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The cover art for Dire Straits 1985 album "Brothers in Arms". Source: https://www.amazon.ca/Brothers-Arms-Dire-Straits (May be subject to copyright) |
I asked him what it was goofy, so he thought he’d show me.
So he plugged “Twisting by the Pool” into his tape deck and played it. He began to roll his eyes.
He liked his music with a harder edge, but I didn’t think it was that bad.
Yet, that first impression stuck with me when I heard “Walk of Life”, Dire Straits’ first release off a new album called “Brothers in Arms”, when it came out in 1985. I balked at first, but soon overcame all that.
Mark Knopfler, one of the driving forces of Dire Straits, recently sold a bunch of his guitars, and hearing that name again brought back some memories.
“Brothers in Arms”
Keeping in mind what my cousin said, I reacted with sadness when I saw on “Entertainment Tonight” that Dire Straits album “Brothers in Arms” remained on the top of the album charts week after week.
Keeping in mind what my cousin said, I reacted with sadness when I saw on “Entertainment Tonight” that Dire Straits album “Brothers in Arms” remained on the top of the album charts week after week.
At the same time, I was listening to LA-107 FM broadcasting from Lethbridge. It was an album-oriented rock station, so they were more interested in albums than singles. That meant they would play more than one single from an album.
It was on their Monday night top 20 album countdown that I first heard “Walk of Life” and “Money for Nothing”. The more I heard them, and listened to the lyrics, the more I liked them.
“Money for Nothing” really struck a chord with me. I had my suspicions confirmed that Sting, lead singer of the band The Police, was singing “I Want my MTV”, and providing backing vocals.
“Walk of Life” was also receiving more air play as well.
Eventually my sister bought the “Brothers in Arms” record, and I asked her to make a copy for me on tape.
That was the turning point.
The radio singles which by then also included “So Far Away”, just scratched the surface.
The songs that never received heavy air play were some of the best.
My favourite is a stirring ballad called “Why Worry” that shows off lead singer Mark Knopfler’s vocal talent. The guitar work in “The Man’s Too Strong” is amazing, and the brooding build up of the title track “Brothers in Arms” is very effective.
As a package, it is one of the best albums I have ever heard.
For the record, “So Far Away” peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100; “Money for Nothing” went all the way to number one; and “Walk of Life” peaked at number seven.
“Brothers in Arms” was the best selling album of 1985 in the United Kingdom; peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart for nine weeks and selling nine million copies; and spent 34 weeks at number one on the Australian charts. “Money for Nothing” also won a Grammy for Knopfler and Sting for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1986.
They would tour and in 1988, they broke up, got back together and broke up for good in 1995.
Dire Straits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Mark Knopfler, the driving force behind Dire Straits. Source: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/mark-knopfler/ (May be subject to copyright) |
Going solo
Mark Knopfler also busied himself with solo projects. There were a number that kind of caught me by surprise.
He did quite a bit of work with country star Chet Atkins. They won Grammys in 1986 for Best Country Instrumental Performance for “Cosmic Square Dance”. In 1991, they won for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for “Poor Boy Blues”, and for Best Country instrumental Performance for “So Soft, Your Goodbye”.
Knopfler wrote the song “Private Dancer” for Tina Turner’s comeback album of the same name.
He scored the movie “The Princess Bride”. In fact his song “Storybook Love” for that movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. I still remember the first time I heard that song in the lounge on 10th Kelsey in my first year of university. I could instantly recognize that voice and that guitar.
The years before
I also began to hear more Dire Straits on LA-107 FM, because another feature they had was this profile. One day in the summer, while I was writing this play about my high school days, I heard this profile of Dire Straits and how Mark Knopfler, his brother David and others started the band.
I also began to hear more Dire Straits on LA-107 FM, because another feature they had was this profile. One day in the summer, while I was writing this play about my high school days, I heard this profile of Dire Straits and how Mark Knopfler, his brother David and others started the band.
It turns out they had a lot of songs dating back to their formation in 1977. That included their debut single “Sultans of Swing” which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100; “Romeo and Juliet”; “Industrial Disease”; “Twisting by the Pool”; “Love Over Gold”; and more.
Parting thoughts
The reality is that my love and, quite frankly, admiration for Mark Knopfler is largely due to one album from the ‘80s – “Brothers in Arms”.
The reality is that my love and, quite frankly, admiration for Mark Knopfler is largely due to one album from the ‘80s – “Brothers in Arms”.
What an album it is though, with deep, insightful lyrics, brilliant guitar play, and just this aura of excellence.
I still find it funny that I initially did not like them, but grew up enough to learn to appreciate the genius of Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits.
A couple years ago I was part of a challenge on social media to post an album cover a day for 10 of days of music that influenced my musical tastes, but had to be cover art only. “Brothers in Arms” was on that list for me.
My opinion had changed that much.
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