Dire Straits appreciation thread

[Led Zeppelin]

It's been a long time coming. I've been listening to Dire Straits for quite some time now, and it seems to me that the more songs I hear by them, the more I like them.

It is pretty rare for a band to have more than a few great songs, but Dire Straits is one that can pull that off easily.

Here are but a few examples:

Sultans of Swing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SEULZIHru0)
Money for Nothing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACGUasFWVsI)
Water of Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWWQOdX4GE8)
Down to the Waterline (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMA2MqqttSA)
Six Blade Knife (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIIivQnIsU)
Tunnel of Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHzga_DFxs)
Industrial Disease (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ffSXeu1fKU)
Brothers in Arms (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs)
Local Hero Wild Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qezm259D-TA)
Lady Writer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r93ApzijU0o)
Calling Elvis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OANe9hl2ljA)
So Far Away (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcnP5CjOy1Y)
Walk of Life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrjBddCTCmk)
Romeo & Juliet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuWk7taryAA)
Private Investigations (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw_dhlZteTg)
Your Latest Trick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg-kv9vFoLs)

[Sleeping Dog]

Straits is indeed a super band. I'm surprised that prior to these 16 cuts I didn't have any mp3's of their's in my collection (thanks). I'm partial to Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra (http://www.redhotjazz.com/apex.html) but there are a bunch of other great OLD at this website. Please check it out and reply.

Sony tried to cage Billie Holiday's greats (like Strange Fruit) great they got beat but there is so much more.

[Led Zeppelin]

I just heard the song "Let's Sow A Wild Oat" by Jimmy Noone. It wasn't too bad, but I'm not really a fan of blues. :(

[Faux Real]

Money For Nothing contained a few homophobic slurs, and until reading statements from the band members thought they were homophobes themselves. Nice song anywho.

[Hit The North]

This thread should be closed by the moderator asap. It has nothing to do with music.

[Led Zeppelin]

This thread should be closed by the moderator asap. It has nothing to do with music.

I am the moderator. :p

And I disagree with you.

How can any any human being with fully functioning ears not like Sultans of Swing? :confused:

[Sleeping Dog]

:p
I am the moderator. :p

And I disagree with you.

How can any any human being with fully functioning ears not like Sultans of Swing? :confused:My question is: How can you claim to be a "Peoples Music" fan with a name like Led Zeppelin?
:p

[Pirate Utopian]

I heard bad things about Dire Straits but I never listened to them because I didnt care about them.

While Sultan of Swing was okay, the other few I heard were crap.

[Jazzratt]

How can any any human being with fully functioning ears not like Sultans of Swing? :confused:

Seriously, we should plough funding into answering this question - where do these fucking freaks (people who don't like "Sultans...") come from?

[Sleeping Dog]

Seriously, we should plough funding into answering this question - where do these fucking freaks (people who don't like "Sultans...") come from?Obviously they're doomed to repeat. ;)

[Wanted Man]

Money For Nothing contained a few homophobic slurs, and until reading statements from the band members thought they were homophobes themselves. Nice song anywho.
Try figuring out the meaning behind the song. It is not in the "first person", or at least, it's not about Knopfler's own opinions. I think he wrote it after he heard a bunch of clerks in a hardware store complain about MTV. Knee-jerk reaction to "naughty words" is a very conservative thing to do. At any rate, Knopfler is not like Neil Young not wanting to see a "faggot behind the fuckin' cash register" to "handle your potatoes".

Anyway, the awesomeness of Straits is hard to exaggerate. My dad has many of their albums on vinyl, so that's how I got to listen to them. If any "concerned leftists" (a term that I can see myself using a lot) still don't want to listen because of some stupid political point, I recommend the album "Love Over Gold" to them.

[Led Zeppelin]

I promise this will be the last thread I resurrect. I just wanted to talk some more about Dire Straits because they're awesome, as with Led Zeppelin, so I thought I'd post in the threads already existing instead of making a new one. :)


At any rate, Knopfler is not like Neil Young not wanting to see a "faggot behind the fuckin' cash register" to "handle your potatoes".

Hmm, from where did you get that?

[Wanted Man]

I read it somewhere. It may be nonsense, but it's more to illustrate a point. Still, I looked it up, here are some sources:


Then there was Aids, about which Young pronounced himself very concerned. Not with research or healthcare, but with the prospect of "a faggot" working in the fruit and veg department of his local supermarket: "You don't want him to handle your potatoes," he counselled. By 1989, when the threat posed by homosexuals touching his King Edwards had presumably abated, Young had turned once more, socking it to Bush Sr on Rockin' in the Free World.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1767177,00.html


A major caveat: In 1984, Neil Young gave an interview to Britain's New Musical Express. He was in the middle of a reactionary Reaganite phase, and among his pearls was this: "You go to a supermarket and you see a faggot behind the fuckin' cash register, you don't want him to handle your potatoes."
http://www.amazon.ca/Shakey-Youngs-Biography-James-Mcdonough/dp/0679309403

[Comrade Rage]

I love Dire Straits, one of the best bands ever.

[punisa]

Hmm... a rather old thread, but let me just say that I love Dire Straits :lol:
Also be sure to check out (ahm, download) the last solo album from Mark Knopfler - Get lucky. It's really extraordinary :cool: