Check out guitar George he knows all the chords . . .
Having picked up a used copy of Communiqué a short time ago, I had shelved it for a while when I realized that I just wasn't all that in the mood for Dire Straits at the time. I've been enamored of Mark Knopfler's guitar playing for a while now, but I've taken the slow route when getting into Dire Straits. There's something too iconic about the Brothers in Arms material, specifically the way overplayed "Money for Nothing," complete with it's "I want my MTV" tag, two elements that instantly drive me away from albums, if not bands. Overexposure is my enemy, having destroyed relationships with music I have loved but with which I shared a more fragile connection. There aren't many songs that will survive this unfortunate side effect of a band achieving sudden, widespread fame, but once in a while I manage to not let it get to me.
The Shins, for example, may never be overexposed for me - I love their music and while Garden State threatened to topple the beautiful friendship we'd forged, what with the whole "they'll change your life!" BS, I managed to ignore it. I simply put their two (at the time) albums away for a while and let it blow over. Now Wincing the Night Away has been out since January and we can see the results of that overexposure: many disenchanted listeners who jumped on for Chutes Too Narrow and that soundtrack now find the Shins' beautiful, subtle new album too mundane for them.
It's harder, however, to encounter something that had long ago reached icon status, such as the aforementioned "Money for Nothing," and not instantly stamp the entire band's output with the feelings associated with that one song. It became a kind of soundtrack for exactly the opposite kind of crowd than the song was written for - the story of an "everyday joe" type dreaming of achieving fame and success - when the yuppie-types in the 80s latched onto the song, if not the band, as somehow representative of themselves, and completely ignored the message behind the song.
Article comments
1 - Mat Brewster
I don't think I own a single Knopfler or Dire Straights record. Yet I can still instantly pick out his guitar playing on a song.
And I usually like it.
"Sultans of Swing" has always been a favorite too.
2 - Mark Saleski
the self-titled album is on my list of "perfect" records. it popped out fully realized as something really unique. i remember hearing "Sultans" and thinking "wha? ... what the hell is that?!"
btw, i'm really lovin' this series.
3 - Tom Johnson
Mat: I think if you love "Sultans," you'd probably find much to enjoy in the first few DS albums. Better grab one before you're off to China - you'll need something to listen to on that long flight!
Mark: That's pretty much exactly my reaction, too, even after years of hearing this band on the radio via the big hits off Brothers In Arms. I just couldn't divorce them from that organ of "Walk of Life" or, as I said above, "Money for Nothing" (but I always quite liked "So Far Away," so I should have known there was more to this band.) I'm really glad I eventually did.