Dire Straits were a British rock band who emerged during the post-punk era of the late 1970s, active between 1977 and 1995. Comprising Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion), and managed by Ed Bicknell, Dire Straits played a more bluesy style, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk rock which was at the forefront at the time. 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. Despite their oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits became one of the world's most commercially successful artists, and sold over 120 million albums worldwide.
Dire Straits 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.
Bootlegs
1978 04-19 Chester
1978 Polytechnic, LeeDire Straits, UK, January 30th
1978 Rotterdam
1979 Boston (Venue Orpheum 08-09-1979) [2CD]
1979 Koln 79 (Cologne Germ Feb 16th 1979) [2CD]
1979 Live on WDR Radio
1979 Sultans Of Swing
1979 The New Old Waldorf, San Francisco, USA, March 31st
1979 Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, USA, 6th March 1979
1981 Once Upon A Time
1981 Wiesbaden ( Rhein-Main-Hall, Germany, 5th May) [2CD]
1985 Atlanta, Fox Theatre (Atlanta USA August 10th) [2CD]
1985 Brothers in Seattle (Civic Auditorium, Portland, USA, September 20th) [2CD]
1985 Cleveland (Blossom Music Center USA Aug 5th) [2CD]
1985 Live USA [2CD]
1985 San Antonio [2CD]
1985 Stuttgart 85 (Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle 19 November) [2CD]
1985 Texan Sunset (17 August) [2CD]
1985 Walk On Stage
1985 Wembley Arena 10.07.85
1986 Live in Sidney [2CD]
1986 Sydney, Australia 1985-04-26
1986 The Final Oz Convert [2CD]
1988 Live At Wembley Stadium
1991 Strait To The Point [2CD]
1992 Bijou (4 disc box set)
1992 Copenhagen (Denmark 1992-07-27)
1992 Live St. Jakob Stadion (1992-06-28)
1992 On Every Planet [2CD]
1992 The Best Things In Life (Les Arenes Nimes France-September 29th) [2CD]
1992 Ticket to Heaven (St.Jacob Stadium, Basel Switserland 28th June) [2CD]
1992 Worburn Abbey [2CD]
1996 Sultans Of Swing LE
2006 The Last Waltz
Compilations
1988 Money For Nothing
1992 Brothers in Mark 77-92
1998 Sultans Of Swing - The Very Best Of Dire Straits
2005 Private Investigations [2CD]
EP's
1983 ExtendedancEPlay
1993 Encores
2001 Calling Elvis (LP Single)
Live albums
1984 Alchemy [2CD]
1993 On The Night
1995 Live At The BBC
Rarities
1977 Demos Alternative
1977 Early Demos
1980 Demos 77-80
1988 Live Project Rare (1979-1988) [2CD]
1992 On Every Demo (1990-1992)
1996 Rare Sessions I (1990-1995)
1996 Rare Sessions II (1977-1983)
1996 Rare Sessions III or IV (1978-1991)
1996 Rare Sessions V (1980-1996)
Studio albums
1978 Dire Straits
1979 Communique
1980 Making Movies
1982 Love Over Gold
1985 Brothers In Arms
1991 On Every Street
