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Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in 1977 by 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). Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, and blues, and came closest to beat music within the context of rock and roll. Despite the prominence of punk rock during the band's early years, their stripped-down sound contrasted with punk, demonstrating a more "rootsy" influence that emerged from pub rock. Many of Dire Straits' compositions were melancholic.[1] Dire Straits' biggest selling album Brothers in Arms has sold over 30 million copies, and was the first album to sell a million copies on CD.

They also became one of the world's most commercially successful bands, with worldwide records sales of over 100 million.[4] Dire Straits won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards—winning Best British Group twice, two MTV Video Music Awards, and various other music awards.[5] The band's songs include "Money for Nothing", "Sultans of Swing", "So Far Away", "Walk of Life", "Brothers in Arms", "Private Investigations", "Romeo and Juliet", "Tunnel of Love", and "Telegraph Road".

According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, Dire Straits have spent over 1,100 weeks on the UK albums chart, ranking fifth all-time.[6] Their career spanned a combined total of 15 years. They originally split up in 1988, but reformed in 1991, and disbanded for good in 1995 when Mark Knopfler launched his career full-time as a solo artist. There were several changes in personnel over both periods, leaving Mark Knopfler and John Illsley as the only two original bandmates who had remained throughout the band's career.

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, and friends John Illsley, and Pick Withers formed the band in 1977.[7] In 1977, Dire Straits (a name given to the band by a musician flatmate of drummer Pick Withers), recorded a five-song demo tape which included their future hit single, "Sultans of Swing", as well as "Water of Love", "Down to the Waterline", "Wild West End" and David Knopfler's "Sacred Loving".[8] After a performance at The Rock Garden in 1977, they took a demo tape to MCA in Soho but were turned down. Then they went to DJ Charlie Gillett, who had a radio show called "Honky Tonk" on BBC Radio London. The band simply wanted advice, but Gillett liked the music so much that he played "Sultans of Swing" on his show. Two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with Phonogram Records.[9] In October 1977, the band recorded demo tapes of "Southbound Again", "In the Gallery" and "Six Blade Knife" for BBC Radio London; in November demo tapes were made of "Setting Me Up", "Eastbound Train" and "Real Girl".

The group's first album, Dire Straits, was recorded at Basing Street studios in West London in February 1978, at a cost of £12,500.[10] Produced by Muff Winwood, the album was first released in the United Kingdom on Vertigo Records, then a division of Phonogram. The album came to the attention of A&R representative Karin Berg, working at Warner Bros. Records in New York City. She felt that it was the kind of music audiences were hungry for, but only one person in her department agreed at first.[10] Many of the songs on the album reflected Mark Knopfler's experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London. "Down to the Waterline" recalled images of life in Newcastle; "In the Gallery" is a tribute to Leeds sculptor/artist Harry Phillips (father of Steve Phillips); "Wild West End" and "Lions" were drawn from Knopfler's early days in the capital.[11][12]

That same year, Dire Straits began a tour as opening band for Talking Heads after the re-released "Sultans of Swing" finally started to climb the UK charts.[13] This led to a United States recording contract with Warner Bros. Records; before the end of 1978, Dire Straits had released their self-titled debut worldwide. They received more attention in the United States, but also arrived at the top of the charts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Dire Straits eventually went top 10 in every European country.[9]

The following year, Dire Straits embarked on their first North American tour. They played 51 sold-out concerts over a 38-day period.[14] "Sultans of Swing" scaled the charts to number four in the United States and number eight in the United Kingdom.[13][15] The song was one of Dire Straits' biggest hits and became a fixture in the band's live performances. Bob Dylan, who had seen the band play in Los Angeles, was so impressed that he invited Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to play on his next album, Slow Train Coming.[16]

Recording sessions for the group's second album, Communiqué, took place in December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. Released in June 1979, Communiqué was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett and went to No. 1 on the German album charts, with the debut album Dire Straits simultaneously at No. 3. In the United Kingdom the album peaked at No. 5 in the album charts. Featuring the single "Lady Writer", the second album continued in a similar vein as the first and displayed the expanding scope of Knopfler's lyricism on the opening track, "Once Upon a Time in the West".[17] In the coming year, however, this approach began to change, along with the group's line-up.

In 1980, Dire Straits were nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Sultans of Swing".[18] In July 1980 the band started recording tracks for their third album. Produced by Jimmy Iovine with Mark Knopfler also sharing credit, Making Movies was released in October 1980. During the recording sessions, tension between Mark and David Knopfler took its toll on the band, and David Knopfler left over creative differences with his brother to pursue a solo career; he was uncredited on the album.[19] The sessions continued with Sid McGinnis on rhythm guitar and keyboardist Roy Bittan from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. After the recording sessions were completed, keyboardist Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes joined Dire Straits as full-time members for tours of Europe and North America.[10]

Making Movies received mostly positive reviews and featured longer songs with more complex arrangements, a style which would continue for the rest of the band's career. The album featured many of Mark Knopfler's most personal compositions. The most successful chart single was "Romeo and Juliet" (number 8 in the UK singles chart), a song about a failed love affair, with Knopfler's trademark in keeping personal songs under fictitious names.[20] Although never released as a hit single, "Solid Rock" was featured in all Dire Straits' live shows from this point on for the remainder of their career, while the album's lengthy opening track, "Tunnel of Love", with its intro "The Carousel Waltz" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was featured in the film An Officer and a Gentleman. Although "Tunnel of Love" only reached the position of No. 54 in the UK Singles Chart when released as a single in 1981, it remains one of Dire Straits' most famous and popular songs and immediately became a favourite at concerts. Making Movies stayed in the UK Albums Chart for 5 years, peaking at number 4.[21]

Dire Straits' fourth studio album Love Over Gold, an album of songs filled with lengthy, experimental passages that featured Alan Clark's piano and keyboard work, was well received when it was released in September 1982, going gold in America and spending four weeks at number one in the United Kingdom. The title was inspired by graffiti seen from the window of Knopfler's old council flat in London. The phrase was taken from the sleeve of an album by Captain Beefheart. Love Over Gold was the first Dire Straits album produced solely by Mark Knopfler, and its main chart hit, "Private Investigations", gave Dire Straits their first top 5 hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached the number 2 position despite its almost seven-minute length, and became another of the band's most popular 

n other parts of the world, "Industrial Disease", a song that looks at the decline of the British manufacturing industry in the early 1980s, focusing on strikes, depression and dysfunctionality, was the main single from the album, particularly in Canada, where it became a top 10 hit. As well as the title track and "It Never Rains", Love Over Gold featured the 14-minute-long epic "Telegraph Road". Also written by Knopfler during this period was "Private Dancer", which did not appear on the album, but was eventually given to Tina Turner for her comeback album of the same name. Love Over Gold reportedly sold two million copies during the first six weeks after its release. Shortly after the release of Love Over Gold, drummer Pick Withers left the band. His replacement was Terry Williams, formerly of Rockpile and a range of other Welsh bands including Man.

In 1983, a four-song EP titled ExtendedancEPlay was released while Love Over Gold was still in the album charts. It featured the hit single "Twisting By the Pool" which reached the Top 20 in the UK and Canada. Dire Straits also embarked on an eight-month-long world tour to promote Love Over Gold, which finished with two sold out concerts London's Hammersmith Odeon on 22 and 23 July 1983. The double album Alchemy Live, was a recording of excerpts from these two concerts and was reportedly released without studio overdubs. It was mixed in November 1983 and released in March 1984, reaching the Top 3 in the UK Albums Chart.[23] The concert was also issued on VHS and was remastered and released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2010 – the only performance on the new format to date.

During 1983 and 1984 Mark Knopfler was also involved in other projects outside of the band. He wrote the music scores for the films Local Hero and Cal, which were also released as albums.[24] Also, during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's Infidels album which featured Alan Clark on keyboards, as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille. Also in 1984, John Illsley released his first solo album, Never Told a Soul, to which Mark Knopfler, Alan Clark and Terry Williams contributed.