UKC

...by Dire Straits

Fell in love with this song as a teenager going through the usual teenage relationship angst.

Still love it now.

Just thought I'd let you know

In reply to Removed User:

That and Telegraph Road live, remind me of being younger.
Have all the albums on the ipod for the car, brings back loads of good memories :0)

In reply to Denni:

And Mark is still going strong.

Love this live version of Telegraph Road

youtube.com/watch?v=gjJzlIedCuo&

In reply to Removed User: Never had much time for them back in the day, but nowadays "Brothers in Arms" is an open invitation for a sly weep.

In reply to Mikkel:

Cheers; I've now ended on a journey from Dire Straits through Mark King, some Level 42, The Housemartins and The Verve - with some side-tracks in between.

In reply to stroppygob:

I am just an ageing drummer boy, and in the wars I used to play,
and I've called the tune to many a torture session......

In reply to Removed User:

One of the most underrated bands of all time in my opinion. Never, ever been cool.

Wonderful songwriting and inspired musicianship.

Brothers in arms from the 1988 Mandela Concert at Wembley. some of the most eloquent guitar playing I have ever heard. Mark makes the guitar sing, he never makes it shout.
youtube.com/watch?v=5vUDmFjWgVo&

So far away. Live from Wembley Arena in 1985
youtube.com/watch?v=ObzXL0p7t1E&

Feel like going home. An audience with Tom Jones. Knopfler manages to make what could have been a cheesefest into some of most soulful guitar playing.
youtube.com/watch?v=ANQW7V6OCPc&

Romeo & Juliet. The Killers have a go at a classic. They don't add anything in my opinion but their thoughts on the band are interesting.
youtube.com/watch?v=87cLyBR1JTo&

Such a distinctive sound. If you hear two bars of any track you know its them.
Mark Knoplers guitar tone and style are so distinct, a thumb picked out of phase strat. Nobody else sounds like that.
Making Movies, Love over Gold and Brothers in Arms are equally brilliant.
Have become one of my favourite bands in recent years.

In reply to stroppygob:

Interesting views on BiA.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mqp1r

In reply to TMM:

My recollection is that they were pretty cool when their first album started to get proper attention. I'm sure I remember John Peel playing "Sultans of Swing".

From "Making Movies" onwards I think the band started to develop much more of a stadium-rock flavour. There was a time when if felt like you had to wait no more than 20 minutes after turning on the radio or MTV for "Money for Nothing" to be played. Which got rather irksome after a while. I think they did cease to be "cool" in the 80s, but their albums and tours were phenomenally successful and made shedloads of money. Given a choice between being "cool" and never having to work again, which would you go for?

In reply to Removed User:

Don't forget the theme to Local Hero

It'll be in my head all day now

In reply to Martin W:

Dire Straits were never 'cool' in the sense that the NME or Melody Maker were going to heap praise on them. They came out of SE London at a time when punk was riding high and there more laid back sound was completely at odds with prevailing trends.

Mark Knopfler is a very intelligent man who knew exactly what he wanted. By the time Making Movies had come out he had turned DS into something was just a vehicle for his songs and arrangements. He carefully surrounded himself with very capable musicians who were happy with that (hence the departure of David Knopfler and Pick Withers).

In interviews MK had made reference to the good fortune to find fame in his late 20's and therefore have a the experience to be able to deal with all the BS that comes with it. He remained remarkably grounded to the extent that one of the music rags took the mickey out of him after he stated his pleasure for doing laundry in his time off.

He made smart moves in putting DS to bed at a time when was calling the shots and capable of planning a solo career on his terms. His solo albums could all be branded DS but he chose not to remove the expectations and burdens that come with the brand post BiA.

I have a lot of respect for artists who reach such a peak, view the world of fame in front of them and then go 'nah, not for me'. Mike Scott seems to have a similar view.

Enough rambling it's all good music.

As for MK not working again nothing could further from the truth. He is more prolific now than he was in the DS days. He is constantly recording and touring.

In reply to TMM:
Saw a very low key/laid back but very interesting doco on sky arts about mk's guitar collection together with the history behind each guitar. Well worth a watch.

In reply to Removed User:

Love the live version. The alchemy live double album is one i never tire of.

In reply to Removed User:

I'd thoroughly recommend The Ragpicker's Dream and the new Privateering album. Lightyears away from the DS stuff but superb all the same. Actually there's so much solo MK stuff out there if it's your thing.

Cheers, M

In reply to TMM:

Excellent. Just listened to this.

Funnily enough I remember going out to Northern Irelend on my first tour and saying to my then wife, if anything happens I want this song (BiA) and one other at my funeral.

It wasn't that I associated BiA with N.I., I didn't, but I did relate to the sentiment, as I think almost all soldiers do.

In reply to Removed User:

This is my favorite of the "newer" stuff from him.

youtube.com/watch?v=V6nyfXu5fWs&

In reply to Removed User:

Sultans of Swing live is a cracker:

youtube.com/watch?v=z2nQZPC2uTs&

In reply to Removed User: I agree, quality tune

In reply to Removed User:
Grew up with bits of Dire Straits & Mark Knofler being played in the house. Developed my own love for em, still turn the radio up whenever one of theirs comes on and can drift away for hours to them in the car....

Also really enjoying MK's newest solo stuff, Privateering.

In reply to Removed User:
I love that song but every time i hear it (BiA) I think of Paul(Williams), it was played at his funeral.

In reply to HikerPunk:
Ever heard his country/blues band - the Notting hillbillies? The album 'missing, presumed having a good time' is superb

In reply to blanchie14c:

All the side projects are well worth a listen.

'Neck & Neck' with Chet Atkins and 'All the road running' with Emmy-Lou Harris.

The soundtracks to Local Hero, The Princess Bride and Cal are stunning and Last exit to Brooklyn also worth a listen (nice climbing connection with 'Last exit to Torquay' Daddyhole where the first ascent was shared with author of Last exit to Brooklyn, but I digress).

The film 'Comfort & Joy' also features music from the DS album 'Love over gold' and even some lyrics cryptically interwoven into the dialogue.

In reply to Mikkel:

Thanks for that. I've just downloaded the album.

In reply to Removed User:

Just to rub salt, he was here in October with Bob Dylan and I didn't go to see him....What a tit I am.

In reply to Removed User: Better version of BIA.

youtube.com/watch?v=-j5vib8obek&

In reply to Double Knee Bar:
fantastic sound!
The first time I heard Telegraph Road was in Ians Mini on a "cassette tape" was we drove down to Wales and did a winter ascent of the "Black Cleft" on Cloggy.
We had terrors, Moac's and C&A ski wear in the early 80's and I remember being so scared leading the top pitch!!!
The track still brings back memories of that day!!!!

In reply to stroppygob:

Thats disgusting

In reply to TMM:


I used to read Melody Maker every week in those days, and DS certainly got a fair few favourable mentions in the early years before MK started pushing them in the stadium rock direction.

I think you may have a distorted view of the sort of coverage that MM in particular used to give to different musical styles. NME might have had more of a tendency to chase avidly after the latest fad - I don't know, I didn't read it, although reading "The Boy Looked at Johnny" subsequently leads me to suspect that that was indeed the case. MM, at least in those days, tried to cover a fairly broad spectrum of taste. They would obviously tend to write more about the stuff that was getting the most attention generally at any particular time - it was a journal/newspaper, after all - but it wasn't always banging on about the latest 'big thing', and I got to know about lots of interesting artists through its pages.

In reply to Removed User:
Telegraph Road & Private Investigations bring back memories of driving over Hardknott & Wrynose Passes in the dark & thick fog on a climbing trip to the Lakes, incredibly atmospheric. Saw DS at Wembley Arena in 1985, Princes Trust concert so Charles & Di came too.
Most memorable however is someone I knew at uni in 1978 who was headed for the music industry commenting on DS, a new band, saying how they were going to be very big, at a time when punk seemed to hold sway.
Still enjoy MK's music & hope to see him live sometime.

In reply to Removed User:

Eek! I love the Slow Train Coming LP, great guitar playing (and love Pick Withers' drums on it too)

Just found this one on youtube

youtube.com/watch?v=tGlGBIzN2ls&

Nice version of Romeo and Juliet some 13 minutes into it.

In reply to Mikkel:

Excellent, thank you, I really enjoyed that.

In reply to Removed User:

Listening for a second time myself now, and that version of Brothers in Arms at the end got to be one of the best ever.

In reply to Removed User:

I was fortunate enough to see Dire Straits twice. The first time MK struck up Romeo and Juliet I was in tears. I still love that song.

The second time I saw them, they actually played Telegraph Road - amazing stuff.

Knopfler is an artist, and I don't think he cares if he is cool or not. DS had a "phase" where they were huge and practially untouchable. It didn't last, but MK and his music has far outlasted the phase and his back catalogue is varied and excellent. He is a musical craftsman and my interpretation of all that I have seen is that he plays for the love of playing and for his deep interest in the music and the ways of making music. That's more than enough.