Dire Straits (album)
| Dire Straits | ||||
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| Studio album by Dire Straits | ||||
| Released | 7 October 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 13 February - 5 March 1978 at Basing Street Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Rock, pub rock, country rock, rockabilly | |||
| Length | 41:34 | |||
| Label | Vertigo (UK) Warner Bros. (US) |
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| Producer | Muff Winwood | |||
| Dire Straits chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (B)[2] |
| Rolling Stone | NA[3] |
Dire Straits is the self-titled debut album by British rock band Dire Straits, released in October 1978 (see 1978 in music) by Phonogram Records.[4]
Contents |
[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, and charted in Australia, reaching #54, and in the Netherlands, reaching #28.[5] 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 to most of the world excluding the U.S. and on 19 September 2000 in the United States. For 2010 release of an anniversary album is planned. It will be devoted the 30 anniversary of the edition of a vinyl.[6]
The cover image is taken from a painting by Chuck Loyola, while the Dire Straits Fender icon was designed by Geoff Halpern.
A small number of guitars were used on the album by Mark Knopfler. These included a pair of red Fender Stratocasters(one from 1961-serial number #68354 and one from 1961/62-serial number #80470.) He played his 1928 National and 1937 National steel guitars on tracks "Water of Love" and "Wild West End," respectively. A black Fender thinline Telecaster was played on Setting Me Up. Mark and David also played Mark's sunburst Fender Telecaster. There was also an unidentified acoustic guitar used on several tracks.
[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 spent 132 weeks in the UK Albums Chart. [1] In Australia, the album was the tenth best-selling album of 1978.
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Australian ARIA Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1979 | French Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1979 | U.S. Billboard Pop Albums | 2 |
| 1979 | New Zealand Albums Chart | 3 |
| 1979 | UK Albums Chart | 5 |
| 1979 | Swedish Albums Chart | 6 |
| 1979 | Norwegian Albums Chart | 10 |
| 1979 | Austrian 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 | 2 February 1979 |
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | 21 February 1979 |
| ARIA – Australia | Platinum | February 1979 |
| RIANZ – New Zealand | Platinum | February 1979 |
| RIAA – U.S. | Platinum | 27 March 1979 |
| BPI – UK | Gold | 30 March 1979 |
| IFPI – Germany | Gold | 3 April 1979 |
| BPI – UK | Platinum | 23 November 1979 |
| IFPI – Germany | Platinum | 1979 |
| SNEP – France | Platinum | 1982 |
| BPI – UK | 2X Platinum | 7 February 1986 |
| RIAA – U.S. | 2x Platinum | 6 January 1987 |
[edit] References
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011 [last update]). "Dire Straits - Dire Straits | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r5886/review. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (2011 [last update]). "Robert Christgau: CG: dire straits". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=dire+straits. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (1979). "Dire Straits". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/dire-straits-19790125. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Dire Straits Biography". Musician Biographies. http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000435/Dire-Straits.html. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ "Dutch charts". http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Dire+Straits&titel=Water+Of+Love+%2F+Down+To+The+Waterline&cat=s. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ 2010 vinyl reissues from Warner Brothers celebrates 30 years of Dire Straits!. 16 January 2010. http://www.becausesoundmatters.com/blog/2010-vinyl-reissues-warner-brothers-celebrates-30-years-dire-straits. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
[edit] External links
- Dire Straits (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
| Preceded by War of the Worlds by Various artists |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 4–24 December 1978 |
Succeeded by 52nd Street by Billy Joel |
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