After years of FM radio, you might loathe Dire Straits. The eighties songs like the cod rockabilly Industrial Disease and Walk of Life. The big, tired songs like Private Investigations and Brothers in Arms, testament to hitting a buffet too hard and then taking a couple of mogadons. An audience of squares who generally didn't like music and bought the cd alongside Huey Lewis and Genesis. Pastel shirts and boat shoes somewhere in a yacht club. Concert videos with glum looking Mark Knoffler looking like the weird caretaker that mowed the lawns at your school.
To be fair though, back in the late 70s Knoffler wrote a ton of great songs and played the living bejesus out of his strat and Fender twin, moving with the energy of patient whose doctor accidentally lubricated the finger with a strong mustard before the rectal examination. Check out this video.
Bg wrote: ↑Sat Jun 27, 2020 9:37 am
He is a fantastic story teller and a thoroughly nice guy.
Did someone else get BGs account by mistake in the server restore?!??
He's a Geordie lad, how can he be anything else? Just wish he'd tour here again, long time since the bowl of brooklands
Re: Dire Straits
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 11:15 am
by codedog
One of my musical heroes. I discovered Dire Straits when the family moved over to Oz mid 80s. Then I discovered Mark Knopfler when my brother and I moved to NZ in 93. Both were monumental periods in my life.
Re: Dire Straits
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 2:25 pm
by werdna
I discovered the first album when an old friend brought it along on a surfing holiday in 1985. Great melodic playing. I could sing every solo and fill in my head. Later when I started to take up the guitar it was to play music like this.
Re: Dire Straits
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 2:27 pm
by rickenbackerkid
Knopfler is a genius as a lyricist and MASTER guitarist, songwriter, arranger, everything. The only thing he's not great at in singing, but he writes such great tunes all he has to do it occasionally mumble a word or two near a microphone and it just sounds luverly
