#352 - Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (1985)

MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:

DIRE STRAITS BIO

The band formed in 1977 when brothers Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and guitar) and David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals) joined with John Illsley (bass and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). They were initially known as the Cafe Racers, but a flatmate of Withers coined the Dire Straits name. The first single of their debut self-titled release, Sultans of Swing, was a huge hit. On their first major tour they opened for the Talking Heads. Bob Dylan saw them on their first US tour and invited Mark and Withers to play on his next album, Slow Train Coming. They released their second album, Communique in 1979. During writing for the third album (Making Movies), David left the band over creative differences with his brother Mark. Guitarist Hal Lindes and keyboardist Alan Clark joined the band shortly after the recording sessions and became full-time band members. After the release of their fourth album “Love Over Gold”, Pitnick left the band and was replaced by Terry Williams on the drums. Leading up to recording today’s album “Brothers in Arms”, Knopfler produced Bob Dylan’s “Infidels” album. They entered the studio to work on album #5 in 1984. After the tour for Brothers in Arms, Knopfler took a break from the band in 1987 and announced their break-up in 1988, stating that “A lot of press reports were saying we were the biggest band in the world. There’s not an accent on the music, there’s an accent on popularity. I need a rest”. The band formed again in 1991 and released their final album “On Every Street”, but Knopfler quietly disbanded the band in 1995 needing a break from the fame, and began to work on his solo stuff.  

They were inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. 

‘BROTHERS IN ARMS’ BACKGROUND

This is the 5th album by Dire Straits, released in 1985, and has been described as a “pop-rock” album. It was recorded on the Carribean island Montserrat, althought some follow up sessions were needed in a New York studio after a defectrive batch of tape affected all or parts of 3 tracks. This was one of the first albums recorded on a Sony 24-track digital tape machine due to Singer/Lead Guitarist Mark Knopfler’s constant desire to have better sound quality. It spent 9 weeks at the top spot on the Billboard 200, and was certitfied nine times platinum in the US, and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. It won the Grammy for Best Engineered Album-Non Classical in 1986 (but lost Album of the Year to Phil Collins’ “No Jacket Required”, and the 20th anniversary edition also won in 2006 for Best Surround Sound Album. Brothers in Arms was the first album to sell one million copies in the CD format and to outsell its LP version.