Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). The band was active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1995.
Their first single, "Sultans of Swing", from their 1978 self-titled debut album, reached the top ten in the UK and US charts. It was followed by a series of hit singles including "Romeo and Juliet" (1981), "Private Investigations" (1982), "Industrial Disease" (1982), "Twisting by the Pool" (1983), "Money for Nothing" and "Walk of Life" (both 1985). Their most commercially successful album, Brothers in Arms (1985), has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide; it was the first album to sell a million copies on CD and is the tenth-best-selling album in UK history. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, as of 2005, Dire Straits had spent over 1,100 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, the fifth-most at that time.
Dire Straits drew from influences including country, folk, the blues rock of J. J. Cale, and jazz. Their stripped-down sound contrasted with punk rock and demonstrated a roots rock influence which emerged from pub rock. The band experienced several personnel changes, with Mark Knopfler and Illsley the only members to remain throughout its history. After their first breakup in 1988, Knopfler told Rolling Stone: "A lot of press reports were saying we were the biggest band in the world. There's not an accent then on the music, there's an accent on popularity. I needed a rest." They regrouped in 1990 and disbanded permanently in June 1995, after which Knopfler launched a solo career full-time. He has declined numerous reunion offers, and confirmed in April 2024 that he would never play with the group again.
Dire Straits were called "the biggest British rock band of the 80s" by Classic Rock magazine; their 1985–1986 world tour, which included a performance at Live Aid in July 1985, set a record in Australasia. Their final world tour from 1991 to 1992 sold 7.1 million tickets, making it the 6th most-attended concert tour of all time. The band won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards (including Best British Group twice) and two MTV Video Music Awards, among various others. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Dire Straits have sold over 120 million records worldwide, including 60.4 million certified units, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Contents
History
1977–1979: Early years and first two albums
Brothers Mark and David Knopfler were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in Blyth in the northeast of England. With John Illsley and Pick Withers, from Leicester in the East Midlands, they formed Dire Straits in Deptford, south east London, in 1977. Withers was already a 10-year music business veteran, having been a session drummer for Dave Edmunds, Gerry Rafferty, Magna Carta and others through the 1970s. He was the house drummer at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire and was part of the group Spring, which recorded an album for RCA Records in 1971. At the time of the band's formation, Mark was working as an English teacher, Illsley was studying at Goldsmiths' College, and David was a social worker. Mark and Withers had both been part of the pub rock group Brewers Droop around 1973.
The new band was initially known as the Café Racers. The name Dire Straits was coined by a musician flatmate of Withers, allegedly thought up while they were rehearsing in the kitchen of a friend, Simon Cowe, of Lindisfarne. In 1977, the group recorded a five-song demo tape which included their future hit single "Sultans of Swing", as well as "Water of Love" and "Down to the Waterline". After a performance at the Rock Garden in 1977, they took a demo tape to MCA in Soho but were turned down. They sent a tape to DJ Charlie Gillett, presenter of 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 the Vertigo Records division of Phonogram Inc. 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 Notting Hill, London, in February 1978, at a cost of £12,500. Produced by Muff Winwood, it was first released in the United Kingdom in June 1978 on Vertigo Records, then a division of Phonogram Inc. It 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.
1980–1984: Making Movies, Love Over Gold and other side projects
In 1980, Dire Straits were nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Sultans of Swing". In July 1980, the band started recording tracks for their third album. Produced by Jimmy Iovine, with Mark Knopfler also sharing credit, Making Movies was released in October 1980. During the recording sessions, tensions between the Knopfler brothers reached a point where David Knopfler left the band for a solo career. The remaining trio continued the album, with session guitarist Sid McGinnis on rhythm guitar – although he was uncredited on the album – and Roy Bittan from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band guesting on keyboards. After the recording sessions, keyboardist Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes joined Dire Straits as full-time members for the On Location tour of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
Making Movies received mostly positive reviews and featured longer songs with more complex arrangements, a style which would continue for the rest of the band's career. The album featured many of Mark Knopfler's most personal compositions. The most successful chart single was "Romeo and Juliet" (number 8 in the UK Singles Chart), a song about a failed love affair, with Knopfler's trademark in keeping personal songs under fictitious names. Although never released as a single, "Solid Rock" was featured in all Dire Straits' live shows from this point on for the remainder of their career, while the album's lengthy opening track, "Tunnel of Love", with its intro "The Carousel Waltz" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was featured in the 1982 Richard Gere film An Officer and a Gentleman. Although "Tunnel of Love" reached only no. 54 in the UK when released as a single in 1981, it remains one of Dire Straits' most famous and popular songs and immediately became a favourite live staple, entering the band’s concert repertoire from this point onwards. Making Movies stayed in the UK Albums Chart for five years, peaking at No. 4. Rolling Stone ranked Making Movies number 52 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties".
Dire Straits' fourth studio album, Love Over Gold, filled with lengthy passages that featured Alan Clark's piano and keyboard work, was well received when it was released in September 1982, going gold in America on the strength of the FM rock radio single "Industrial Disease". It spent four weeks at number one in the United Kingdom. The title was inspired by graffiti seen from the window of Knopfler's old council flat in London. The phrase was taken from the sleeve of an album by Captain Beefheart. Love Over Gold was the first Dire Straits album produced solely by Mark Knopfler, and its main UK chart hit, "Private Investigations", gave Dire Straits their first top 5 hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached the number 2 position, despite its almost seven-minute length, and became another of the band's most popular live songs.
1985–1986: Brothers in Arms and international success
At the end of 1984, Dire Straits began recording tracks at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat for their upcoming fifth studio album, to be titled Brothers in Arms, with Mark Knopfler and Neil Dorfsman producing.
The recording sessions saw further personnel changes. Taking the place of Tommy Mandel, Guy Fletcher had joined Dire Straits full time so that the band had a permanent second keyboardist. Fletcher had previously worked as a session musician with Roxy Music and on Aztec Camera’s second album (released in 1984 and produced by Knopfler), and he had also worked with Knopfler on the Cal and Comfort and Joy soundtracks. While Clark mostly concentrated (although not exclusively) on piano and organ, Fletcher specialised in the additional broader synthesizer tones which Knopfler's expanding arrangements now favoured and demanded.
Although he was present during the early weeks of the sessions, Hal Lindes decided to leave the band early on during the recording of Brothers in Arms following social disagreements, with Knopfler once again taking on all guitar duties. Six weeks into the sessions, Terry Williams was sidelined and temporarily suspended from duties following disagreements and dissatisfaction with his drum approach. A feel-based drummer, Williams did not enjoy having to work with a click track, and neither Knopfler nor Dorfsman were happy with his playing in relation to the sound they wanted for the record. For recording purposes, Williams was temporarily replaced by jazz and session drummer Omar Hakim, who re-recorded almost all of the album's drum parts during a two to three day session before leaving for other commitments. Ultimately, Williams would be retained for future touring, while Hal Lindes was eventually replaced in December 1984 by Jack Sonni, a New York-based guitarist and longstanding friend of Knopfler (although Sonni's eventual contribution to the album would be minimal).
Released in May 1985, Brothers in Arms entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1, spent a total of 228 weeks in the charts, and sold over 4 million copies. It went on to become the best-selling album of 1985 in the UK. Brothers in Arms was similarly successful in the US, peaking at No. 1 on Billboard 200 for nine weeks, going multi-platinum and selling nine million copies there. The album spent 34 weeks at number 1 on the Australian ARIA Charts, and it remains the longest-running number one album in Australia.
1987–1990: Hiatus and first break-up
After the Brothers in Arms tour, Mark Knopfler took a break from Dire Straits, and, during 1987, he concentrated on solo projects and film soundtracks. Dire Straits regrouped in 1988 for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert, staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act. Guitarist Jack Sonni was unable to attend as it coincided with the birth of his twin daughters. In his place Eric Clapton played rhythm guitar with the band and during the set Clapton performed his hit "Wonderful Tonight" with them. This also concluded Sonni’s and Terry Williams’ time as members of Dire Straits.
Mark Knopfler announced the dissolution of Dire Straits in September 1988. He told Rob Tannenbaum in Rolling Stone: "A lot of press reports were saying we were the biggest band in the world. There's not an accent then on the music, there's an accent on popularity. I needed a rest." The tremendous success of the Brothers in Arms album and its tour left the band members under significant stress, and Knopfler announced that he wanted to work on more personal projects. A greatest-hits compilation, Money for Nothing, was released in October 1988 and reached number one in the UK. The group's first hit single "Sultans of Swing" was re-released as a single in the UK to promote the album. Also in 1988, John Illsley released his second solo album, Glass, which featured Mark Knopfler, Alan Clark, Guy Fletcher and Chris White. During this period, Alan Clark joined Eric Clapton's band for three years, during which time Knopfler also briefly joined.
Dire Straits reunited for a one-off charity concert on 9 October 1989 at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle in honour of Joanne Gillespie, the National Children of Courage and North East Personality award winner, who was then 11 years of age and published the 1989 book Brave Heart about her fight against cancer. The concert raised more than £35,000, and was also the last time Terry Williams played with Dire Straits as drummer. Brendan Croker played rhythm guitar in place of Jack Sonni.
Also in 1989 over a meal at a Notting Hill wine bar, Knopfler formed the Notting Hillbillies, a country band featuring Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker, and Steve Phillips, and their manager, Ed Bicknell, on drums. The Notting Hillbillies' one album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time, with its single "Your Own Sweet Way", was released in March 1990. The Notting Hillbillies toured for the remainder of the year and appeared on Saturday Night Live. Knopfler further emphasised his country-music influences on his 1990 collaboration with the guitarist Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck.
1990–1995: On Every Street and final dissolution
In 1990, Dire Straits reunited. Retaining Bicknell as their manager, Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher were joined in the studio by saxophonist Chris White, steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings and guitarist Phil Palmer, with drums split between Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Manu Katché. The new album was produced by Knopfler, Clark and Fletcher.
Dire Straits released their sixth studio album, On Every Street, in September 1991, which turned out to be their final studio release. It was met with more moderate success and mixed reviews, as well as a significantly reduced audience. Some retrospective reviewers, including the AllMusic Guide, dubbed On Every Street an "underwhelming" follow-up to Brothers in Arms. However, it had sold 15 million copies by 2008, and on release, it went straight to number 1 in the UK Albums Chart. The album also reached number 1 in numerous European countries and Australia, and was particularly successful in France, where it achieved Diamond certification. In the US, it peaked at number 12.
Several singles were released from the album, some of which achieved success in Europe, Australasia and the US; however, none were successful in the UK. An edited version of the opening track "Calling Elvis" was the first single released from the album. With a video based on the 1960s television show Thunderbirds, the track charted at number 21 on its first week in the UK Singles Chart but dropped out of the charts within four weeks. The track fared much better elsewhere, however, reaching the top 10 in Australia, New Zealand and throughout Europe, peaking as high as the number 2 position in several countries, including Denmark and Switzerland, and number 1 in Italy.
The follow-up single, "Heavy Fuel", failed to reach the Top 50 in the UK Singles chart; however, it reached number one in the US on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their second song to do so (after "Money for Nothing"). The track reached the top 20 in Canada and Belgium and peaked inside the top 30 in other European countries, as well as Australia. The album's title track was also relatively unsuccessful in the UK, failing to reach the top 40, although it reached the top 25 in France. The final single released in the UK was "The Bug", which reached the top 25 in Canada and contains backing vocals by Vince Gill, who was invited to join the band full-time but declined and pursued a solo career. "You and Your Friend" was also released as a single in France and Germany, but not in the UK.
1996–present: Reunion speculations and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
After disbanding Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler started a career as a solo artist, releasing his first solo album, Golden Heart, in March 1996 after nearly 20 years of collaborations. Brothers in Arms was certified nine times platinum in the US in August 1996. During that year, the entire Dire Straits catalogue was remastered by Bob Ludwig and re-released on CD on Mercury Records, in most of the world outside the US. The remasters were released in September 2000 in the US on Warner Bros.
Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher reunited one last time on 19 June 1999, with Ed Bicknell on drums, playing five songs, including Chuck Berry's "Nadine", for Illsley's wedding. In July 2002, Knopfler was joined by Illsley, Fletcher, Danny Cummings and Chris White for four charity concerts under the name of "Mark Knopfler and friends". Brendan Croker joined Knopfler during the first half, playing mainly material composed with The Notting Hillbillies. Illsley came on for a Dire Straits session toward the end of which, at a Shepherd's Bush concert, Jimmy Nail provided backing vocals for Knopfler's solo composition "Why Aye Man". This song appeared on The Ragpicker's Dream (2002), an album that contained references to Knopfler's home area in the northeast of England.
A compilation album, The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations, was released in November 2005 and reached the UK Top 20. Featuring material from the majority of Dire Straits' studio albums and Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material, it was released in two editions, a single CD with a grey cover and a double CD in a blue cover. The only previously unreleased track on the album, "All the Roadrunning", was a duet with singer Emmylou Harris. The album was well received. In 2005, Brothers in Arms was re-released in a limited 20th-anniversary edition which won a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album at the 48th Grammy Awards ceremony.
Since the break-up of Dire Straits, Knopfler has shown no interest in re-forming the band and said he was not interested in "getting all that stuff back together again." He said, "I would only do that for a charity. I'm glad I've experienced it all – I had a lot of fun with it – but I like things the way they are." Keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost all of Knopfler's solo work to date and Danny Cummings has been a frequent contributor, notably to Knopfler's solo album releases All the Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris), Kill to Get Crimson, Get Lucky and One Deep River.
Musical style and influences
Dire Straits' sound is derived from "the laid-back blues-rock" that American musician JJ Cale was known for. Their style is characterized by Mark Knopfler's fingerstyle guitar technique. American online music database AllMusic describes the band's sound as "minimalistic and stripped down". The site wrote: "If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy." Louder wrote that when the band released their self-titled debut album, "Dire Straits became a byword for a certain sort of safe, homogenised music, and Knopfler was turned into a caricature of the middle-aged rocker, with jacket sleeves rolled up and wearing a headband." The band's later output is considered to be more mature and "refined", according to AllMusic. Their sound also drew influence from jazz and country music, and would occasionally flirt with progressive rock with their use of unorthodox song structures. Frontman Mark Knopfler's lyricisms employed stream of conscious and narrative styles, which drew comparisons to Bob Dylan. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame states that his lyrics are introspective.
Legacy
Dire Straits are one of the most popular British rock bands and one of the world's most commercially successful artists, with more than 120 million albums sold worldwide. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stated that the band "were one of the few rock bands to break out in an era dominated by punk and disco", and that "introspective lyrics with out-of-this-world guitar and drum sounds made them one of the most original rock bands of the 80s."
Band members
Final members
Mark Knopfler – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars (1977–1988, 1990–1995)
John Illsley – bass, backing vocals (1977–1988, 1990–1995)
Alan Clark – keyboards (1980–1988, 1990–1995)
Guy Fletcher – keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1988, 1990–1995)
Former members
Pick Withers – drums, occasional backing vocals (1977–1982)
David Knopfler – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1977–1980)
Hal Lindes – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1980–1984)
Terry Williams – drums (1982–1988)
Jack Sonni – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1984–1988; died 2023)
Discography
Dire Straits (1978)
Communiqué (1979)
Making Movies (1980)
Love over Gold (1982)
Brothers in Arms (1985)
On Every Street (1991)
Awards
Honoured and inducted
PRS for Music Heritage Award 2009
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2018
Won
Brit Awards 1983 – British Group
Brit Awards 1986 – British Group
Grammy Award 1986 – Best Rock Performance by a Duo Or Group (for "Money for Nothing")
Grammy Award 1986 – Brothers in Arms Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical (for Brothers in Arms, Mark Knopfler Neil Dorfsman engineer)
Juno Award 1986 – International Album of the Year
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Video of the Year (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Best Group Video (for "Money for Nothing")
Brit Awards 1987 – British Album of the Year (for Brothers in Arms)
Grammy Award 1987 – Best Music Video (for "Brothers in Arms")
Grammy Award 2006 – Best Surround Sound Album (for his surround sound production for Brothers in Arms—20th Anniversary Edition, Chuck Ainlay, surround mix engineer; Bob Ludwig, surround mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay and Mark Knopfler, surround producers)
Nominated
Grammy Award 1980 – Best New Artist
Grammy Award 1980 – Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (for "Sultans of Swing")
American Music Award 1986 – Favorite Pop/Rock Single (for "Money for Nothing")
Brit Awards 1986 – British Album of the Year (for Brothers in Arms)
Brit Awards 1986 – British Single (for "Money for Nothing")
Brit Awards 1986 – British Video (for "Money for Nothing")
Grammy Award 1986 – Album of the Year (for Brothers in Arms)
Grammy Award 1986 – Record of the Year (for "Money for Nothing")
Grammy Award 1986 – Song of the Year (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Best Concept Video (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Most Experimental Video (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Best Stage Performance in a Video (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Best Overall Performance in a Video (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Best Direction in a Video (for "Money for Nothing")
MTV Video Music Award 1986 – Best Visual Effects in a Video (for "Money for Nothing")