Resurrecting Dead Horses

[Stumpy Pepys]

Admit it. Money for Nothing by Dire Straits is a terrific record.

[WOM]

Eugh.

[adams house cat]

Sorry Stumpy. I think it's horrible.

[elguapo4]

Fuck no,I hung around with a Dire Straits fan at the time and I heard enough of their stuff to last a lifetime and that was at the bottom of the pile,it features Sting ffs

[Jah Womble]

Horrible song with an even horribler lyric.

[Various Artist]

In Mark Knopfler's defence, the lyric was almost verbatim what he heard some moneyed oik going on about while he (Knopfler) was shopping in somewhere like Dixons or Currys or Rumbelows. Apparently he couldn't believe his ears and dashed over to the customer service counter to borrow a notepad to get it written down ASAP.

[Etienne]

Romeo & Juliet, Tunnel of Love and (at a push) Sultans of Swing are decent songs. Nothing they did afterwards is.

[WOM]

I don't think anyone will rate it, but Industrial Disease is probably my favourite. Not sure why, but it clicks.

[Snake Plissken]

Well, I'm with you Stumps.

[WOM]

The Plissken and Pepys Dire Straits Hour on Sirius XM...

[3 Colours Red]

It's not as bad as Calling Elvis, I'll give it that.

[WOM]

They used The Thunderbirds in the video, though....

[Jah Womble]

I'll concede that Sultans of Swing was decent.

And maybe Skateaway.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I'll concede that Sultans of Swing was decent.

And maybe Skateaway.

Making Movies was the album (though several tracks owe much to the influence of Mr Springsteen.)

[Various Artist]

C'mon now, no love for the magnificent Private Investigations?

[Snake Plissken]

I like that track. I’m not saying that overall Dire Straits are good, just that even a blind squirrel can find a nut.

[Satchmo Distel]

They were mocking MTV culture with a video that gradually became part of that culture so it was an unintended consequence IMHO that the track became associated with the thing it was attacking, which to me suggests they fucked up. Born In The USA syndrome.

In purely musical terms, I like the intro (perhaps a ZZ Top rip-off but in a good way) but it turns to shit when the vocals kick in, especially Sting's. Horrible.

[G-Man]

Dire Straits got a rough rap for being synonymous with people buying those shiny new compact disc things. I hated them for what they represented at the time, and I hated "Money For Nothing" especially. I didn't really get the satire Knopfler was going for; that the contempt in his voice is not sneering at us from the perspectrive of the protagonist, but Knopfler sneering at yuppie types (who were buying his CDs). I still hate that song though. As I do "Walk Of Life"... oh, how I hate "Walk Of Life".

But Dire Straits had some great tracks amid all the boring stuff. "Romeo And Juliet", "Tunnel Of Love", "Private Investigation" and "Sultans Of Swing" have been mentioned. I'd mention also "Skateaway", "So Far Away", "Telegraph Road", Knopfler's theme of Local Hero...

[Disco Child Ballads]

I have a bit of a soft spot for the song 'Brothers in Arms' but 'Money for Nothing' is just horrible.

Knopfler seems to have a had much more interesting career as a producer and session musician.

[Stumpy Pepys]

They were mocking MTV culture with a video that gradually became part of that culture so it was an unintended consequence IMHO that the track became associated with the thing it was attacking, which to me suggests they fucked up. Born In The USA syndrome.

Not at all. The song was self-deprecating of musicians to begin with and MTV adopted it somewhat ironically. It's not a case of a song being completely misunderstood.

The song's lyrics are clearly not the opinion of the singer.

[3 Colours Red]

They were mocking MTV culture with a video that gradually became part of that culture...

They shouldn't have hired Martin Lambie-Nairn and all his fancy computers then.

[adams house cat]

When it was released everyone talked about the video. Nobody seemed to talk about the song.

[Jah Womble]

I kind of figured at the time that it was humorously-intended - but if you're openly courting that market anyway, what difference does it make? (It was no coincidence or surprise to anyone when that album became the first to shift a million on CD in the UK.)

[Amor de Cosmos]

My ex was a big fan fan of M.Knop (still is apparently.) I never really disliked him or the band, in fact I rather like his guitar playing. But like many musicians who achieved fame in the early-mid 70s he was sort of thrust into early middle-age in the wake of punk. Old before his time you might say.

[adams house cat]

You make a good point Amor.