Dire Straits posters and backstage passes at Wolfgang's Vault

Dire Straits

Released on 8/6/1978, the original self-titled album, "Dire Straits", brought a new dimension to rock music. Mark Knopfler blended craggy vocals, blues-based melodies, and sinuous guitar work into a sound that was unique and refreshing. Nothing fancy like synthesizers or other heavy studio tricks, just good music, raw and powerful. The top single from this first effort was "Sultans of Swing", and featured some fantasitc guitar work by Knopfler. Another great selection from this album was "Down to the Waterline". Excellent stuff.

The band had a number of albums that were all solid, but they did not really break the charts bigtime until the 1985 release of 'Brothers in Arms'. This album was by far their most successful release from a commercial standpoint. The lineup on this album was fantastic:

1. So Far Away 2. Money For Nothing 3. Walk of Life 4. Your Latest Trick 5. Why Worry 6. Ride Across The River 7. The Man's Too Strong 8. One World 9. Brothers In Arms

Brothers in Arms would easily make it somewhere into our top 100 rock albums of all time. Every song on this recording is solid, and of course the standouts are Money for Nothing, So Far Away, Walk of Life, and Brothers in Arms. The last song was featured in one of the episodes of Miami Vice.