What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

First time listening - Where are we on Dire Straits? (1 Viewer)

STEADYMOBBIN 22

Footballguy
If it’s not obvious by the end of this post I have some monster holes in my music catalog.

About month ago I got into a habit of jamming Walk of Life every time I wanted a jolt of motivation. I knew of WoL and Money for Nothing but then I’ve come to like quite a bit of their songs.

Where are they on your lists? Did they have a long run in your mind? Any memories of them?

I’m asking because I really have no sense of them or where they place in the pantheon of music history or even American music culture other than a cool
Music video when I was young.
 
Also, did they ever face any backlash for some questionable lyrics in money for nothing about a certain person in a mink coat?

I assume they no longer use those lyrics?
 
Also, did they ever face any backlash for some questionable lyrics in money for nothing about a certain person in a mink coat?

I assume they no longer use those lyrics?
I don't believe so - the song is sung from the perspective of blue-collar deliverymen, so perhaps the context saved them or it was just a deifferent time when things like that weren't as "frowned upon".
 
Walk of Life, Money for Nothing, So Far Away, Sultans of Swing.

I think that's all I know of their catalog, but that's a pretty decent contribution to classic rock. They occupy the same general rung in my mind as somebody like Supertramp.

Tunnel of Love
Skateaway
Solid Rock
Telegraph Road
Romeo and Juliette

These were all classic rock radio mainstays as well
yes
 
They're a solid historically underrated band (maybe backlash from MTV years).

This is how I feel about them when I listened to their catalog. There’s a lot of quality stuff.

When was their peak? Late 70s-early 80s?


Also- the lead singer does remind me of what this music novice would call- borrowing from Dylan’s nasal-ly drone. (I feel like Tom Petty selectively did this too).
 
1980Love so far away
They're a solid historically underrated band (maybe backlash from MTV years).

This is how I feel about them when I listened to their catalog. There’s a lot of quality stuff.

When was their peak? Late 70s-early 80s?
Yes - Making Movies was released in 1980 and a few MTV videos were in the video rotation but Brother in Arms and more especially "Money for Nothing" broke them huge.
 
They are one of those bands that I know are really talented and there is some amazing work there, but damn they got so overplayed during their heyday that I STILL can't really listen to them on a regular basis.
 
Loooooove Dire Straits. As good as Sultans of Swing is, they really didn’t get their due until Money for Nothing.

My fav songs are Skateaway, Brothers in Arms, Twisting by the Pool, and Industrial Disease. The Skateaway video was one of the best early MTV videos. The roller skating girl in it was the daughter of the president of Nigeria, she died young.
 
Yeah, I'm another guy who does not really get Dire Straits saying that “Sultans of Swing” is utterly riveting guitar work. Like chest chills it’s so good.

I think “Jenny and the Ess Dog” by Stephen Malkmus pretty much nails Dire Straits if you’ve ever listened to him and if you’ve ever known upper-middle class people and the band scene from the 1990s.
 
My favorite band ever. Saw them twice back in the day and saw Knopfler a few years ago.
They were the biggest band in the world when Brothers in Arms came out. I listened to Illsley's bio and that tour was what basically ended the band. They made enough money to do what they wanted. Knoplfer still records and Illsley paints in his villa on the coast of Spain I believe. They do not perform together any longer and from what i have heard probably never will.
 
They're a solid historically underrated band (maybe backlash from MTV years).
ZZ Top suffered from this (for me)

Legs was all over the radio and MTV when i was like 9-10. hated that song and their gimmicky look for the video. seemed like a completely ridiculous, fabricated, shtick act to me and i rejected listening to anything they made that i could turn off.

then i saw the Netflix documentary on them a couple years back and came to find i really liked their music before Eliminator.
 
This is one of my favorite all time songs:


They're a solid historically underrated band (maybe backlash from MTV years).

Check out the Making Movies album - great album.
Second Making Movies. It's a legit masterpiece imo.

Skateaway is my favorite. Marc can pick a guitar.

 
Loooooove Dire Straits. As good as Sultans of Swing is, they really didn’t get their due until Money for Nothing.

My fav songs are Skateaway, Brothers in Arms, Twisting by the Pool, and Industrial Disease. The Skateaway video was one of the best early MTV videos. The roller skating girl in it was the daughter of the president of Nigeria, she died young.
I think I sent her dad money once.
 
Skateaway is probably my favorite tune of theirs.

I do like The Bug and Calling Elvis from their less popular last album On Every Street. Heavy Fuel is another o.k. track from that album.

Really good band, with lots of great tunes.
 
The opening guitar on Lady Writer...good lord (even if it's very reminiscant of Sultans). Tremendous band, not as good of songwriters as they were musicians but their high points are insanely high. Not sure if all of these were mentioned but Down to the Waterline, Where Do You Think You're Going? and News are all great tracks with guitar work I could listen to repeatedly. His tone is always gorgeous.
 
Dire Straights first record ("Dire Straights") was the first record I ever bought. I went to the mall with my dad to buy a fancy turntable (not really fancy I'm sure) for my birthday or something and then we went to the record store. I had heard Sultans on the radio and bought the record for that one song. It was the only record I had for quite a while, although my dad had a ton of good music. One of my favorite bands ever although oddly I never saw them live.
 
Also, did they ever face any backlash for some questionable lyrics in money for nothing about a certain person in a mink coat?

I assume they no longer use those lyrics?
So the story goes that Mark Knopfler was in a NYC appliance store and in the back was a wall of tv’s. They were all on MTV. There was a guy standing next to him just riffing on what he was watching. Knopfler started to write down everything he said and many of the lyrics in the song, including the one you are referring to, came from the guy standing next to him.

I think it is “make up” and not “mink coat”.

I am unaware if they still sing the song. I looked at some of their recent live performances and Money for Nothing was not on the play list.
 
Dire Straights first record ("Dire Straights") was the first record I ever bought. I went to the mall with my dad to buy a fancy turntable (not really fancy I'm sure) for my birthday or something and then we went to the record store. I had heard Sultans on the radio and bought the record for that one song. It was the only record I had for quite a while, although my dad had a ton of good music. One of my favorite bands ever although oddly I never saw them live.

Their early records boast excellent sound quality for any era. The booming Iovine drum sound of Making Movies, the pristine digital clarity of Brothers in Arms and the sound effects on "Telegraph Road" are all great examples from showing off your sound system.
 
Knopfler has shown no desire in getting the band back together to record or tour. I'm sure the financial rewards would be great but he seems content.
 
Fans of 80s Dire Straits might enjoy Bob Dylan's Infidels album which Knopfler produced and played on in 1983. Straits keyboard player Alan Clark and legendary riddum section Sly & Robbie are also in the band.

Knopfler the producer gives Knopfler the guitarist a lot of space which makes the record sound a lot like Dire Straits of the era. "Jokerman" is the best known song from the album but for me the gem is the closing song "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight". It's a breakup song with a melody that's reminiscent of "No Woman, No Cry" and features an impassioned Dylan vocal and a great slide guitar solo by Mick Taylor.



ETA: Caveat - it's 80s Dylan so there are some songs that are less than Nobel quality.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top