Dire Straits Biography

Dire Straits were a British rock band, formed in 1977 by frontman Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass) and Pick Withers (drums), and managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of "classic" rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 70s. In the early days of the band, Mark Knopfler was said to have asked pub managers to lower the volume of the amplifiers, so that pub patrons could converse while the band played. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits eventually became hugely successful. Because of their unique sound and style some still consider them as one of the greatest bands in the genre. (disputed — see talk page).
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Their most famous songs include: Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet, Money for Nothing, Tunnel of Love, Walk of Life and Brothers in Arms.

Dire Straits recorded and released their first, self-titled album in 1978 to little fanfare but five months later a single release, "Sultans of Swing" became an unlikely chart hit and album sales took off. The second album, Communiqué, followed soon afterwards; both albums are characterized by a stripped-down sound. The third album, Making Movies featured keyboardist Roy Bittan (from Bruce Springsteen's band) and marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which would continue throughout the band's career. The band's 1985 release Brothers in Arms became an international hit and spawned several singles including the number one hit "Money for Nothing", which is remembered as being the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain.

The commercial success of Brothers in Arms was greatly aided by being one of the first fully digitally recorded and produced albums available in the (then) new Compact Disc format, leading early adopters of the new technology to consider it a "must buy" album in a limited landscape of available music in CD format. Furthermore, the new format offered an excellent showcase for Knopfler's meticulous production values on the earlier albums, leading many existing fans to repurchase the whole back catalogue. Partly as a result of this — as well as a successful appearance in Live Aid — Dire Straits became the biggest selling band in the world by the mid 1980s. The popularity of the band extends beyond the UK and US: in many parts of the world including India, Southeast Asia and Africa, Dire Straits has remained one of the most well-known and admired Western bands.

While Dire Straits had enjoyed a nice fan base following the success of Sultans of Swing, many people point to the Live Aid performance of Money For Nothing as the defining moment of Dire Straits' career. This was a rare time when Dire Straits performed this song with Sting. The performance was considered one of the highlights of Live Aid and helped launch both the song and band to international stardom.

A long period of inactivity followed this period of success; during the next six years, the only releases were a hits-compilation and a live recording. The band's final original studio album, On Every Street was released in 1991 to mixed reviews and moderate success. Mark Knopfler would later concentrate on solo projects and film soundtracks. Dire Straits decided to call it quits in 1995 after the release of Live at the BBC when all nine members went on to solo careers.

The band's line-up changed over the years, with only Mark Knopfler and John Illsley as consistent members. Knopfler remained the primary force behind the band, and wrote most of the songs. The best-of album Sultans of Swing contains only two songs not credited to Knopfler alone: "Money for Nothing," which is credited as co-written with Sting, and "Tunnel of Love," which contains an instrumental section based on music from Carousel.

DIRE STRAITS PICTURES

DIRE STRAITS BIOGRAPHY