Dire Straits

Play Radio

34,602,358 plays (1,581,950 listeners)

Shop now at Amazon | Send Dire Straits Ringtones to Cell
Buy
Add to my Library

United Kingdom (1977 – 1995)

Dire Straits were a band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late ’70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy. Led by guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, the group built their sound upon the laid-back blues-rock of J.J. Cale, but they also had jazz and country inflections, occasionally dipping into the epic song structures of progressive rock. The band’s music was offset by Knopfler’s lyrics, which approximated the winding, stream-of-conscious narratives of Bob Dylan. As their career progressed, Dire Straits became more refined and their new maturity happened to coincide with the rise of MTV and the compact disc. These two musical revolutions from the mid-’80s helped make Dire Straits’ fifth studio album, Brothers in Arms, an international blockbuster. The band - along with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and Steve Winwood - became one of the leaders of a group of self-consciously mature veteran rock & rollers in the late ’80s that designed their music to appeal to aging baby boomers.

Popular tags: , , , ,  See more

Share this artist:

Top Albums

  • Brothers In Arms
    Dire Straits Play
    Buy
  • Dire Straits
    Dire Straits Play
    Buy
  • Money For Nothing
    Dire Straits Play
    Buy
  • Sultans Of Swing - The Very Best Of Dire Straits
    Dire Straits Play
    Buy
See more

Top Tracks

1
9,445
2  
5,526
3  
5,082
4  
4,722
5
3,849
6  
2,673
7
1,892
8  
1,882
9  
1,867
10  
1,856
11
1,500
12  
1,365
13  
1,361
14
1,230
15  
1,204
Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
See all 1,724 shouts

Videos

See more

Events

See more Add event

Listening Now

Top Listeners

See more

More Information

Links
Band Members
Labels

Email Newsletter

Universal Music Group Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Dire Straits from Universal Music.