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Dire Straits Music CD's, DVD's Books
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Dire Straits' fifth album will probably be
remembered as the record that ushered in the CD
generation, and therefore (depending on your
affiliations) a work of extreme evil or an
object lesson in craftsmanship. In truth
though, it's neither. Inevitably, some moments
haven't dated so well. "Money For...
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Sultans of
Swing: The Very Best of Dire
Straits
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24 hours.
Free UK
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19 with Super Saver
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A music fan, April
13, 2005 Classic Dire
Straits
I've been listening to Dire
Straits since I was little (my
parents were fans from the
beginning, so I didn't really
have a choice!) and I bought
this as it's been years since I
heard their classic songs,
which brought back sentimental
memories of my childhood in the
80's!
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Alchemy -
Live
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usually dispatched within
24 hours.
Free UK
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over 19 with Super Saver
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A music fan, Telford,
Shropshire United Kingdom,
September 28, 2004
Essential To
Own
I bought the two tape version
of Alchemy back in '84 and only
threw the tapes away -
reluctantly - when they
wouldn't play any more about 12
years later. At the time I did
not expect to to get another
copy. However with the
re-release I can once again
listen to one of the best live
albums I have...
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Love Over
Gold
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24 hours.
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over 19 with Super Saver
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A music fan, Twickenham,
Middlesex United Kingdom,
October 29, 2004
Love over gold -
Seminal
I am nothing but a simple man
of classical education. In the
80's there was one band that
your parents liked but secretly
so did you. As you hear
Telegraph Road for the first
time in over 10 years you will
understand. One word -
ANTHEM
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Making Movies
[ORIGINAL RECORDING
REMASTERED]
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usually dispatched within
24 hours.
Free UK
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over 19 with Super Saver
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Amazon.co.uk
Review
This is the only Dire Straits
album not to feature a rhythm
guitarist; instead, an added
dimension is given to the sound
by the addition of Roy Bittan,
Bruce Springsteen's pianist. In
fact, there were several
Springsteen connections to this
album: Jimmy Iovine, the
producer, was the engineer on
Born...
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Dire
Straits
Availability:
usually dispatched within
24 hours.
Free UK
delivery on orders
over 19 with Super Saver
Delivery.
A music fan,
Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset
United Kingdom, July 14,
2004
Absolutely
Breathtaking
There are not many superlatives
to heap upon this album that
have not already been used. It
is rare in modern music to find
anything near as witty,
evocative, emotional yet
enjoyable as this debut album
from Dire Straits. Essentially
this is the "real" Dire
Straits, not the electronically
influenced...
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On the
Night
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usually dispatched within
24 hours.
Free UK
delivery on orders
over 19 with Super Saver
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Amazon.co.uk
Review
This live album finds Mark
Knopfler well into his decadent
phase: prosperous,
internationally acclaimed, and
long past remembering the hard
times and hungry years from
which his band originally drew
both its name and its attitude.
Where the first three Dire
Straits albums evinced a
gritty..
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On Every
Street
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usually dispatched within
24 hours.
Free UK
delivery on orders
over 19 with Super Saver
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Amazon.co.uk Review
A strain of deep ennui pervades
this, the sixth (and, to date,
final) studio album from one of
the most wildly successful
bands of the 1980s. This time,
though, it's the sound of an
older, rather less inspired
songwriter: from the amiable
R&B of "Calling Elvis", to
the modest countrified picking
of...
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| Dire
Straits DVD's ~
Books |
Dire Straits Biography
Among the
successful British
pop music acts of
the past twenty
years, few have
retained the
integrity of Dire
Straits; perhaps
only UB40 have been
as determined to
stay out of the
showbiz spotlight
and simply do what
they always set out
to do, playing the
music they loved,
and taking it to as
many people as
possible.
When they started
out in 1977, Dire
Straits fell
between all the
cracks - they had
none of the
aggressive front of
the punk or new
wave groups that
the industry was
looking out for,
and didn't even
have the
lets-all-have-a-good-time
approach of pub
rockers like Dr.
Feelgood. The
group's leader Mark
Knopfler told sound
engineers at gigs
to keep the music
quiet, so people in
the audience could
talk to each
other!
When first
encountered, Mark's
laconic vocal
delivery was
reminiscent of Bob
Dylan and Lou Reed,
and his apparently
effortless guitar
wizardry brought to
mind J.J. Cale
& Barry Burton
of the Amazing
Rhythm Aces. I had
a show on BBC Radio
London at the time,
one of the few
which featured
laid-back music of
that kind, and when
I played the
group's demo tape
in July 1977, the
phones went on
ringing for a week.
Among the callers
were several
A&R men who
wanted to know who
that band was, "you
know, that one wich
sounded so
American." But
although several
personally loved
the group's sound,
most couldn't
convince themselves
or their superiors
that the rest of
the world would
agree.
By the time they
recorded this
concert for BBC
Radio One a year
later, Dire Straits
had made their
album for Phonogram
with the producer
Muff Winwood, who
simply documented
the group's sound
with no attempt to
stamp his own mark
on top of theirs.
The reaction in the
UK was minimal, as
you can hear from
the-matter-of-fact
introductions and
muted audience
reaction. "Sultans
of Swing" had been
released as a
single in the UK
where it sank
without a trace;
the album had
tickled the top 50
- no big deal.
As so often in our
pop-obsessed
climate, it took
success in the rest
of the world to
convince UK radio
programmers that
this band of
anti-pop,
unassuming music
deserved daytime
play. Holland was
first to bite, then
Germany, Australia,
and finally the
United States,
where radio
programmers loved
the album so much
that Warner A&R
man Jerry Wexler
commented, "We
would have to get
up very early in
the morning and
work exceedingly
hard to stop that
thing from selling
- it would have
been a hit if you
could have only
bought it in
grocery
stores."
It's always
impossible to pin
down the reasons
why one artist
survives for years
where another
disappears, but as
well as his clarity
of purpose and
vision. Mark
Knopfler has always
had something to
say - most of his
songs are about
something in
particular, often
seen from an
unusual point of
view. Listeners may
have to go in
search of the
meaning - he
doesn't push it in
your face - but
it's usually worth
the effort.
Eventually,
listeners in
Britain caught up
with the rest of
the world, and Dire
Straits' album
"Brothers In Arms"
became one of the
UK's all-time best
sellers. But that
was long after most
of the performances
on this CD; apart
from Tunnel Of
Love, recorded for
BBC-TV's Old Grey
Whistle Test after
Britain had finally
caught on to the
band's magic, the
rest of this CD was
recorded for BBC
Radio One while
they were still
unknown. Here we
can go back in time
and hear the band
deliver the goods
with no sense of
pomp or
self-importance,
four craftsmen just
doing their job:
making music.
Charlie Gillett,
London, March 1995
from the album
"Live At The
BBC". |
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