Dire Straits In The Studio For 'Brothers In Arms' 40th Anniversary

05-12-2025

The 40th anniversary of Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" album is being celebrated by the syndicated radio show In The Studio With Redbeard: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands.

Redbeard shared this synopsis for the episode: Few albums from the Eighties have been so popular or aged as well as Brothers in Arms, the fifth studio album from London's Dire Straits. Released in May 1985, Brothers in Arms contained the songs of Mark Knopfler performed expertly and produced impeccably, which proved irresistible to an international buying audience estimated at over thirty million.

"It's like someone pulling at a thread, unraveling your sweater, except the sweater is you." Former Dire Straits bandleader Mark Knopfler tries to explain the phenomenon of Brothers in Arms and modern super-celebrity here In the Studio in this classic rock interview. "I recommend success to anybody. I can't think of anything good about fame, though. If you can, let me know."

Possibly the worst conceivable time to approach a rock musician, for any reason, is immediately after coming off stage from performing for 90 minutes or more. They are physically and emotionally spent. So that's exactly the circumstances under which I first met Mark Knopfler a good 10-12 months into the massive Dire Straits Brothers in Arms world tour of 1985-86. Knopfler & band had just moments before played to a capacity Dallas audience of 15,000, and because it's my job to ask, there I was approaching a visibly drained and exhausted Mark Knopfler for an interview. As our eyes met in the backstage hallway, there was a look of apprehension is his face which seemed to almost plead, "Please don't ask me for anything right now." So after introducing myself I said ,"You probably don't want to do this right now, correct?" When Mark quietly but quickly declined, quite uncharacteristically I asked for a personal favor, explaining to Knopfler that I had just reconnected with a long-lost cousin living in Madrid, Spain. In an effort to find some initial common ground to bridge the time, geography, language, and cultural barriers between us, I had discovered that my Spanish cousin's favorite band was Dire Straits, so I asked the fatigued Knopfler for an autograph on a Brothers in Arms album cover which I provided. Suddenly his eyes brightened as he easily agreed to provide the gift, while informing me that Spain had been a Dire Straits hub of popularity long before Brothers in Arms' phenomenal sales.

All these years after "Money for Nothing" became the number one song in the US by September 1985, possibly the most remarkable observation I can make about Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms is how thoroughly enjoyable it remains today in spite of American radio and MTV overplaying "Money for Nothing","So Far Away", and "Walk of Life". These popular songs integrate seamlessly with others like the sublime "Ride Across the River", the sleeper "One World", and the taut, cinematic "Brothers in Arms" title closer.

Mark Knopfler's gracious accessibility, at a time and place four decades passed when Dire Straits' enormous world-wide fame should have precluded it, impressed me greatly that night forty years ago. Soon I would be equally in admiration of Mark's matter-of-fact frank and honest insights on music, fame, and his preference for observing others rather than being scrutinized. Mark Knopfler readily admits that his ambitions of top quality and musical authenticity may not be the same as other rock stars, but that they are ambitions nonetheless.

Stream the episode here