I’m finishing the week with my favorite Dire Straits song, the title track of Brothers in Arms. This is what I call a “hold your breath” song, because you kind of have to do that from start to finish.
I’m usually partial to the piano as my instrument of choice. I get off on the ivory acrobatics of Ben Folds and the sumptuous playing of Billy Joel and Elton John. But a guitar handled just the right way is tough to beat, and Knopfler’s guitar work on this song is unmatched.
Dire Straits’ 1985 album Brothers in Arms was their artistic and commercial highpoint. They released one other album (On Every Street in 1991) but it was pretty much an afterthought. Brothers in Arms, propelled by mega-hits ‘Money For Nothing’ and ‘Walk of Life,’ sold more than 9 million copies in the U.S. and more than 13 million in the U.K.
It was also the first album to sell more than a million copies in the CD format, which was relatively new at the time. The compact disc of Brothers in Arms contained longer versions of several songs than their vinyl counterparts, and the digital mastering made it a must-have for early adopters.
Meet Me In Montauk 