Dire Straits Appreciation

[Lokos]

Gents (and ladies), as I sit here listening to 'The Man's Too Strong' by the one and only Dire Straits for the umpteenth time, I ask myself: 'Are there MP'ers out there who share my passion for the best 80's rock band that ever did perform?'

If there are, tell me of how you discovered and learned to love their particular brand of rock'n'roll.

For me, it all started with 'Sultans of Swing'... Need more be said?

Lokos

[Atlantic Friend]

Brothers in Arms ! Brothers in Arms !

I didn't think much of it in the 80s-90s, but I realized a few years ago how unique the whole album was.

" And though it did hurt me so bad
in the fire and alarm
you did not desert me
my brothers-in-arms"

[Lokos]

One of the saddest songs I have been privy to, to be sure. The music video tells us that it's mainly about British sacrifices in WWI - but it applies to any conflict, and any soldier equally as well.

Lurve it.

Lokos

[Atlantic Friend]

Ah, the eighties weren't all that bad, when it comes to music after all. I miss all the one-hit-wonders. They sure weren't the new Mozarts exactly, but when I see that today we are being sold re-re-re-resampled versions of their sh*t as if it was caviar, I really do miss them.

[Switek]

What about "Ride Across the River"?

btw. Lokos - you have human emotions! ;-)

[oldsoak]

Dire Straits - Private investigations...crikey, that takes me back. Very much a band to listen to over a glass of good whisky with embers of a fire dying down and the crickets kicking off in the background. Boy, I'm a sad old b*gger.

[Conga]

I love the Dire Straits, especially the "Communiqué" album

[Switek]

In 1985 when album "Brothers In Arms" was released I was 16... It become one of the most important album in my life. I have so many memories and good emotions from this times...

[Delta Niner]

Brothers in Arms ! Brothers in Arms !

I didn't think much of it in the 80s-90s, but I realized a few years ago how unique the whole album was.

" And though it did hurt me so bad
in the fire and alarm
you did not desert me
my brothers-in-arms"

Brothers in Arms was a good song, plus Money for Nothing, Ride Across the River and Your Latest Trick.

[Insane Tadpole]

I worship them!... That Romeo and Juliet is crack up... that dude with the glasses makes me sooooo angry... Great band anyways... Love money for nothing

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

Hmm

Dire straights.

A ****ed name for a ****ed band.

Each to their own.

[Hydro]

Dire Straits....absolutely brilliant, can't get enough of their stuff...It started with "Money for nothing" and "Sultans of swing" for me...Now I've got a music folder crammed full of their stuff - Telegraph Road and Six Blade Knife are favourites.

[Zorro C9]

Not the best 80s band, but certainly up there. Not sure if I'd call them rock, either. Not quite but close.

[Lokos]

Dire Straits....absolutely brilliant, can't get enough of their stuff...It started with "Money for nothing" and "Sultans of swing" for me...Now I've got a music folder crammed full of their stuff - Telegraph Road and Six Blade Knife are favourites.

You got it right, chum, they're abso-lutely brilliant. 'Money For Nothing' has a freakishly excellent solo, as well as a (for the time) revolutionary video. 'Sultans of Swing' is something that, for me, epitomizes 'cool'.

I'm a big fan of 'Tunnel of Love', 'News', 'The Man's Too Strong' and 'Singleheaded Sailor', too.


Not sure if I'd call them rock, either. Not quite but close.

Hmm, what genre do you reckon they fit better?

Also, did you end up going to China to teach with Catalyst? If so, how was it?


Dire straights.

A ****ed name for a ****ed band.

Hmm... Okay.


Very much a band to listen to over a glass of good whisky with embers of a fire dying down and the crickets kicking off in the background. Boy, I'm a sad old b*gger.


Hear, hear, mate.


Ah, the eighties weren't all that bad, when it comes to music after all. I miss all the one-hit-wonders. They sure weren't the new Mozarts exactly, but when I see that today we are being sold re-re-re-resampled versions of their sh*t as if it was caviar, I really do miss them.

A Flock of Seagulls fan, are we? Hehehe...


What about "Ride Across the River"?

btw. Lokos - you have human emotions!

Brilliant song.

And you'll find I'm Mr. Affable in real life, you mangy dog, hehehe... Cheers.

Lokos

[Zorro C9]

Yeah I'm still here in China. It's good. He left not long after I arrived. Might be coming back soon.

I'm not sure what genre to put them in. Perhaps Soft Rock would be better? They're obviously not heavy metal like the Gunners or AC/DC but they're not really Bob Dylan either. I like bands like that who don't stick to one type of music.

I still love hard and heavy Rock, though.

[Hydro]

What we also have to consider is the fact that during the period of 1942-3, German heavy tank production had no bearing on the record sales of Dire Straits - you just couldn't expect to doctrinally match "Walk of Life" with the Tiger 1.

Lend Lease DID help, but with the Soviets moving most of their heavy industry to the East, "Telegraph Road" was able to enjoy radio air play to match the JS-1 and JS-2 in the infantry support role - mainly due to the catchy piano and effective 122mm HE shell.


;)

[Lokos]

What we also have to consider is the fact that during the period of 1942-3, German heavy tank production had no bearing on the record sales of Dire Straits - you just couldn't expect to doctrinally match "Walk of Life" with the Tiger 1.

Lend Lease DID help, but with the Soviets moving most of their heavy industry to the East, "Telegraph Road" was able to enjoy radio air play to match the JS-1 and JS-2 in the infantry support role - mainly due to the catchy piano and effective 122mm HE shell.

You clever son of a bitch!

That actually made me laugh out loud. Now how often does that happen on these boards?

Wait... don't answer that.


Perhaps Soft Rock would be better? They're obviously not heavy metal like the Gunners or AC/DC but they're not really Bob Dylan either. I like bands like that who don't stick to one type of music.

I'm almost tempted to say they're rock/soft rock/blues/folk rock. 'Money For Nothing' is obviously pretty much straight rock'n'roll - but then you get 'The Man's Too Strong', and that's acoustic, soft, folk rock.

Lokos

[Atlantic Friend]

Mark Knopfler and the "Wag the Dog" soundtrack rule !

[Fenna]

Can't forget Local Hero theme :D

[California Joe]

One of my alltime favorite bands. Mark Knopfler is an absolutely brilliant guitarist. That wasn't determined by me but rather Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Eric Clapton, and a host of others I've read singing his praises. People that actually know the intricacies of how he plays, not just some ****heads on the internet with opinions...p-)

Some of my particular favorites are:
The Gallery
Down to the Waterline
Lady Writer
Sultans
Tunnel of Love
Portabello Belle
Romeo and Juliet
Brothers In Arms
Espresso Love....

[Deftoner]

I enjoy their music. I somtimes play it on guitar too.

[Zorro C9]

One of my alltime favorite bands. Mark Knopfler is an absolutely brilliant guitarist. That wasn't determined by me but rather Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Eric Clapton, and a host of others I've read singing his praises. People that actually know the intricacies of how he plays, not just some ****heads on the internet with opinions...p-)

Some of my particular favorites are:
The Gallery
Down to the Waterline
Lady Writer
Sultans
Tunnel of Love
Portabello Belle
Romeo and Juliet
Brothers In Arms
Espresso Love....


I might be a ****, but I dispute that I am a ****head.

[Name Taken]

One of my alltime favorite bands, too. Great music all round. I grew up listening to this with my dad on long car rides through England and France. Dire Straits and The Travelling Wilburys were and still are part of my staple music diet.

[Lokos]

One of my alltime favorite bands.

That doesn't surprise me, you awesome bastard, you.

And I want to hi-five you for mentioning Lady Writer. Glory to the Dire Straits.


People that actually know the intricacies of how he plays

You know they re-released all their earlier stuff when CDs became all the rage because Knopfler's production values were insanely meticulous. Numerous fans purchased the entire back catalogue on CD for that reason alone. It was almost a brand new experience...


I grew up listening to this with my dad on long car rides

Same here, same here.

[California Joe]

I might be a ****, but I dispute that I am a ****head.

That wasn't directed at you. Just ****heads in general. :)

I have a black Fender Strat. My wife got it for me one Christmas with a certificate for some guitar lessons from the local shop. I go in there and I'm talking with the instructor, he says "who do you listen to, I mean who's your favorite guitarist..." I say "Mark Knopfler". He says..."Um yeah....good luck trying to ever play like that...." :)

[Lokos]

I suggest House of the Rising Sun by the Animals as a softer alternative, hehe.

Work your way up to Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, and then you're only a hop and a skip away from Knopflerian excellence.

Lokos

[Brzeczyszczykiewicz]

Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler STRONG!!!!!

True, true! woot

[Scrim]

2 bands I recently re-discovered from my early teen years, Iron Maiden and Dire Straits (apples and oranges I know). I can now afford to buy all their CDs instead of crappy home tape copies!
Both brilliant. Brothers In Arms makes me ****in cry man!

[Name Taken]

I would also like to draw attention to twisting by the pool and so far away from me.

ALL GLORY TO THE DIRE STRAITS

[Hellfish]

Sorry to say that Dire Straights makes me ill.

[Solo]

One of my alltime favorite bands. Mark Knopfler is an absolutely brilliant guitarist. That wasn't determined by me but rather Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Eric Clapton, and a host of others I've read singing his praises. People that actually know the intricacies of how he plays, not just some ****heads on the internet with opinions...p-)


That's well put.
Dire Straits aren't 80's music, they are closer to the 70's, though certain records (latter ones) do indeed have some typical 80s sound, even if still keeping that qualitative tone that characterized them for so long (I tend to think rock music lost its soul in the '80s if compared to the '70s).

Mark Knopfler is one of my most favourite guitarists of all time.
Funny enough, in some interview I watched years ago, he even said he couldn't consider himself a guitarist.
He wasn't trying to be a hotshot; it's just that people like him get so much into it to tend and see things in a universal way.

I have a recording studio here in Rome, vintage guitar based (www.studio58a.com (http://www.studio58a.com)) and I collected over the years some 100 guitars (some of them are still at the studio).
I witnessed all the stages of evolution of his guitar style, including a change of guitar brand (basically from Fender, to custom made Fender-likes to the glorious '59 Les Paul and some hollow bodied Gibsons).
But indeed he did start on a Fender Stratocaster, with that typical guitar tone that many of us like (early records'), a fully Stratocaster one.

I was like 12 years old when I first attempted at playing his solos on Sultan of Swing.

I can say today that I am incredibly close at getting his tone and sometimes (on some solos or rythm parts) I sound like him. Vibratos, legatos, bendings and all that stuff I worked so hard on for all these years.

It did take me over 20 years of intense guitar playing, Joe. More than anything though if I may try and give a suggestion, it's the way he (therefore, you, or us) feel the music in the head that leads to a playing style and getting the right tone.

Listening to a LOT of (good) guitar playing would be mandatory.
He did (still does) and you can hear him say so on several occasions.

The tone and guitar style of a guitar player is more in our heads (or it should be) than we might ever think. Then it goes to and thru' the hands.
Guitar tone - additionally - is 90% in your hands, despite how surprising this may sound.

Long live rock & roll,

Solo p-)

[Lokos]

Sorry to say that Dire Straights makes me ill.

Appreciation thread, holmes. Not 'Let's call the Dire Straits the Dire Straights thread'.

But thank you for your input.

Now answere truly: are you the new EvanL? Heh.

Lokos

[Holstein]

Sultans of swing and brothers in arms for the win

[Hellfish]

Appreciation thread, holmes. Not 'Let's call the Dire Straits the Dire Straights thread'.

But thank you for your input.

Now answere truly: are you the new EvanL? Heh.

Lokos

You know I can't let a thread go by without bitching about something or mentioning my *****.

[Lokos]

You know I can't let a thread go by without bitching about something or mentioning my *****.

Touche!

Lokos

[Zorro C9]

That wasn't directed at you. Just ****heads in general. :)


Oh I know. Was taking the piss a bit :D

[Name Taken]

All glory to the Dire Straits!









Christ I'm bored. :|

[Hellfish]

This thread needs to die.

[Name Taken]

You're only contributing to the thread, a subtle way of showing your support - it is greatly appreciated by the powers that be.

[Laconian]

Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler; great stuff there. First soong I heard by them was Down to the Waterline. I was hooked. CJ's list is good and I'd add Twistin' by the Pool, Solid Rock (Roy Bittan of E-Street Band fame plays the piano here), & Skateaway. I enjoyed the studio albums, but Live Alchemy was GREAT. Don't know how many times I got pulled over for speeding listening to Sultans or Tunnel Live...

[kosse]

Brothers in Arms = rock, rest = gay