Dire Straits (album)
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| Dire Straits | ||||
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| Studio album by Dire Straits | ||||
| Released | 7 Oct. 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 13 February - 5 March 1978 at Basing Street Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 41:34 | |||
| Label | Vertigo Warner Bros. (US) |
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| Producer | Muff Winwood | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
| Dire Straits chronology | ||||
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Dire Straits is the self-titled debut album by British rock band Dire Straits, released in October 1978 (see 1978 in music).
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[edit] History
The single "Sultans of Swing" first broke the US Top Five early spring 1979 (being a hit a full five months after the album was released there) and then rose to #8 in the British charts. "Water of Love" was also released as a single in some countries, but only charted in Australia, reaching #54. In Europe, the album sold four million copies while in the U.S. it sold two million copies.
The album was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the U.S. and on September 19, 2000 in the United States.
The cover image is taken from a painting by Chuck Loyola, while the Dire Straits Fender icon was designed by Geoff Halpern.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Mark Knopfler.
- "Down to the Waterline" – 3:55
- "Water of Love" – 5:23
- "Setting Me Up" – 3:18
- "Six Blade Knife" – 4:10
- "Southbound Again" – 2:58
- "Sultans of Swing" – 5:47
- "In the Gallery" – 6:16
- "Wild West End" – 4:42
- "Lions" – 5:05
The original version of the album contained a slightly shorter version of "Sultans of Swing", omitting the last seconds of the guitar solo at the end of the song, but the full-length version was included on the remastered edition of the album.
Cassette versions of the album often featured the sides in reverse order to the original vinyl album: side 'A' comprised Tracks 6 through 9, while side 'B' featured Tracks 1 through 5. The French issue of the cassette saw 'Down to the Waterline' and 'Wild West End' interchanged in the order mentioned above to allow for a more equal playing time on each side.
[edit] Personnel
- Mark Knopfler – lead vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar
- John Illsley – bass, backing vocals
- David Knopfler – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Pick Withers – drums
[edit] Production
- Muff Winwood – production
- Rhett Davies – engineer
- Gregg Geller and Bob Ludwig – remastering
- Jo Motta – project coordinator
- Alan Schmidt – art direction
[edit] Charts
The Dire Straits' debut album has been 131 weeks in UK Albums Chart [1]. In Australia, the album was the tenth best selling album there.
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Australian ARIA Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1979 | France SNEP Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1979 | Billboard Pop Albums | 2 |
| 1979 | New Zealand Albums Chart | 3 |
| 1979 | UK Albums Chart | 5 |
| 1979 | Sweden Albums Chart | 6 |
| 1979 | Norway Albums Chart | 10 |
| 1979 | Austria Albums Chart | 17 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Billboard Hot 100 | UK singles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "Sultans of Swing" | #4 | #8 |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIANZ – New Zealand | Gold | December 1978 |
| BPI – UK | Silver | February 2, 1979 |
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | February 21, 1979 |
| ARIA – Australia | Platinum | February 1979 |
| RIANZ – New Zealand | Platinum | February 1979 |
| RIAA – U.S. | Platinum | March 27, 1979 |
| BPI – UK | Gold | March 30, 1979 |
| IFPI – Germany | Gold | April 3, 1979 |
| BPI – UK | Platinum | November 23, 1979 |
| IFPI – Germany | Platinum | 1979 |
| SNEP - France | Platinum | 1982 |
| BPI – UK | 2X Platinum | February 7, 1986 |
| RIAA – U.S. | 2x Platinum | January 6, 1987 |
[edit] Notes
Country band Highway 101 later covered "Setting Me Up", taking it to the top ten on the U.S. country singles charts in 1990.
| Preceded by War of the Worlds by Various artists |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album December 4 - December 24, 1978 |
Succeeded by 52nd Street by Billy Joel |
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