Dire Straits When Dire Straits Stuck to the Formula With ‘Communique’ (1979)

From ultimateclassicrock.com

When Dire Straits stuck to the formula with Communique

In 1979, the U.S. Top 40 charts were dominated with disco. Chic, Donna Summer, Earth Wind and Fire, Rod Stewart and even “disco Kiss” saturated the airways.

Tucked into that list were Dire Straits, whose first single, “Sultans of Swing” went to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The back-to-basics rock song that culminates in a one-minute ride out featuring Mark Knopfler’s finger-picked lead guitar work was unlike anything on the pop charts at the time.

The single and the debut album earned Dire Straits critical praise and a large fan base – quite a feat for a band that had only gotten together a little more than a year before.

While “Sultans of Swing” was rocketing to the top of the charts in Australia and Germany, Warner Bros. wanted a quick follow-up to build on the success of the debut. Eight weeks after the release of Dire Straits, the band flew to the Bahamas to record their second album, Communique, which was released on June 15, 1979.

Produced by Muscle Shoals Sound Studio veterans Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, Communique picked up where Dire Straits’ debut album left off. Mark Knoplfer described the album in an interview with Melody Maker‘s Richard Williams as “just another bunch of songs.” Pressed by Williams to speak about the differences between the first and second album, Knopfler just said, “It’s different. The bass and drums have been recorded differently, and the tracks are a bit more solid in that sense.”

Knopfler and the other members of Dire Straits have, from the beginning of their music career, been rather understated about expanding on the intricacies of their music. As the Associated Press’ Yardena Arar wrote in 1979, “Knopfler … [comes] across like his music: unpretentious, not given to excess and thoroughly appealing.”

That quality applied to bassist John Illsley as well. As he explained to Rolling Stone about the band’s success, “We’ve been very lucky. No, I don’t like that word. Let’s say fortunate.” However, band manager Ed Bicknell said it wasn’t about being fortunate. Rather, it was a matter of timing. “For two years, nothing was happening the U.K except punk and New Wave – the Sid Vicious’s of the world gibbering and gyrating and sticking needles in their bums. Americans resisted it. Suddenly, along comes this group that’s playing tunes again, a contemporary rock band that long time rock fans would want to see. There was a void. And they just plopped into it.”

Dire Straits never felt comfortable being the center of attention. Their focus was on the music, not the fame, the flash or the fashion of the times. Their onstage personas mirror their offstage personalities: casual, unassuming, and not all that interested in the success they achieved. Indeed, on the eve of their second album, Knopfler wasn’t “sitting around worrying whether it [Communique] will make as big a splash as the first effort,” as Arar wrote.

And so it went with Communique, now seen as the band’s sophomore slump. The album had a mixed response from critics. Hubert Bauch from the Montreal Gazette noted the similarities between the two records. “Communique is, in fact, almost a mirror image of Dire Straits, from the enigmatic painting on the jacket cover to the spacing of the cuts. ‘Once Upon a Time in the West,’ which leads off side one, distinctly echoes ‘Down to the Waterline.’ The same is true of ‘Lady Writer’ at the top of side two, a fast and nimble piece that matches ‘Sultans of Swing.'” Fred Crafts from the Eugene Register-Guard wondered if “there is anything more to this band than Mark Knopfler’s Bob Dylan imitation.”

While the album only had one single that charted in the U.S. (“Lady Writer” at No. 45), Communique still hit No. 11, and was No. 1 in Germany, New Zealand and Sweden. It peaked at No. 5 in the band’s home country, the U.K.

Communique does have similarities to the debut record, but part of that could be because Knopfler was under pressure to come up with new material so quickly. Still, despite the critic pointing out similarities between “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “Down to the Waterline,” the two songs are very different from one another: the former being a mid-tempo number with a bluesier underpinning, and the latter having more in common with “Sultans of Swing” and “Lady Writer.”

Certainly there are soundalikes, with Knopfler recycling slowed-down riffs from “Southbound Again” on the title track, and the finger-picking work on “Lady Writer” being a retread of “Sultans of Swing” reinforced the view that Communique was very much like a second disc of Dire Straits’ debut. However, the comparisons stop with songs like “Where Do You Think You’re Going?,” “Single Handed Sailor” and “Follow Me Home,” which demonstrate more accomplished lyric writing and musicianship.

One thing is clear: Both projects opened a number of musical doors for some members of the band. Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers played on Dylan’s Slow Train Coming and Knopfler played guitar on “Time Out of Mind” on Steely Dan’s Gaucho – an experience Knopfler said to Melody Maker, “wasn’t spontaneous and it wasn’t fun.”

Communique was also the last record David Knopfler was credited as playing on (he did play rhythm guitar on Making Movies but was not listed on the album’s credits), as the Knopfler brothers had the proverbial “creative differences” and parted ways. Despite the tumult surrounding the album and tour, Mark Knopfler’s experience on Communique taught him about record producing, and opened his own interests to film soundtrack work and producing other artists like Dylan and Aztec Camera.

The “other interests” for Mark Knopfler would certainly come to the fore in the ‘80s as the success of Dire Straits became a machine groaning under the weight of its own monstrosity. But even in 1979, Knopfler wasn’t very sanguine about the future of Dire Straits. Foreshadowing what was taxing to his own mettle, Knopfler said to Richard Williams, “I just see it more as touring and touring and touring getting to be a pain in the arse. It’s great to go out and play to people on tour, it’s marvelous. I really enjoy it. But you can’t help feeling it’s a bunch of bloody nonsense. You feel that maybe you could be spending your time better doing other things.”

By 1988, following the gargantuan success of Brothers in Arms, Knopfler said he needed a rest, and it was presumed Dire Straits were no more. With John Illsley releasing his second solo album, Glass in 1988 and then Mark Knopfler fronting the Notting Hillbillies in 1990, it seemed the band members had permanently moved on to other projects. Then, a year later, the band reformed and toured to promote their final studio album, On Every Street.

In 1995, without any fanfare and keeping with the personalities in the band, Dire Straits quietly broke up. Mark Knopfler started a successful solo career in 1996. John Illsley continued to be involved in music, but branched out into painting and is now an owner of a pub in England. Pick Withers, left the band after recording Dire Straits’ Love Over Gold to be a touring and session drummer. David Knopfler’s post-Dire Straits career included a number of solo albums and, like his brother, scoring music for film projects.

Dire Straits Love Over Gold (1982)

From somethingelsereviews.com

Love Over Gold was Dire Straits’ fourth album, and the only studio project to feature Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Pick Withers, Alan Clark and Hal Lindes.

Lindes would go on to tour in support of the album, and was featured on the excellent live album Alchemy, but was later dismissed during the recording of the critically acclaimed 1985 bestseller, Brothers in Arms. Knopfler, as bandleader, vocalist, producer, guitarist and chief songwriter, was not shy about changing up the band. In fact, only the first two albums contained the same Dire Straits lineup.

Also of note is the addition of keyboardist Alan Clark. Clark, who joined the band for 1980’s Making Movies tour with Lindes, made a significant contribution to the sound of the band for the rest of his tenure. Founding members John Illsley and Pick Withers take up their bass and drumming positions, respectively; however, Withers will soon exit after the recording sessions, succeeded by the great Terry Williams.

The feel of Love Over Gold is like no other Dire Straits album. It was recorded solely at the Power Station studio in New York, with Neil Dorfsman engineering for the first time. Dorfsman was nominated for a Grammy for this album, and later won for Brothers in Arms.

Mark Knopfler seemed to have a sense of freedom, as this was his first time acting as sole producer for his band. The song’s are vast and epic. Even the most light-hearted song, “Industrial Disease,” is based on a subject matter of ruin and economic decay.

Love Over Gold has 41 minutes of music, with only five songs. The standard is set by “Telegraph Road,” an opening epic that is bold in concept and brilliant in execution. Mark Knopfler starts with a plaintive National Steel guitar intro, which is quickly supported by Clark’s expressive grand piano and lush synth wash. John Illsley quickly enters with warm whole notes, followed by rim work from Withers. The song paints an expansive landscape, with Clark’s piano serving as the main protagonist and Knopfler’s electric guitar its foil.

“Telegraph Road” sees Knopfler flexing his arranging muscles, creating an almost prog-rock canvas, while providing space for Alan Clark to devise piano passages within the frame. Lyrically, the song seems focused on the downturn of the American auto industry but could have easily been a story about the entropy in the world. Fast forward a few decades, and it could have been about today, too.

Mark Knopfler provides five verses, at least three bridges and and number of turnarounds during the song’s 14 minutes. The crowning glory is the four-minute ending guitar solo, where Knopfler and Dire Straits race toward the end of the titular road. Love Over Gold has gotten off to perhaps a career-best start.

“Industrial Disease,” which was the second single from Love Over Gold, did not chart in America despite the fact that it was upbeat and rocking. The rhythmic foundation is based on a Wither’s tight snare and high-hat work, along with touches of synth drums. Clark employs his Hammond C-3 (yes a C-3) organ, piano and Farisfa-like synthesizer to propel “Industrial Disease.”

Knopfler doesn’t play a solo on the song, instead combining an Erelwine Automatic Electric Guitar and distortion with Lindes’ cleaner-sounding rhythm parts. The music swings with Illsley’s walking bass, adding an even higher level of craftsmanship. Like every other song on this album, “Industrial Disease” contains no harmony or backing vocals, but Knopfler’s delivery of the high quality of lyrics is on point.

The other single, “Private Investigations,” is an oddly brilliant song. Knopfler, ever the observer, tells a simple story of a private dick, but the music is anything but simple. Clark’s cello-like synthesizer opens the song and is accompanied by guest vibraphonist Mike Manieri. Mark Knopfler provides what may be his best acoustic guitar work, playing his Ovation six-string. The guitar dances around the melody with Clark’s acoustic piano, intertwined with touches of electric bass and high hat, add color.

If you listen closely, you can hear Lindes employing a volume pedal on his electric guitar, but not until midway into “Private Investigations.” Mark Knopfler does the heavy lifting. Then suddenly there’s a mood shift, as John Illsley’s plucked bass and Withers hit hat become more prominent as Knopfler sings “scarred for life, no compensation.” Knopfler then takes full flight with his acoustic, which is further supported by the vibraphone.
You hear a glass break then out of the blue, Lindes blasts forward with dramatic power cords as the mood shifts and the piano and drums enter in dramatic fashion. Just as soon as the chaos starts, it’s over and you can’t help but wonder if you were watching a crime drama.

Dire Strait’s title track, the fourth song in the album’s order, offers an introspective contrast to “Industrial Disease,” with Alan Clark’s elegant piano, Mark Knopfler’s Ovation classical guitar work and explosive drumming by Pick Withers. Bassist John Illsley utilizes an electric Wal fretless bass to compliment the jazzy feel, and touches of marimba and vibes from Mike Mainieri make “Love Over Gold” a Dire Straits classic deep cut on par with “Your Latest Trick” from Brothers in Arms. The song sounds deceptively simple, because of the arranging skill of Knopfler and the acumen of the band.

Of the five songs featured on Love Over Gold, the concluding “It Never Rains” is the weakest – yet even it is solid rock. The track starts in an almost Dylan-like fashion, as Knopfler uses his Schecter Stratocaster to great effect, picking out staccato leads over the top of more rim work by Withers. Then “It Never Rains” builds on Clark’s organ and piano, and Knopfler tells an unusually personal story of a failed romance.

As Dire Straits reaches the bridge on “It Never Rains,” they are in full flight. Withers and Illsley seem freed, with Clark digging even deeper into the groove as Knopfler sings “it’s a sad reminder when your organ grinder has to come to you for rent.” Knopfler then delivers another sardonic verse before stepping on his wah-wah pedal for an extended, flight-of-fancy solo. Simply brilliant!

By the time Love Over Gold is done, the album has fulfilled all of the promise found on “Telegraph Road,” perhaps the best-ever Dire Straits song. There are contenders for that crown on Making Movies, Dire Straits and maybe, Brothers in Arms. However, “Telegraph Road” is in the Top 3, and one of the reasons why Love Over Gold is one of my favorites.