On 3rd November ‘23 UMC/Mercury will release Dire Straits – Live 1978-1992, an 12 LP/8 CD box set of live performances by Dire Straits, a band that straddled the globe in the eighties and nineties with their sophisticated rootsy guitar rock wedded to literate story-telling lyrics.
Emerging on the club and pub circuit in 1977, Dire Straits were led by charismatic Geordie singer-songwriter, record producer and composer Mark Knopfler, one of the most successful musicians the UK has ever produced, who is often cited as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Dire Straits’ sound defined the late 70s/early 80s with huge hits such as ‘Sultans Of Swing’, ‘Romeo And Juliet’, ‘Money For Nothing’ and ‘Walk Of Life’. Dire Straits’ 1985 album Brothers In Arms, a global No 1 and double Grammy Award winner, is one of the world’s best selling albums. After releasing their final album ‘On Every Street’ in ’91 and touring in ‘92, Knopfler called time on Dire Straits in 1995 and set off on a new path as a solo artist.
Dire Straits Live 1978-1992 features newly remastered versions of the classic Dire Straits’ live albums Alchemy (‘84) and On The Night (‘93), ‘93’s Encores EP, ‘95’s Live At The BBC, and the previously unreleased Live From The Rainbow Theatre show from ’79, and captures the band’s thrilling heartland rock played with breath taking virtuosity from their first live recordings at the BBC in ’78, through to their final shows in ‘92 in On The Night.
The expanded version of the original double album Alchemy will include unreleased songs from the performance – ‘Industrial Disease’ and ‘Twisting By The Pool’ – as well as ‘Love Over Gold’, and the extended versions of ‘Telegraph Road’, ‘Solid Rock’, ‘Going Home’ and ‘Portobello Belle’.
An expanded version of the original On The Night will include tracks performed during the tour which have never been released, taken from multitrack recordings of shows in Nimes, Rotterdam and Paris: ‘Tunnel Of Love, ‘Telegraph Road’, ‘Sultans Of Swing’, ‘Two Young Lovers’, ‘When it Comes To You’, and ‘I Think I Love You Too Much’.
