Dire Straits, the Kings of Rock

Among the successful British pop music acts of the past 20 years, only few such as Rolling Stones and Queen have retained the integrity of Dire Straits, and 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 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 let's-all-have-a-good-time approach of pub rocke rs. 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!

Dire Straits Songs Lyrics

------------------------------------------------------------------------
| John Illsley       Paul Franklin       Alan Clark	 Chris Whitten |
|  (bass)       (steel pedal guitar) (piano & keyboard)      (drums)   |
|								       |
|			     Mark Knopfler			       |
|			(the "soul", guitar)			       |
|								       |
| Chris White	  Danny Cummings       Guy Fletcher       Phil Palmer  |
| (saxophone)	   (percussion)         (keyboard)	    (guitar)   |
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dire Straits Discography (I have the whole collection!)

"Money for Nothing", song title of Dire Straits' biggest hit in 1985. The song was included in the album, "Brothers in Arms", with others hits like "Walk of Life" and "Your Latest Trick". More than 20 million copies were sold throughout the world, and "Brothers in Arms" remains to be the best selling CD in the world.

#Albums-Singles				Chart Positions/no. of weeks
---------------				----------------------------
1. Dire Straits (1978)			UK:5		USA:2 (41)
   -Sultans of Swing (1979)		UK:8		USA:4
2. Communique (1979)			UK:5		USA:11 (19)
   -Lady Writer (1979)			UK:51		USA:45
3. Makin' Movies (1980)			UK:4		USA:19 (31)
   -Romeo and Juliet (1981)		UK:8
   -Skateway (1981)			UK:37		USA:58
   -Tunnel of Love (1981)		UK:54
4. Love Over Gold (1982)		UK:1		USA:19 (32)
   -Private Investigations		UK:2
5. Twisting by the Pool
   -Twisting by the Pool		UK:14		USA:53 (15)
5. Alchemy (Live) (1984)		UK:3		USA:46 (18)
   -Love Over Gold (1984)		UK:50
6. Brothers In Arms (1985)		UK:1		USA:1 (97)
   -So Far Away (1985)			UK:20		USA:19
   -Money For Nothing (1985)		UK:4		USA:1
   -Brothers in Arms (1985)		UK:16		USA:14
   -Walk of Life (1986)			UK:2		USA:7
   -Your Latest Trick (1986)		UK:26
7. Money For Nothing (comp) (1988)	UK:1		USA:1
8. On Every Street (1991)		UK:1		USA:1
   -Calling Elvis (1991)		UK:21		USA:22
   -Heavy Fuel (1991)			UK:55
   -On Every Street (1992)		UK:42
   -The Bug (1992)			UK:67
9. On The Night (Live) (1993)		  -		   -
10. Live at the BBC, 1978 (1995)	  -		   -

Dire Straits also release videos:

Mark Knopfler's work

The soul of the group: Mark Knopfler, a sophisticated guiter player who can play acoustics, country, blues and rock guitars.

What I love most about the soul of Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, is his enthusiasm in music. After reaching as one of the top rock artists (and guiter player) of the world, he decided to leave himself alone and start a new life.. After the success of Brothers in Arms, Mark Knopfler has been the support guiter player for the "Slow Hand" Eric Clapton on his world tour, and made a Grammy Award-winning album, "Neck & Neck" with the famous Country Music Hall of Famer Chet Atkins in 1990. He formed the group Notting Hillbillies in 1992 "just for fun" and for the sake of music, they performed in small pubs without even getting paid. But the album "Missing...but presumbly have a good time" was a great success and hit no. 2 of British Chart.

Mark Knopfler's Movie Soundtrack Album:

Title
-----
1. Local Hero (1984)
2. Cal (1984)
3. The Princess Bride (1987)
4. Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990)

He also features in:

Title
-----
1. Nottings Hillbillies
    Missing... Presumed Having a Good Time (1990)  UK:2
2. Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler
    Neck & Neck (1990)				   UK:41  USA BillBoard Country:1
   (Grammy Best Country Album)
3. Mark Knopfler
    Golden Heart (1996)

1. Sultans of Swing (Dire Straits, 1978)
2. So Far Away (Brothers In Arms, 1985)
3. Telegraph Road (Love Over Gold, 1982)
4 Brothers In Arms (Brothers In Arms, 1985)
5. Money For Nothing (Brothers In Arms, 1985)
6. Ticket to Heaven (On Every Street, 1990)
7. Tunnel of Love (Making Movies, 1980)
8. Private Investigations (Love Over Gold, 1982)
9. Romeo and Juliet (Making Movies, 1980)
10. Your Latest Trick (Brothers In Arms, 1985)
11 How Long? (On Every Street, 1990)
12. Why Worry? (Brothers In Arms, 1985)
13. Walk of life (Brothers In Arms, 1985)

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