Dire Straits Album by Album Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by candyflip69, Jul 22, 2018.

  1. DPC

    DPC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    Agreed...fun songs for a quick DS fix.

    <<<
    plus i really dig the cover
    <<<
     
  2. AudioEnz

    AudioEnz Senior Member

    In New Zealand the Ep was treated as a single on the charts. Twisting By The Pool leapt up the charts to land at #1 for four weeks - Dire Straits highest ever chart placing for a single. As a side note, this fun but lightweight song kept one of the most important songs of the 1980s from reaching the top of the New Zealand charts. Yes, Billie Jean stalled at #2.

    My dance friends who like very fast songs love dancing to this song.

    I still have the EP...somewhere. I can't remember the last time I played it and can't recall any time I've had a desire to find it.
     
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  3. winopener

    winopener Forum Resident

    Wrong.
    This EP was released in 1988 on CD Video format, three audio tracks (as the european edition), and a laserdisc-video track of TBTP.

    Dire Straits - Twisting By The Pool

    [​IMG]

    The missing track Badges... was released on the Cd Single of You and Your Friend

    Dire Straits - You And Your Friend
     
  4. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Really looking for this one, unfortunately it's quite rare these days... the CDV of 'Brothers In Arms' was FAR more easy to find.

    Anyway, this is their only studio release I don't own in any format, tbh I only know the song 'Twisting by the Pool'... and I really like it. Of course it may be a bit silly for a band that had released the epic 'Love Over Gold' album a few months before, but it's a joyful ditty that gets you going. Can't say anything about the other tracks and now will eagerly await 'Brothers In Arms' :D
     
  5. winopener

    winopener Forum Resident

    LOG has been released on September 20, the first CD edition was in print few months later, since it was in the very first batch of WG-pressed CD, which hitted the european market in late 1982 to meet the demand for the rich customers of the early (and very costly) imported-directly CD player from Japan for hi-end stores and also for demo use.
    Got the LOG cd just before christmas 1982 as a "test" drive - one hi-end store nearby has the Sony cd player for demoing along with 4 CBS-Sony titles (sorry no WYWH), so when i saw elsewhere it on a big music store i bought it and went back to the hifi store to listen how it was... and from that very moment i never looked back at analog, unless forced by the absence of a missing digital edition.
    As for the analog LOG, had the german pressing and it was tracked by a Shure V15 IV, so quality-wise it was on par, but noise-wise... no way. Especially Private Investigations was really shining with its dark digital silcenced background...
    That 1982 cd is still my go-to for LOG, as DS and Communique; for MM i prefer the remaster.
     
  6. winopener

    winopener Forum Resident

    It was extremely rare when released in 1988, i don't expect that 30 years later it has become easier to find.... i got one copy and never seen another one since boarding on Ebay.
     
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  7. winopener

    winopener Forum Resident

    What about Love Over Gold as a double album, with the 4 tracks from the EP and some from Local Hero? Suggested tracks from the OST:
    "The Way It Always Starts"
    "The Mist Covered Mountains"
    "Smooching"
    "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero"

    It would go back to the british-prog style of, say, ELP, where thy had a prog side and mix on the other, with also some fun track (Sheriff or Eddy).
     
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  8. ranasakawa

    ranasakawa Forum Resident

    For anyone who prefers the classic Dire Straits line-up of 1978-1980 with David Knopfler I can't recommend highly a DVD of their show in Cologne Germany 1979.
    Absolutely at the top of their game!
     
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  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    It was nice to read what happened with Pick, I didn't know about what happened.
    I was a little harsh saying i hate twisting by the pool.
    For me the sensational soundscape that was Love Over Gold wasn't preparing me for the little burst of pop/rock release. If the band did record it as a knee jerk reaction to claims of overproduction on Love Over Gold, that's disappointing, I would have preferred them to ignore all that pointless critique and do what they want to do unhindered by the typical nonsense that comes from critics and people who hate to see a band grow ....
    I am only familiar with Twisting by the Pool and Two Young Lovers, and both songs are ok. The depth of lyrical and musical content on Love Over Gold was what made it so special. The shallow pop/rock mutterings of the EP it was made it so avoidable for me.
    Twisting by the pool was everywhere when it came out, radio seemed to love it. It was only when Money For Nothing exploded as one of the most overplayed songs of the eighties that this would be eclipsed. It is what it is, just a fun little rock tune to kill time.
    Two Young Lovers worked quite well as a change of intensity on Alchemy, but I wouldn't have missed it had it not been there.
    I suppose in hindsight the band felt they needed to do this, and if it helped blow out the cobwebs, that's cool, but it just didn't appeal to me.
    The first two albums had been fairly laid back affairs with well written pop/rock tunes with country and blues influences. Making Movies had stepped up into a more dynamic and rock sound and feel (if we want to call that stadium rock, that's cool i guess) and for me, Love Over Gold reigned supreme as a masterpiece of modern rock (in the eighties) that scoured the depths for brilliant lyrical content and spread the palette wide musically to create cinematic soundscapes to frame those lyrics. The EP was like a beer fart at a party.
     
  10. candyflip69

    candyflip69 What's good?! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Melb, AUSTRALIA
    Cool.

    would you go and update the Wikipedia entry then please?
     
  11. Dan Steele

    Dan Steele Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago suburbs
    Thanks for the postscript on Pick Withers. Here is the part that made me laugh. Didn't refer to the album as Love Over Gold, but as the best song on it....

     
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  12. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Thank you for this informative post as I'm currently looking for an early LOG CD - it clearly seems the way to go for this album.

    Anyone know if the '84 blue swirl CD is as good as the '82? Because the '84 is far more affordable to me.
     
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  13. candyflip69

    candyflip69 What's good?! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Melb, AUSTRALIA
    I think you were right on the money - my least favourite of all the DS releases.
    Execrable.
     
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  14. winopener

    winopener Forum Resident

    Don't have a wiki account.
     
  15. winopener

    winopener Forum Resident

    Exactly the same.
     
  16. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Very nice! Thank you :tiphat:
     
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  17. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident

    I just remembered that Love Over Gold was the last original cassette that I bought in 1994 just months before moving on to CD. It was kind of forgotten between the two formats so it was nice to revisit that album in relation to this thread.

    My first memory of Twisting By The Pool is from my brothers Money For Nothing compilation. I remember that we thought it sounded like another band from the 50’s. The 80’s didn’t sound as 80’s during the 80’s hehe.

    Anyway, fun track!
     
  18. brunofaetten

    brunofaetten Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norway
    Warning: Contains unneccessary personal tangents, pretentious language and uncredited quotes from other posters.
    Reader discretion advised
    . In fact, just skip it altogether, everything's been said already.

    I've never been a passionate fan of Dire Straits, but there was a brief time in my early teens when they were about the only non-prog band in my personal pantheon. And that was really just down to a handful of songs; "Telegraph Road" foremost among them. I was about 10 when "Brothers In Arms" came out, and was very into that at the time. But it wasn't until I heard "Romeo and Juliet" on a mixtape that I thought to investigate further. That semi-legendary mixtape - given to a mate by a family friend - introduces a host of new bands to my circle of friends, and among other things, prompted a class-wide search of all our parents' record collections for more Dire Straits. At the home of my friend M, we struck gold, in the form of "Making Movies" and "Love Over Gold". Lovingly and illegally copied onto separate 60-minute tapes, they became the sound of that summer for me (together with the ever-present Floyd, Genesis et al).

    Straight off the bat, "Tunnel of Love" blew my socks clean off. It's still a thrill ride with few equals, and a flawless piece of mature, ambitious songwriting. A stunning portent of even greater things to come. "Romeo and Juliet" is easily in the same league; a deathless classic, and possibly the finest-ever example of Knopfler's delicate balancing act of the wry and the wistful. "Skateaway" was (and remains) almost as impressive to me as its two predecessors. The chorus doesn't quite reach the same sweeping heights, but the lyrics are involving enough to make a 13-year old boy see the world through the eyes of a middle-aged motorist. All in all, one of the strongest LP sides of the era, and since the mighty Dan have already been brought up, I'll note that the 7-song structure mirrors both Aja and Gaucho; both of which are also slightly frontloaded IMO.

    On side B, the songs are still high-quality rock 'n roll, but there aren't any more surprises until the last track. "Expresso Love" always felt like Straits-by-numbers, even when I had no basis for that claim. It lacks that certain something that the first three songs had. Ditto "Solid Rock". "Hand in Hand" is more of a ballad, and I think it's the superior composition on that side. I'll defend "Les Boys" with my last breath, though. Musically, it introduces some lightness and pastiche, coupled with the same weary melancholia that was becoming a Knopfler trademark. Lyrically, it's an oddball tale of something MK witnessed, with his own reading spun around it, and it doesn't come off as insensitive or tasteless to my ears. People are complicated and weird, and art should reflect that. I think of "Les Boys" as being in the vein of Lou Reed or Bowie, though perhaps not with the same "lived experience" to lend it credibility. I think it's still valid, and I always liked the tune.

    "Love Over Gold". This is the one that really sold me on Knopfler and Co. "Telegraph Road" is an indisputable masterpiece; an absolutely perfect long-form rock epic that breezes by in what feels like barely half of its 14+ minutes. Quite honestly, it compares favourably to many of the most lauded accomplishments of the traditional prog bands. And it doesn't feel overblown in any way, shape or form. It tells its tale, and keeps things from getting repetitive without ever losing the plot or being gratuitously clever. Probably the best Dire Straits song; definitely my favourite. Filling out side A with another lengthy track was a wise move, as "Private Investigations" flips perspective from epic and sweeping to intimate and brooding. It's a total change of gears, which gives you time to catch your breath and readjust after the opening tour-de-force. At the same time, it could easily take place somewhere in the bleak urban sprawl depicted in "Telegraph Road". I always loved this song, though I might not always be in the mood. For a random DS track, I'll tend to go for something livelier, but if I've decided to play "Love Over Gold", there's no way I'm skipping "Private Investigations".

    I'll gladly play all of side B too, which is why this is my favourite Straits album (narrowly beating BIA). "Industrial Disease" is obvious enough in its humour that I appreciated it at 13, and I still think it's witty enough, if not ROFL funny. And it rocks, in that inimitable Straits way. Did someone call it a cross between "Walk Of Life" and "Money For Nothing"? If so, that's spot on. A more than tolerable respite from the "heavyness" elsewhere. "Love Over Gold" is still a notable step up, though. We're in serious mode again, and this one's a real heartstring-tugger in my house. Like most 13-year olds, I was miserably in love with a friend at the time I first heard "Love Over Gold", and she also loved the album (or she learned to, as I fed it to her piecemeal via unsolicited mixtapes). Consequently, all the songs became - in my teenage mind - either songs about her and me, or at least songs we should be dancing to or making out to. I think the title track must have been all three, because it certainly evokes strongly bittersweet memories. Ultimately, though, that's more a testament to the sublime quality of its composition and execution than to teenage heartbreak or - God forbid - to any unresolved feelings I might have towards the girl - now woman - in question. I firmly believe that. And let's face it: This is adult contemporary rock at its very most achingly, majestically emotional. I know Knopfler's critics call it "balding pub rocker faux-balladry", but anyone with a heart knows better.

    I'm in two minds about the sequencing here. In a lot of ways, "Love Over Gold" feels to me like it should be the album closer, but then where would you put "It Never Rains", and its totes epic extended guitar solo coda? As it stands, INR fades its way into the closing slot rather nicely, with the upbeat-sounding organ drawing a comforting blanket over listeners who may or may not feel like they need a hug after the emotional journey from which they just disembarked. Life goes on, and you roll with the punches, and things are pretty great all told. What's not to get caustically upbeat about, when you have this scruffy ex-teacher with a bandana peeling off guitar lines the likes of which few people have dared imagine? Sure, they could've made the coda a minute shorter, but why exactly? Every second of it is ace! In fact, I think it's a great message to end on: "We can do this s**t for days m*****f*****s! Just watch us!"
     
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  19. brunofaetten

    brunofaetten Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norway
    Bringing it up-to-date: I also heard "Twisting By The Pool" on the "Money For Nothing" compilation, and just thought it was corny. Too much like "Walk Of Life", which had an hilarious video and was a firm family favourite back in 85/86, but seemed like a lesser track in light of my new and deeper appreciation for Knopfler's songwriting. "Walk Of Life" is like the "Shiny Happy People" of the DS discography, making "Twisting By The Pool" the "Stand" or "Pop Song '89", I suppose. It can argue it out with "Two Young Lovers", which I slightly prefer, though I still consider it the natural toilet break on "Alchemy". No slight on Mel Collins, but that style of music just wears on me really quickly.

    For me, the real meat of the DS discography is MM, LOG and BIA. The most essential 70s tracks are well represented on "Alchemy", so the first two albums didn't made that much of an impact once I got to them. Too rootsy and pub-rocky for my tastes, though I always thought "Water Of Love" was a beautiful track, and the big hitters - "Waterline", "Sultans", "OUATITW" - are rightly celebrated.
     
  20. I bought this USA EP on release back in the day and loved it so it's a bit hard not to be nostalgic about it now. A fun collection of songs not to be taken seriously and I think they work fine on that level.
    Twisting By The Pool -8
    Badges Posted Stickers and T-Shirts -7
    Two Young Lovers -5
    If I Had You -6

    Anyone think that the line "my mates as good on drums as he is" from BPS&Ts is a reference to Keith Moon being introduced to The Who? It's funny line that sure is reminiscent of how Keith was introduced to Pete Townshend.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2018
  21. Brian Doherty

    Brian Doherty Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA
    I loved "Twisting" from first listen to most recent, it's the best little fun rocker Mark ever wrote, and it bums me out a little hearing him call it a mistake....I guess that explains why these songs by such a major band are not digitally in print. Stupidly never bought the vinyl as I was a cashpoor kid and my big bro dubbed it on a cassette for me, still only form I own it.

    It's not like we thought it was "serious"--I mean, its kitschy referentiality to light sexy-fun teen pop was obvious, but it worked as both what it was and a kind of snarky comment on what it was, you know?
     
  22. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    I'm listening to It Never Rains right now. I love the groove of the coda, and could easily listen to that for much longer, even without the guitar solo.

    Is there a live version of this song available?

    --Geoff
     
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  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    i have never heard one ....
     
  24. candyflip69

    candyflip69 What's good?! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Melb, AUSTRALIA
    Many on Youtoob..

    This one is decent:

     
  25. candyflip69

    candyflip69 What's good?! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Melb, AUSTRALIA
    Apologies for the quality...

    From an Australian comedy show called "The Paul Hogan Show" (you know him?)

     

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