 4.26
06. Howard Jones: No One Is To Blame (Jones) 4.12
07. Level 42: Something About You (Gould/King/Lindup/Gould/Badarou) 5.07
08. Elton John: I’m Still Standing (John/Taupin) 3.47
09. Joan Armatrading: Reach Out (Armatrading) 4.40
10. Tina Turner: Better Be Good To Me (Chinn/Chapman/Knight) 5.02
11. Rod Stewart: Sailing (Sutherland) 5.25
12. Paul McCartney: Get Back (Lennon/McCartney) 3.33
13. Paul McCartney: Long Tall Sally (Johnson/Penniman/Blackwell) 2.36

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Dire Straits – Communiqué (1979)

Communiqué is the second studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 15 June 1979 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced the single “Lady Writer”, which reached the number 45 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached the number one position on album charts in Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden, the number 11 position in the United States, and the number five position in the United Kingdom. Communiqué was certified gold in the United States, platinum in the United Kingdom, and double-platinum in France.

Communiqué was recorded from 28 November to 12 December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau. The album was produced by Barry Beckett and Jerry Wexler, veteran producers from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio who made legendary recordings with Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers, The Rolling Stones, Traffic, Elton John, Boz Scaggs, Willie Nelson, and Paul Simon.

Communiqué became the first album ever to enter the German charts at number one in its first week of release. Even more remarkable, this happened while their debut album, Dire Straits was still at the number three position in that country. The album went on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide: in Europe it sold 3.6 million copies, and in the United States it reached gold status.

Communiqué was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the United States, and on 19 September 2000 in the United States.

The album cover was designed by Phonogram’s advertising agency Grant Advertising UK. It won album cover of the year in the NME awards in 1979. (by wikipedia)

Rushed out less than nine months after the surprise success of Dire Straits’ self-titled debut album, the group’s sophomore effort, Communiqué, seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material. Mark Knopfler and co. had established a sound (derived largely from J.J. Cale) of laid-back shuffles and intricate, bluesy guitar playing, and Communiqué provided more examples of it. But there was no track as focused as “Sultans of Swing,” even if “Lady Writer” (a lesser singles chart entry on both sides of the Atlantic) nearly duplicated its sound. As a result, Communiqué sold immediately to Dire Straits’ established audience, but no more, and it did not fare as well critically as its predecessor or its follow-up. (by William Ruhlmann)

Personnel:
John Illsley (bass, vocals)
David Knopfler (guitar and vocals)
Mark Knopfler (vocals, lead guitar)
Pick Withers (drums)
+
B. Bear (= Barry Beckett) (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. Once Upon A Time In The West 5.25
02. News 4.14
03. Where Do You Think You’re Going? 3.49
04. Communiqué  5.49
05. Lady Writer 3.45
06. Angel Of Mercy 4.36
07. Portobello Belle 4.29
08. Single-Handed Sailor 4.42
09. Follow Me Home 5.50

All songs written by Mark Knopfler

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Dire Straits – Rotterdam (1978)

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, and friends John Illsley, and Pick Withers formed the band in 1977. In 1977, Dire Straits (a name given to the band by a musician flatmate of drummer Pick Withers), recorded a five-song demo tape which included their future hit single, “Sultans of Swing”, as well as “Water of Love”, “Down to the Waterline”, “Wild West End” and David Knopfler’s “Sacred Loving”. They took the tape to DJ Charlie Gillett, who had a radio show called “Honky Tonk” on BBC Radio London. The band simply wanted advice, but Gillett liked the music so much that he played “Sultans of Swing” on his show. Two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with Phonogram Records.[8] In October 1977, the band recorded demo tapes of “Southbound Again”, “In the Gallery” and “Six Blade Knife” for BBC Radio London; in November demo tapes were made of “Setting Me Up”, “Eastbound Train” and “Real Girl”.

The group’s first album, Dire Straits, was recorded at Basing Street studios in West London in February 1978, at a cost of £12,500. Produced by Muff Winwood, the album had little promotion when initially released in the United Kingdom on Vertigo Records, then a division of Phonogram, and was not well received. However, the album 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. (by wikipedia)

And the rest is history …

This is one of the earliest Dire Straits live recordings, at Stadtshouwburg, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Dated from October 19, 1978, in this year the group’s first album was released and almost all of it is played here.

Personnel:
David Knopfler (guitar, background vocals)
Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals)
John Illsley
Pick Withers

Alternate frontcovers

Tracklist:
01. Down To The Waterline (M. Knopfler) 3.52
02. Six Blade Knife (M. Knopfler) 4.00
03. Once Upon A Time In The West (M. Knopfler) 5.00
04. Lady Writer (M. Knopfler) 3.21
05. Water Of Love (M. Knopfler) 5.20
06. In The Gallery (M. Knopfler) 5.27
07. What’s The Matter Baby (M.Knopfler) 3.15
08. Lions (D.Kopfler/M.Knopfler) 5.55
09. Sultans Of Swing (M. Knopfler) 5.47
10. Wild West End (M. Knopfler) 4.59
11. Eastbound Train (M. Knopfler) 5.07

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