Your Latest Trick: Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms at 40
Reflections on the band’s blockbuster fifth LP
When 1985 rolled around, Dire Straits was at an interesting point in their career.
They were four albums deep, not counting an EP and a double-disc live set. And their ttrajectory — in America at least — was somewhat unusual. Their self-titled debut was released in the fall of 1978. Seemingly out of nowhere, “Sultans of Swing” — that album’s single — was all over the airwaves. It stuck out like a sore thumb.
At the time, the American Top 40 was comprised mainly of four genres: classic rockers such as Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Boston, Fleetwood Mac etc; disco (see Donna Summer, Chic and a host of lesser known artists); New Wave acts (The Cars, Cheap Trick, The Police etc); and what has come to be called “yacht rock” (Toto, Ambrosia, Pablo Cruise and so on).
There wasn’t much room on the airwaves for a five-minute song about a pub rock group — much less one that was performed by a totally unknown band with a lead singer whose voice resembled Bob Dylan’s. But somehow, “Sultans of Swing” went top five and propelled Dire Straits’ debut to gold status.
They had released three more studio albums since then. Communique followed quickly — perhaps too quickly — in the summer of 1979. In this writer’s opinion, Communique was unjustly written off as a carbon copy of their debut. Their third disc, Making Movies, came out at the end of 1980 and was a breakthrough. Pared down to a trio, the Straits received invaluable help from producer Jimmy Iovine and E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan.
What really set things apart was the songwriting. Mark Knopfler had always been a great and distinct guitarist. But on Making Movies, his writing took a quantum leap forward. There were only seven songs on this album, but each one counted. In the past, Knopfler had been adept at character sketches — but they were shorter in length and most of them were set in his native England. The songs on Making Movies were more urban; they were populated by amusement park regulars, elusive roller queens, jilted lovers and gay cabaret performers. He really was “making movies” in his lyrics, and his guitar playing was never better. The Straits’ rhythm section — bassist John Illsley and drummer Pick Withers — remained, to use one of the album’s song titles, solid rock.
The band’s fourth studio effort, Love Over Gold, appeared in the fall of 1982. There are some who will disagree with me on this, but Love Over Gold felt like a repeat of Making Movies but with even fewer songs. The closing song, “It Never Rains” was almost a lesser rewrite of the previous album’s “Tunnel of Love.” The title track was a decent ballad but paled in comparison to the ones on Making Movies. They did score a sizable UK hit with “Private Investigations,” but to these ears it went nowhere for seven minutes.
Then came a two-and-a-half year break. Several significant things happened during this period. First, there was a lot of change within the ranks of Dire Straits. Longtime sticksman Withers left and was replaced by powerhouse drummer Terry Williams, a veteran of Rockpile and other bands. The role of rhythm guitarist — which had originally been filled by David Knopfler, Mark’s younger brother — was taken first by Hal Lindes and then by New Yorker Jack Sonni. And perhaps most significantly, the Straits added two full time keyboardists: Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher. For a band that had made its name in large part due to Knopfler’s guitar virtuosity, this constituted a major shift in sound.
The other important thing that happened during that period is that compact discs appeared for the first time. Though it would be awhile before they replaced vinyl as the most popular means of listening to music, the change was beginning to happen. It was into this new landscape that Dire Straits finally emerged from hibernation in May of 1985 with their fifth studio disc, Brothers in Arms.
I still remember the first time I heard “So Far Away,” the opening track and first single from Brothers in Arms. I was in college but living off-campus and had the radio on (probably WNEW-FM). It was a pleasant surprise that the Straits were finally back and I loved their new song.
Brothers in Arms was recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat and was co-produced by Knopfler and Neil Dorfsman (who had engineered Love Over Gold). It was one of the first albums recorded on a Sony 24-track digital tape machine. In addition to the core band, there were cameos from some top tier studio musicians including bassist Tony Levin, drummer Omar Hakim and The Brecker Brothers. There was also a very well known artist who added harmony vocals to one song, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves…
VIDEO: Dire Straits “So Far Away”
There are nine songs on Brothers In Arms. The five songs on side one are all over the map — not just musically but in terms of subject matter. By contrast, the four tracks on side two — while still musically diverse — all address the subject of war either directly or indirectly.
The album’s first three songs were also its first three singles: “So Far Away,” “Money for Nothing” and “Walk of Life.” Though significantly different from each other, all three were commercial and all became hits. The aforementioned “So Far Away” is probably the most familiar sounding of the three — a mid tempo tune with simple but evocative lyrics and an infectious bass line by John Illsley.
VIDEO: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing”
“Money for Nothing,” the album’s second song, became its biggest hit (at least in America). At eight minutes and change, it’s one of the longest tracks on Brothers In Arms. But an edited version was given to radio stations and they jumped on it — not surprising, given its catchy chorus and ZZ Top-influenced guitar hook. At the time, the lyrics caused a bit of controversy in some circles; indeed, if “Money for Nothing” was released today, Mark Knopfler might find himself canceled due to lines like “See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup.”
What some people didn’t realize was that Knopfler was writing this song from a character’s POV — not unlike what Randy Newman had done on numerous occasions. In this case, the character is an average Joe, a guy who works in an appliance store and probably a bigot. He also makes fun at MTV with lines like, “That ain’t workin’! That’s the way you do it! You play the guitar on the MTV!” The biggest irony, of course, was that MTV eventually started airing the video and it became a smash.
[As an aside: Sting provided the harmony vocal in “Money for Nothing.” He also sang its opening line, “I Want My MTV,” to the tune of The Police’s hit “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and received a co-write credit in the process!]
“Walk of Life” is the third song on the disc and its other big hit. It’s a ridiculously catchy rockabilly tune with prominent keyboards from Alan Clark. Musically, “Walk of Life” hearkens back to the band’s Twisting By the Pool EP from 1983.
VIDEO: Dire Straits “Walk of Life”
From there, Brothers in Arms takes a turn into somewhat less commercial territory. “Your Latest Trick,” which bats cleanup, is a jazz influenced song with melancholy lyrics and a great saxophone hook by Michael Brecker. It was released as a single in the UK but not on these shores.
Side one ends with the ballad “Why Worry.” In the interest of honesty, while it’s nice to have a ballad at this point in the album, this is not one of the band’s best. The lyrics are pretty trite and the fadeout goes on way too long! It’s particularly frustrating because Knopfler is capable of writing a great ballad when he wants to (see “Romeo and Juliet” or “Hand in Hand” from Making Movies).
Side two of Brothers in Arms kicks off with “Ride Across the River,” a mid-tempo reggae song that includes a synthesized pan flute intro. The lyrics are gently anti-war — a sentiment that continues through all of side two. The folky track “The Man’s Too Strong” follows. Sung from the point of view of an aging soldier, it is notable for containing new guitarist Jack Sonni’s only contribution to the album.
Up next is “One World,” a catchy tune that got some airplay on AOR stations back in the day. While less directly concerned with war than the other songs on side two, it nonetheless includes the line, “[If] they can’t find a way to be/One world in harmony/Can’t get no antidote for blues.”
That brings us to the title track, which is also the grand finale. “Brothers in Arms,” the song, is slow building. Knopfler was inspired to write this song by the Falklands War, a 10-week conflict between the UK and Argentina. It takes a while for his vocal to arrive and, when it does, it’s barely audible. The song ends with the lines, “It’s written in the starlight/And every line in your palm/We’re fools to make war/On our brothers in arms” and a subtle but powerful guitar solo.
And that’s the end. Nine songs in 45 minutes (or 55 on CD). It’s unlikely when Mark Knopfler finished it that he had any idea how successful it would be for him and his Straits-mates. Brothers in Arms was an international smash — by far the biggest seller of the band’s studio outings.
To date, it has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, making it nine times platinum and counting.
As mentioned earlier, “So Far Away,” “Walk of Life” and “Money for Nothing” were all big hits in America, with the latter topping the charts.
The album itself spent nine weeks at the top of the Billboard charts, 14 (nonconsecutive) weeks at number-one in the UK and an astounding 34 weeks atop the Australian charts.
“Money for Nothing” won the 1986 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and Brothers in Arms also took the award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Perhaps most significantly, it was the first album to sell one million copies in CD format (remember this was 1985!). It also topped numerous polls and of course the “Money for Nothing” video introduced Dire Straits to a whole new legion of music fans.
So is Brothers in Arms the band’s best album? Like almost everything, that’s subjective. It was certainly their most successful studio effort. And I happen to like it. There’s nothing wrong with a good pop song and Brothers In Arms has several of those. Moreover, Mark Knopfler showed a healthy desire to not repeat himself on this album. The transition from Love Over Gold to Brothers in Arms was just as big as the one from Communique to Making Movies. The production and musicianship were also stellar.
But having said all that, the first three Dire Straits discs will always be the best for me. Also, when a band becomes as popular as the Straits did after Brothers in Arms, it’s often a mixed blessing. I’m not one of those journalists who thinks that if a band has a hit, they’ve sold out; in fact, I find that train of thought just as juvenile as liking something simply because it’s popular.
But I remember going to see Dire Straits when I was visiting London in 1985. It was at Wembley Stadium and I was in the nosebleed section; I might as well have been watching ants. By contrast, a friend of mine caught the band in London in the late ‘70s in a medium-sized pub as part of a triple bill. That’s the kind of venue I would have liked to see Dire Straits in — and it’s the kind of venue they would never play again after selling 30 million albums. So, as is often the case when a band hits the stratosphere, something was gained but something else was lost.
At the end of the day, though, I still enjoy listening to Brothers in Arms as do a lot of people. That’s what’s most important.
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