dire straits album covers money for nothing

Sting ended up contributing the line “I want my MTV.” He was immediately impressed and so Knopfler challenged him to add something. While they were recording in the studio, Sting came to visit and listened to the demo. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real…” I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store. I wrote the song when I was actually in the store. Knopfler told Bill Flanagan in 1984: “The lead character in “Money for Nothing” is a guy who works in the hardware department in a television/custom kitchen/refrigerator/microwave appliance store. Knopfler immediately grabbed a pen and paper to write some of the things he said and used them for the song. As he stood there and watched, another man dressed in work clothes stood beside him and started commenting on what they saw. They had a bunch of TVs displayed on a wall and tuned in to one channel – MTV. Knopfler got the idea while he was at an appliance store in New York City. Though Dire Straits have remained broken up since the ’90s, they have found new admirers in the 21st century with indie artists like The War on Drugs and Mac DeMarco professing their love of the band’s uniquely modernist approach to roots rock.The lyrics were from the POV of two working-class men who watched videos and gave their commentaries. The band would notch one last big hit before falling silent: 1991’s “Calling Elvis,” a brilliantly atmospheric update of Memphis rockabilly. (The image is further enhanced by its music video, a neon-suffused product of early computer animation that’s regarded as one of the most iconic artifacts of early MTV.) Knopfler, low-key and more interested in developing his craft than stardom, began retreating from the spotlight, devoting more time to composing movie scores. Indeed, their biggest hit, “Money for Nothing,” from the 1985 blockbuster Brothers in Arms, sounds like cyborgs playing roadhouse blues rock on synthesizers. This knack for marrying American roots music to contemporary sounds would become Dire Straits’ defining quality as they became stadium rockers in the ’80s. Besides introducing the world to Mark Knopfler’s tangled fingerpicking, the Dylan-esque gem layered earthy blues and country (the Tulsa sound in particular) over a shuffle so lean and tight, fans of New Wave music couldn’t help but embrace it. When Dire Straits released “Sultans of Swing” in 1978, it sounded like little else coming across the airwaves.

Dire straits album covers money for nothing