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Song of the Day #6,368: ‘Why Worry’ – Dire Straits

Dire Straits waited three years after 1982’s Love Over Gold to release their next album, dropping an EP and live album in the meantime. Then, in 1985, came Brothers in Arms.

This nine-song collection is a perfect synthesis of the band’s pop sensibility and artistic proclivities, boasting both radio-friendly hits and jazzy art pop. Brothers in Arms is one of the first albums recorded digitally and the first smash hit of the CD era (it sold more than a million copies on CD, topping its vinyl and cassette sales).

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Song of the Day #6,367: ‘Love Over Gold’ – Dire Straits

After the success of Making Movies, Dire Straits had earned the leeway to experiment on their next album, and experiment they did.

Love Over Gold (1982) contains only five songs, each clocking in at or over six minutes. Opening track ‘Telegraph Road’ runs 14 minutes. All that extra runtime is devoted to lengthy instrumental passages featuring Mark Knopfler’s guitar as well as keyboards by new band member Alan Clark.

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Song of the Day #6,366: ‘Expresso Love’ – Dire Straits

Dire Straits continued their torrid pace, releasing their third album in three years — 1980’s Making Movies.

David Knopfler participated in early recording sessions until tensions with brother Mark led to him leaving the band. Eventually his guitar parts were all re-recorded and he isn’t credited on the album. Mark brought on producer Jimmy Iovine, whose work with Bruce Springsteen attracted his attention, and Iovine recruited E-Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan to play on the album.

Those changes, along with Mark’s increasingly sophisticated songwriting, resulted in the band’s finest work to date.

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Song of the Day #6,365: ‘News’ – Dire Straits

Dire Straits followed up their successful debut album with another release just a year later. That album, Communiqué, didn’t make as big a splash as its predecessor but it did go Platinum in the UK and Gold in the U.S.

Recorded in Nassau, Communiqué offers an interesting blend of blues rock and what can only be described as reggae. That island flair doesn’t show up on every track but when it does it gives a new and unexpected dimension to the record.

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Song of the Day #6,364: ‘Down to the Waterline’ – Dire Straits

It’s a bit early to roll out New Year’s resolutions, but I know one of mine will be to do more Deep (and Shallow) Dives on the blog. So far this year I’ve given that treatment to just one musical artist: Jason Isbell (I also explored the filmographies of David Lynch and Vincente Minnelli).

Last year, I dove into the five-album catalog of Jim Croce and did my first Shallow Dive, covering selected works by Barbra Streisand. Those were all rewarding (for me, at least) and I’m determined to add several other names to the list over the next year.

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