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What's people reaction when I say...'Dire Straits'


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Money for Nothin is one of the great singles of all time.

 

Had WXRT not played the living shit out of them over the years, I might actually have picked up their LPs used, but I have never seen any reason to listen to them at home since I know they will be played for all eternity on XRT.

 

LouieB

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Some say they ended their career on top, which is true from a commercial standpoint, but creatively I think their best was Making Movies, with Love Over Gold close behind. I agree with jakobnicholas that the best cuts off of Brothers in Arms are the deeper cuts that got less airplay. Definitely an album that got way overplayed on the radio and MTV.

 

Brothers in Arms came out in the heyday of MTV - that headband is so memorable as a result. It was also one of the first albums to sell well on CD; I remember people raving about the superior sound quality on the CD. I remember that album as a watershed in the shift from vinyl to compact disc.

 

Saw Dire Straits in Hartford, CT on the Brothers in Arms tour. I remember being in the 20th row or so on the floor, and everyone standing on their chairs for the entire show. I got tired at one point and stood on the floor, and at head height it was a sea of asses....

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I thought Dire Straits was really in an intersting place musically until BROTHERS IN ARMS when they became another Stadium Rocker.

MAKING MOVIES, COMMUNIQUE, and the Eponymous Debut were REALLY good records.

I think losing Pick Withers to heroin abuse and David Knopfler to the solo career really left Mark Knopfler a little rudderless.

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That's about as high as high praise gets.

I wasn't joking. I LOVE The Clash, Pretenders, early U2, and a few others, but DS really was more my style - in the era of 'skinny-tie' synth-heavy New Wave music DS really stood out. they were almost a throwback, in a way. It's kind of remarkable they were so popular, except for the fact that good songwriting is good songwriting, and the cream inevitably rises to the top.

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Dire Straits A very unique band for the period.

As mentioned some songs were overplayed but all in all a Great Band I wonder if they are in the hall of fame* (they are guilty of some big omissions)

 

 

Really enjoyed Mark Knoplers solo efforts Sailing to Philadelphia smoothed polished and significant.

 

Caught MK live here in Boston 4 yrs ago He can still Flat out play.

 

BTW he is returning this spring (SOLD OUT) here in Boston catch him if you get the chance!

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I have never seen any reason to listen to them at home since I know they will be played for all eternity on XRT.

 

LouieB

 

The reason is: the album cuts. They are outstanding, as well.

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I haven't seen this much love for The Straits since 1986!

 

They were a fairly influential band for me - the first that I really obsessed about. Although they could do no wrong when I was getting into them and discovering their back-catalogue in the 80s, the only albums that have stood the test of time for me are the first three. Don't get me wrong - there are some great moments on Love over Gold ("Oh but it's a sad reminder, when your organ grinder has to come to you for rent") and Brothers in Arms, too. Twisting Pool the Pool is also great fun. The second live album (On the night) and On Every Street were both rather pointless. I had moved on, anyway.

 

Some truly great songs, and there are few guitarists with as distinctive a style as Knopfler.

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