Dire Straits

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Dire Straits

“You get a shiver in the dark,

It’s raining in the park, but meantime...”

What can you say about Dire Straits, one of the biggest bands in the world? Looking back on it all a lot of people wonder just how and why the Knopfler phenomenon took off. Not particularly original - gosh but didn’t the first album sound a lot like JJ Cale? - most people will admit that Mark Knopfler did have a unique way of fondling a guitar and could write a decent tune . A former journalist, the Dire Straits’ frontman first came to our attention when he used his former job skills to give us the lowdown on the Sultans of Swing. Once again, Knopfler was not particularly original – Sultans sounds like it woke up out of Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ – but you would have to admit that the man knows how to paint a picture. “You step inside and you don’t see too many faces / coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down.” It’s not poetry, but it’s amazingly effective. Just like Dire Straits really. Dire Straits wrote the kind of songs that might momentarily bring your dad out of his Kenny Rogers musical fortress, and before you know it, he says something like: “I like this one. They are not just repeating the same words over and over again. What do they call themselves?” Yes, Dire Straits were made for young folk like a nail gun is made for a day care centre. But not all of the music buying public are young. And I am of the belief that if a band is immensely popular there is usually a good reason behind it.

So what do Dire Straits have that makes them so popular? ‘Romeo and Juliet’ would be one quick answer. I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t like this song. Also Knopfler’s guitar playing cannot be overlooked. He really did have a unique style. He is one of the only people to use the much neglected fourth setting on the switch of a Fender Stratocaster, and because of this it is pretty much now known as Knopfler 4. He doesn’t use a guitar pick either. The Knof conjures up a wonderfully clean, snappy sound that is not often heard in pop or rock music. It is a very country guitar sound in a way but his melodic solos and rhythm playing take us to the land of pop.

What else do you need to know about the Straits? Right from day one they were incredibly unfashionable. Adult music born in the era of Punk. The band photos on the first two albums look unbelievably tame – all white slacks and toothy smiles. I think this is a big part of their attraction though. They were so inoffensive. Girls didn’t find them sexy and threatening, but then again they were cute and non-disturbing: and this has a certain appeal among females I am told. And there was a real progression in Mark Knopfler’s songwriting through the first four albums. You could never say that Knopfler never tested his own boundaries. By the end of the journey there was nothing left unexplored.

Oh, and the rest of the band? I think the drummer Pick Withers is a fantastically exciting drummer. The first album crackles because of his wonderfully busy style. And John Illsley has got to be the brother of Brian May, looks wise. There is not much more to say about John except he is the only member to survive the whole Dire Straits’ journey. Oh and he had some incredibly daggy stage bouncing problem, which when put in contrast with the rest of the band, who were a lot smaller in stature, could only be seen as comical. Let us not forget Mark Knopfler’s brother David Knopfler, who was the Tom Fogerty of the band. He may have been better than adequate, but you would never know as he is buried so low in the mix on the first two albums he played on. Dire Straits’ sound did evolve and change with the introduction of piano – good – and keyboards – not so good. Knopfler’s singing is totally unremarkable and on a lot of live and studio recordings, hard to hear. But I have heard at least one female say that it is kind of sexy. Might well explain at least some of the millions of CDs and records sold. It is worth mentioning that there were six years between Brothers In Arms and On Every Street. Any ideas why? Well now that you mention it, I have it on good authority that the leader of the straightest (sic) band in the world was not shy of horsing around, if you catch my drift. God, but this would explain the descent into the soporific style that all but ruined the last two studio albums. Also worthy of note is that Brothers in Arms was the first major album released on CD. It was also the first album recorded, mixed and mastered digitally. This had to help sales, as dads across the western world put away their Dark Side of the Moon LP and used their Brothers in Arms CD to showcase their new Hi-Fi equipment. But let’s stop twisting by the pool and let’s step inside Knopfler’s Tavern.



Reviewed by Adrian, 22 September 2009.

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