The first time I heard Dire Straights was in a loud and crowded bar in Greenwich Village, at the sorely missed Googie's on Sullivan Street. Googie's played music in the form of an FM rock radio station played as background music at a low volume. As I was talking with friends, I heard what I thought (filtered through the noise of the crowd) was some new Bob Dylan music, and I wondered who was playing electric guitar. Was it Robbie Robertson? Ry Cooder maybe? The next day, I found out the song was "Sultans of Swing" by a new group called Dire Straights, and the singer/guitarist/songwriter was Mark Knopfler.
I'm not the biggest Dire Straits fan, and to me, Mark Knopfler has always sounded like Bob Dylan and J.J. Cale's "love child". Mark doesn't have Bob Dylan's charisma, but he is more exciting than J.J. Cale, but not by much.
"Brothers In Arms" era Dire Straits
Also, is it me, or is Dire Straits really Knopfler and those guys playing with him? I don't know, it's all so middle-of-the-road, meh. As always, your mileage may vary…
If you're a Dire Straits fan, you'll love these.
For the freeload, what are your thoughts on Dire Straits?
That is a very neutral question.
ReplyDeleteI think my thoughts are best condensed in Straight Diarrhoeas
I also first heard them in 1978 with Sultans of Swing, and disliked it immediately.
Dire Straits is the Wonderbread of music. But, I do occasionally listen to an lp that Knopler and Emmylou Harris did - All The Roadrunning.
ReplyDeleteMy husband, Jerry, was a fan of the phrase: "Egg salad on Wonderbread".
DeleteNice one - curiously, I've never eaten Wonderbread. But, I have zero desire to do so (growing up in NO, we had the culinary artistry of Bunny Bread and Sunbeam Bread. Both with the consistency of paste).
DeleteSunbeam was pretty bad, tbh
DeleteWe had Sunbeam Bread in Brooklyn too.
DeleteA few good songs, otherwise overrated!
ReplyDeleteKindly regards, Mike
.. was 15 and loved the "sultans"
ReplyDeleteI love the first 2 albums & still play them regularly. After that, not so much & by the time of MTV & Money For Nothing, I knew they had "sold out". As with a lot of rock bands, initially they sound good while on their own & before producers & record execs get a hold of them, then it's straight downhill (& that seems to be when they get famous [& that's when I would usually drop them]). Thanks Babs
ReplyDeleteTechnically and sonically excellent but highly repetitive. Sultans of Swing is the standout tune.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is "Once Upon a Time in the West"
DeleteMy intro to the band was similar to yours, Babs. But when I heard the entire album... well, meh. A number of years later, while waiting for an Amos Garrett gig to start, the PA was playing (loudly) Telegraph Road and it was like being on acid! Of course, the philosophical insights wore off pretty quickly...
ReplyDeleteI too was mildly engaged by the hooks and guitar riffing on "Sultans of Swing" but never became a Direhead, or Direwolf, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the first three albums but by the time of 'Brothers in arms' it just sounded too 80's (and not in a good way).
ReplyDeleteIma second your "meh" and love "more exciting than J.J. Cale, but not by much." True story, in my off/on career as a bouncer/working the backdoor at the Kingfish in BRLA, the only time I ever saw anyone nod off during a show (not due to drugs) was a JJ Cale show, though I love some of his songs...dynamic he was not. Babs, your husband might have been amused to know that Also, during my grad school years in Minneapolis there was a pretty bad (as Babs notes above, ymmv) all-woman glam rock band called The Vixens (I'm pretty sure) who had a song called,
ReplyDelete"Egg Salad & Existential Dread." Being in the Great White North there, I feel like Wonderbread woulda been the default.
The one good thing about Dire Straits: they're more entertaining than Mark Knopfler solo, who is pure death by boredom.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteThose first 2 albums have been on my regular playlist since they first came out. The others are good, but not as compelling. And yes, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is probably my favorite as well.
ReplyDeleteYou'll like SACDs, Bremble.
DeleteYes, they are excellent! Thank you so much
Deleteloved the band, one of a few that saved us from the drudgery of Disco. Lady Writer on the TV!
ReplyDeleteI think the easiest way for me to express this is to put it this way; Dire Straits just about slip into my primary era of musical interest (1955-1980) but despite this in preparing a spreadsheet of the CD's I own or desire which numbers almost 12,000 currently not one entry belongs to Dire Straits. They are a band who have yet to become any sort of priority.
ReplyDeleteThere is only one song I really like and that's 'Money for Nothing' and only two others come to mind (Sultans Of Swing and Brothers In Arms) other than that. Back in the day I do recall buying the 'Sultans Of Swing' single when it came out so they did peak my interest for a second and I do admit to having bought a number of the their vinyl albums (a colleague of mine back in the day gave me his vinyl collection when he replaced them with CD's) but I have no recollection of when I might have played any of them.
So I think the simple answer to what thoughts I have about them is 'not a lot' and 'not very often'. Just probably a bit to laid back for me.
Typo alert! Last paragraph but one that should not say 'having bought' but 'owning'. Just in case anyone think it looks odd (I remembered where they came from after I'd written that bit).
DeleteI enjoy "No wonder he's confused" Emmylou and MN together and Notting Hillbillies.
ReplyDeleteLink 1
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/pHzyNJ9Wp4Q
Link 2
https://workupload.com/file/ktd65fSXCD9
Link 3
https://workupload.com/file/RBLaVDzbhcb
Link 4
https://workupload.com/file/CeKxwG29LaY
In the odd years of punk, two good things were happening in England: Dire Straits and Kate Bush.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing 'odd' about the rise of the new wave and punk in the UK if you consider the context of the times when those genres arrived. It was a watershed time for both British society and British rock music and the New Wave 'revolution' reflected that. Dire Straits and Bush on the other hand were just a continuation of the UK's 1970's pop era.
DeleteI have the "Money for Nothing" album and "Making Movies" - which I play occasionally and like.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really like is the soundtrack album Knopfler did for a indie movie by Peter Forsyth - Local Hero (1983?). I think it is Burt Lancaster's last movie. Burt is chewing through scene after scene in real life Houston, Texas and the Scottish coast - in a delightful way. The rest of the cast is also stellar. I LOVE that movie - and the soundtrack is a key part of the film experience (in my opinion.)
Local Hero, damned if I ever be. I forgot that one, yes it is Mark Knopfler and indeed I liked the movie and the music.
DeleteBurt Lancaster mad a few movies after that one (Tough Guys with Kirk Douglas) He also played in Jeweller's Shop (based on Pope JP II play)
Thanks for the music, Babs!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy, Ikeclanton!
DeleteSince I mentioned it - in previous comment - here it is - the LH soundtrack (A miniscule token of appreciation for Bab's ongoing musical largesse).
ReplyDeleteAs a standalone piece - it probably won't wow anyone. Woven into the movie - it becomes something else that I think is special. Movie should be readily available to stream.
https://workupload.com/archive/cV5AEH9YKe
The first two albums (and pre-1st demos) were it for me, and in a big way at the time. Making Movies was less compelling but still got decent rotation on my stereo. After that, they got coopted by MTV and big arenas, washing out their effect. Can't blame MK for going for the big payday, but still . . . I always identified with the English professor in him and hoped they'd stay "small-ish." --Muzak McMusics
ReplyDeleteI'd rather listen to Dire Straits than many other bands, but I rarely listen to them on my own, and Sultans of Swing still gets played too often on the radio. I thought the best thing to happen to DS was when Terry (Rockpile) Williams joined.
ReplyDeleteSurprised so many people find them "meh" or worse. I find their first album, and to a lesser extent their next two, absolutely sublime. Definitely diminishing returns after that.
ReplyDelete"Money For Nothing" rocks. Great crunchy guitar lick. "Walk of Life" has a ridiculously catchy little hook...on a keyboard, no less. "S.o.S." is overplayed, never liked the lyrics...but liked the guitar work on it.
ReplyDeleteAgain...punk rock...they were very low on the radar for me, down in the underground. I listened to Holly & the Italians far more than Dire Straits. :)
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Jack Sonni, who was rhythm guitarist for about 4 years in the 80s. (Jack studied creative writing at Ole Miss in the 2010s.) Hearing "Walk of Life" done cajun style with accordion was memorable. Jack passed away a couple of years ago, having become an Oxford legend.
ReplyDeleteAs for Dire Straits, they were OK. Knopfler was a buddy of the Zimmerman, but it's not surprising that Bob picked the Heartbreakers to back him on a world tour.
I had half a screed prepared on this, I knew Illsley in a former life, but whatevs. The Cajun version of "Walk" is by Charles Mann.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget MK on The Princess Bride soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteI liked Sultans of Swing when it came out although at first thought it was a new J.J. Cale song. Private Investigations is a cool track. It's B-side Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-Shirts is funny for sure, because it's quite different. Don't mind a Dire Straits song in a mix, but I can't listen to a whole album...
ReplyDelete