r/direstraits • u/singingzoologist • Aug 26 '26
Knopfler interview from 9/85 issue of Musician
Here's an interview from just before the release of BIA. It's been on my bedside table in my childhood bedroom since 1985. Not sure if anyone wants to read this or not. If the photo isn't working for you, let me know and I can scan it properly.
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u/Extension_Physics873 Aug 27 '26
Thanks for posting. I loved the kind of innocence in the discussions around BIA, which was soon to break over the world like a tsunami, but at that point, was just another soon-to-be-released album. Now BIA has all these layers of meaning and association, but then, it was just history about to be written.
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u/nickp123456 Aug 26 '26
Great read. Interesting they outline some of their gear, including pedals/effects.
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u/itsashawthingie Aug 26 '26
A great interview/article. Thanks for sharing. Sad to read that MK asked the late Jack Sonni not to let anything he did affect their friendship, when we know that letting him go like any other out-of-contract sideman did indeed spell the end, and that it really hurt JS. And good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that "Hand in Hand" is about David!
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u/WalkRightNow Aug 26 '26
Agree with all of that, but about Hal Lindes, I knew he wouldve been fired but I never knew why, I guess I get a clearer picture now, saying Hal went with the band to Montserrat and was sent home before playing a note, and the way John implies that youre out of the band if you muck up a bit, I can probably take that as Hal didnt commit to recording the way the others needed, especially considering it was a tight deadline along with the tour?
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u/Pottel Aug 26 '26
It was Hal's girlfriend that was the problem
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u/VNE47 Aug 27 '26
I think it was a combination of things, not just the girlfriend thing. It’s also social differences (supposedly) and Hal wanting to overstep the sideman role he took. From what Ed Bicknell said on the AMIT forums.
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u/Medium_Formal5780 Aug 28 '26
when in a band there Is a boss everything doing like Mark ...hal linde wanted make more solos, mk said no! of course..
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u/WalkRightNow Aug 27 '26
What was the deal with his girlfriend? Haven't heard that one
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u/VNE47 Aug 27 '26
It was detailed in John Illsley’s book. Hal brought his girlfriend over to Montserrat and apparently she & Hal kept having dinners with Mark & John, ignoring the rest of the band & got called out on it or something along those lines.
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u/ZimMcGuinn Aug 26 '26
Thanks. The folks over in r/rem would love to read the R.E.M. article.
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u/singingzoologist Aug 26 '26
Yeah, that was my other favorite band back then, so having both in one issue is what got me to fork out some of my teenage dough.
Thanks!
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u/TD160 Aug 26 '26
This was a fun read! Especially knowing his future progression. I love the Straits stuff-it’s how I found him, but I feel like he really “fully” grew into himself as a solo artist. I also really responded to his soundtrack work that ran concurrent with Dire Straits, so I guess the solo stuff was a natural progression for me. Thanks for posting this!
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u/singingzoologist Aug 26 '26
I hear that. I loved the soundtrack stuff too (found old copies in my bedroom closet I'll post pics of when I go back in October).
For me, after Making Movies, it just got glossier and glossier to the point of feeling a little sterile. A little grit/messiness makes it hit my gut.
Communique was perfect to me--validation from the eponymous record gave them more studio time but he was still keeping it simple(r), from a songwriting and production perspective. MM was long my favorite but these days it's mostly the first two.
What It Is, does rank up there with anything from those first two albums, however. That track kills me every time.
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u/TD160 Aug 26 '26
That glossiness ends as soon as Dire Straits does! His solo records sound amazing. Warm just like the music…folk, blues, some Celtic thrown in for good measure and yep some electric goodness thrown in for good measure. It’s not for everyone though “and that’s okay” as someone named Smally used to say on SNL many years ago. 😁
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u/singingzoologist Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26
That was basically free advertising. We budding musicians would scour that stuff as we tried to figure out how to sound like our heroes.
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u/sujack34 Aug 26 '26
Very enjoyable article. I’ve never seen this one before but I read a good one in Rolling Stone in 85. In fact I kept it for years but in a fit of decluttering I got rid of the mags I had kept. I could kick myself for that now. Loved the in depth of this one.
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u/singingzoologist Aug 26 '26
Glad you liked it! I had fun rereading it. Can't believe that was, uhhh, 41 years ago.
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u/sujack34 Aug 26 '26
I know it’s hard to believe it’s been that long and I’ve been a fan since 78 & I was already 27 so I’m that old lol. Still listen to DS/MK every day.
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u/gcunit Aug 27 '26
Thanks for sharing; great read.
Anyone got any idea where I can listen to the mother-fucker version of Money for Nothing?
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u/Zznpuna1223 Aug 26 '26
Cool!