AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Dire Straits

Artist:Dire Straits
Song:Sultans Of Swing
Album:Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler





Though Dire Straits would go on to become one of the most popular bands of the 80s, The 1978 top five hit Sultans Of Swing was their breakthrough hit. Their musical style is probably closer to the pub rock of the 70s than the punk or new wave that was popular at the time. Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Mark Knopfler was born Aug. 12, 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland. His main influences were Hank Marvin, Chet Atkins and Scotty Moore. After working for a while as a reporter, he decided to become a musician and was in a band called Brewers Droop. In 1977, he formed Dire Straits with younger brother David Knopfler on rhythm guitar, John Illsley on bass and Pick Withers on drums. Their demo, which included Sultans Of Swing, got the attention of BBC DJ Charlie Gillett. He liked it so much that he played Sultans Of Swing on his show and that led to a contract with Phonogram. Their debut album Dire Straits was produced by Muff Winwood. It didn't do well at first. But it got the attention of Warner Bros. A & R rep Karin Berg. A US tour opening for Talking Heads led to a contract and the single re-release of Sultans Of Swing. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a worldwide smash hit. The rest is history. It just shows that it is very helpful to have someone at the record company believe in you or you may go nowhere. Pick Withers was replaced by Terry Williams in 1983. Of course Dire Straits biggest hit was the 1985 worldwide chart topper Money For Nothing. Knopfler was already doing outside projects so Dire Straits split up in 1988 and Knopfler would form The Notting Hillbillies. Dire Straits reformed in 1991 and split up for good in 1996. They reformed a couple more times but Knopfler and the others are concentrating on solo projects. This 2CD comp is perfect. There is a video for Sultans Of Swing but I prefer this performance of Sultans Of Swing on The Old Grey Whistle Test 1978.

Dire straits - sultans of swing (live very rare 1978)
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