A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: dustyvalentino on September 05, 2024, 09:20:37 AM
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Starting a separate thread for Ed's answers so they can be discussed without clogging up the question thread.
Thank you so much to Ed on behalf of everyone who asked a question, and for all the lurkers looking in, remember, you still have time to post your own question!
Frankly I can't be bothered counting them but there are more than 40 certainly, so this has taken a lot of time and effort on Ed's behalf, for which we are all very grateful.
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Hi Flying Plates fans,
Thanks for the questions.
I'm going to try and answer these as they come in because firstly I have a pathological fear of backlogs and secondly because I don't know how many of you there are ( I may send in batches, we will see).
This is from MEMORY.
I may occasionally have a look on the web, but since I don't trust that I hope to avoid.
If I can’t answer something I’ll say so.
If it’s an opinion you want, you’ll get one and I completely understand you may disagree/not like.
I’ll try not to personalise but that's inevitable and let's not forget, my stint was 1977-2000 so a long time ago, when men were men and the sheep were terrified.
This follows the email I sent to Dusty re varying the format, time window etc so read in THAT CONTEXT PLEASE.
From all the DS ex members, which was the saddest one to see him leaving the band, and if you can say, why?
Tough one.
Firstly I’d say Pick, because he’s a great drummer and a lovely bloke and part of the original energy that captivated me in the first place. It was sad to see the way his role was diminished and undervalued for no reason that I could see.
There were increasingly negative personality issues between him and Mark which he’s spoken about/skirted around ( on YT) and that led to him carefully planning his exit which I don't blame him for, although it caused me quite a few logistical problems at the time.
Fortunately I knew Terry from when I was the agent for Man….
I’d say the same about Terry for sure …..great guy and dynamic player and exactly right for that time, just dumped with no explanation to him or me.
OK Manu and Jeff did the OES record and in my view Terry was perfectly capable of playing the tour, but suddenly he was out and to this day he doesn’t know why and he didn't even have much money to show for it.
REALLY weird was Jack’s departure which, as with Terry I never understood and wasn't even told the reasons for.
The podcasts he did just before his passing are the only clues.
That was and is incredibly frustrating for me, even now and at the time was part of a decline in my relationship with M and J, especially M starting around 1990 ish .
It was incredibly sad to see how bitter Jack became and not without reason, and then for him to lose his daughter on top of that was truly a tragedy. Unimaginable.
Those guys were in a different league to say Tommy, Mel, even Joop ( who was never paid to do excellent percussion, one day he just did it behind a curtain ..and I did a few Wembley’s in 85 ) who are great guys and players but were really sidemen in the strict sense of the word ( and of course Joop was a great drum tech).
There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.
But that’s bands.
Dear Ed,
What's the best question we could ask where the answer isn't "Mark didn't want to?"
I’m not sure I understand your question which may be translation. Could you re ask in a different way please and I will do my best to re address? Thanks.
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Why isn't Tommy Mandel credited at the end of the Alchemy video? Was this intentional? Or simply a typing error?
He IS on the sleeve as “additional keyboards”. I don't know about the actual video and I don't have it to watch but it would be very odd to be on sleeve but NOT the video credit roll. .
what are the 3-4 most difficult or consequential or regrettable decisions you've made as ds/mk manager?
Where to start?
In no particular order.
A) Not delegating enough, not using an agent outside the US ( to save the band, not me, huge amounts of money) , micro managing, being too detail orientated, creating an impossible workload for myself especially from Making Movies (1980) on.
B) Doing way too much for no structured payment eg no commission on live until BIA despite adding a mammoth amount to my workload.
C) starting the BIA tour too early and not letting the album get “out” to the audience first. BUT, that’s with hindsight. Back then the norm was to PROMOTE records through touring, and I had to set the tour up about 6 months in advance so it was all guesswork anyway.
As it turned out I guessed correctly so as Tom Rush wrote, “No regrets, no tears goodbye”.
D) Not resigning immediately over the decision by Mark to do the OES record and tour once I learned the REAL reasons behind that decision which in themselves led to it being the sad and toxic event it was for those involved (though not necessarily the audiences).
Those reasons did not reveal themselves until we got to Australia and realistically it was too late to stop.
But I wish we had finished with BIA.
Another hindsight observation and I can’t detail what they were, too personal.
E). Too often personalising business situations and bullying some folks I dealt with because of their laziness, incompetence and attempts at exploiting my artists (all of them). It wasn’t the right way to go about things and I did not like the person I became around the OES period.
It affected my family, young children, girlfriend Jenny who saw it all, my friends and my health. Fortunately I had some people in my life who were brave enough to tell me what prat I’d become but it took a while for me to get my sense of humour back!
F) Making the cardinal mistake of thinking the artists were my friends, at least until around 1991 although some…..Chris White, Pick Withers, Paul Brady, Paul Buchanan ( Blue Nile) I count as friends to this day and I'd also put Guy, Terry, Paul Franklin in that bag except I just don't see them.
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Ed, has being a musician yourself aided your job, or hindered it?
Hugely aided. Hugely. It helped me understand the dark underside of the creative mind and that’s not a joke. It was an interesting and not altogether positive experience to watch normal people turn into arrogant narcissistic twats
Cheers Ed for this.
The question I am curious about is which guitar did Mark actually use to record the first two dire straits albums was it his maple or rosewood red strat?
Regards,
Mark from Australia.
The red Strat. “It had to be red” MK . I see there's some info on this on the web, the source of which I don't know, referring to other guitars but I just can’t recall.
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As requested by dear dustyvalentino, here's an alternative thread to this thread, where the actual discussion can take place, and not deleting posts and barking at forum members. If somebody agrees to do something, it doesn't mean we need to abandon all our senses, stop dead in our tracks and blindly follow instructions. If we do this, let's do it right, people. It's a possible Q&A with the one and only ED BICKNELL. I repeat, ED BICKNELL. This is not a drill!
First of all, my problem is the 24-hour rule. Do you want to do it properly or just fast? Then, if you want to do it properly, why not give everybody enough time to think about questions, discuss them and come up with good results? I just thought there may be a better way to gather all the questions coming from die-hard members of this forum, people with decades of experience with Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler's music, and a combined knowledge which is expressed in CENTURIES of being fans.
Another major problem. Do you want to start another Q&A thread that only the most loyal fans can find, and that will be lost under replies and new threads just like any other Ed Bicknell / Chris Whitten / Band Member commentary on this forum? Is this the end goal, or maybe there is a better way to do things? Have you ever tried to gather all posts by Ed in one place? It all genuine questions and real problems, and worth discussing. If it's not up to discussion, then I'm out.
Please, prove me wrong here: https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=8942.0 (https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=8942.0)
My man the Quizzical You’re bloody right it’s not a drill. I can only type with one finger. I have tried to accommodate you Quizzy, be gentle with me, you’re about to get a colonic.
Wow, that escalated quickly, which is TOO GOOD. I'll share my question below in a usual "TOO MANY WORDS" style, though I have something more to say even belowER :lol
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Question
If I were to sum up Mark Knopfler in one word, that word would be "Dignity". I'm trying to be objective here, don't mind my usual fanboy appearance and word choice. I'll put it this way... Everything this man touches turns into gold, everything he does he does it with dignity and taste. Everything he's doing publicly is a success story, including dodging fame.
He's got beautiful guitars, his studio is arguably the best in the world, his music is the epitome of taste, he's got a tremendous taste for people and always worked and still works with amazing professionals (John, Ed, Guy, Glenn, Richard, Pick and all the rest of them), the members of his team I was able to speak to through my work are one of the best people I ever worked with.
So my question is this. Certainly, through the years of working with this man and this band, you learned a lot from Mr Knopfler and developed rules, principles and criteria for how to do your work as best as you can. What would be these lessons, how your work with Mark was able to reshape your character, and if it didn't, what do you think are qualities you have that lead to a successful career as a music manager?
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Thoughts
I'm shooting for the stars here, but since Ed turned out to be the funniest and the most honest, respectful and outspoken member of Dire Straits after staying dormant for years, and since, although his writing style is brilliant and we all love it, I'm sure most of us learned about or was reminded of his amazing humour, storytelling and wisdom from YouTube videos and/or Spotify podcasts. Watching his story about Chet Atkins and teeth I laughed so much, my jaw started to hurt.
As a reminder, the AMIT channel on YouTube has almost 30,000 Mark Knopfler fans waiting for content, as well as my channel with 26,000 subscribers. If we can find a decent host, that Q&A could become a great video. Again, I'm dropping this here just as bait, who knows, I see it as a very good opportunity. I'm also a bigger fan of conversations than one-off questions, let alone texting on a forum, so it is IMPOSSIBLE to come up with a single question, but I tried. End of bait.
If I offended anyone here, then just forget about it, erase it from memory Men in Black style, and jump back to the question part.
So my plan is this:
1. Spread the word about Q&A, ask EVERY die-hard MK fan possible about this opportunity
2. Gather all the questions in one place and sort them out (I'm willing to help do this)
3. Send questions to Ed for assessment, figure out how much time it could take
4. If it's too long, then keep dropping questions only keeping the best ones
5. Settle on the format — Text Only / Video / Conversation / Podcast
6. While working on questions, find the best way to execute it
7. DO IT
This is going to hurt
I’m not sure I’d use “dignity" but we are coming from two different perspectives.
You are outside looking in, I am ( or was ) inside looking out.
EVERYTHING turns to gold?
EVERYTHING is a success story?
EVERYTHING is done with dignity and taste?
From your perspective, yes.
No disrespect but MK does not walk on water and there’s no point me trying to persuade you otherwise because you wouldn’t believe me.
As far as “lessons" go, we were 28/29 when we met and I was 52 when I quit , so I like to think we, and the others who lasted most or all of the course, naturally grew together.
I can't isolate what I learned from him or him from me, maybe a lot, maybe nothing.
For the period 1978 to 1988/9 it was pretty much a perfect fit , almost no disagreements I can recall and the music and success propelled us forward, especially after David left.
None of us were analysing what was going on, we were way too busy.
It's only now looking back I can say well X happened or Y was a mistake or I got Z exactly right or whatever.
That period was living the dream and most of all it was FUN.
And often FUNNY, very funny, that sustained us.
Your approach and you're not alone on this forum, seems to be that Mark is some kind of perfect being, the "dignity” bit you use, and that the rest of us or at least me “learned "a lot” from him and “developed” the things you refer to.
I don't remember it like that at all and I bet he doesn’t.
I’ve never thought of it actually., there were "no rules, principles, and criteria", we did whatever was necessary at the time.
I was making it up as I went along. I'm making this up now.
It happened organically, we came from VERY similar backgrounds, from “up North”, we even went to the same music store in Leeds (Kitchens) at the SAME TIME.
Most importantly we both listened to the same stuff…Elvis, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, The Shadows (absolutely them), I veered off towards jazz because of drummers, he got into Dylan et al and folk music, guitar picking.
We saw the same films, TV shows, fiddled with girls and were fiddled by them, we both played in bands around Leeds at the same time 1963-5, when The Beatles Stones, Kinks , Animals , Alexis Korner, Chris Barber, blues, classic soul came along, Stax, Motown, Atlantic, Blue Note and on and on.
Strangely we never met or maybe we did. No idea.
We played the same songs ie COVERS…"Green Onions”, “ Wonderful Land”, “ Atlantis” “Twist and Shout” over and over and over.
Just like the tribute bands of today that some of you get so precious about because they just perform stuff by one act be it ABBA or Led Zep or heaven forbid, Dire Straits.
Why not? It's just the same as he and I were doing.
Who gives a fuck? No one is forcing anybody to go and see them.
The DSE are almost as good as the real thing, really tremendous and MK gets the bloody PRS!
So he and I and the whole generation we are part of shared the SAME cultural background which laid the foundations for all the British acts that came through in the 80’s and 90’s.
Pop music is GENERATIONAL and each generation is influenced by what came before.
A successful music manager needs to trust their own instincts of what is right for their act and the personalities within that act, men, women, LGBTQ whatever, they are not robots.
Allow people to make mistakes.
Be honest ( obviously), protect them and yourself and the integrity of the music if it’s got any, NEVER put money first which will invariably backfire, read Don Passman’s book which will tell you way more than you need to know about the technical side ( and wasn’t available to me back then) and most of all keep a sense of humour and proportion about what you’re doing.
NEVER stop being a fan.
I'm going to move on with just one comment.
He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist, father and husband and friend to many and dickhead to a few.
It’s not art. It is disposable pop music, entertainment, show business and it gives huge enjoyment to vast numbers of people and creates a lot of employment but it’s called “pop” music for a reason.
Because it’s popular.
That's the point of it.
And you will never persuade me that the EVERYTHING you say makes it more than that.
Obviously nothing personal, you just flipped one of my switches.
Your plan is a non starter I’m afraid. I’m WAY past wanting to do any of that, this Q and A is the best I can manage.
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Ed you've been there from the beginning, how much can you tell us about a figure like JJ Cale, how much his influence he had on the music and style of the group and the direct connections he had with you
I had never heard or heard of Cale when I met DS. I have never heard a record of his or seen him play since. He was a a big fave of MK’s along with Dylan and at one point there was some talk of them recording together but it never happened. Scheduling I think. So I had no connection with him and you can hear the influence on things like "Six Blade Knife” and the first two pre keyboards albums.
---Ed do you remember why Dire Straits never came to Poland? The same question applies to Mark Knopfler first tour.
Hmmm. No. No one ever approached me and back then I don't think I could find a promoter let alone a reliable one. A shame, I tried very hard to get the band into new territories partly for the fans but also to keep it interesting for the musicians.
Ed, I wonder who was the biggest pothead in the band in early days and if drugs ever where an serious issue in the band during the DS times?
Love it. Probably John. But honestly they were pretty boring in the sex and drugs department.
I mean this was a band who had weights and exercise machines in the dressing room on the OES tour. I’d love to tell you they were like Motorhead but sadly they were more Cliff Richard.
Given the importance that the Alchemy show represents for the history of Dire Straits, could you talk about how Alchemy was planned? I realized that it could have been one of the nights in Paris in June 1983, but for some reason it ended up being at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon, London, a month later.
Did the end result turn out as planned by everyone responsible for its production? I really miss the quality of this type of information that could come from someone as fundamental to the history of Dire Straits as you. :clap :wave
Easy. It wasn’t. It came together very late, maybe a couple of weeks before the shows when the newly formed Polygram Video division asked me if they could film a long form concert vid which was just becoming a thing back then.
So I did some deal where they paid for it and the audio bit became the Alchemy album. .
We recorded two shows but from memory it was the second one that came out, glitches and all. Def no overdubs unlike On The Night (please dont ask).
Good shows, way more exciting than OTN which was too “produced” (don't get me started on OES again. ) .
Yep. I've always been fundamental.
My Mum used to say “Edward, there’s something of the fundamental about you” when I wet the bed.
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Ed,
It was revealed by MK that he was asked to play on Michael Jacksons Bad album but he declined. Can you tell us of any other requests from big artists that MK turned down. Thanks.
I was in LA when Quincy Jones called.
Except I didn't believe it was him and I made him answer some jazz quiz questions about some early records I had of his to PROVE it was him. Much laughter.
He wanted MK to play on the Bad track I think but M was in Australia having just broken his shoulder driving in a Celebrity Grand Prix so that settled that. David Williams RIP great session player did it.
I wanted to ask:
I recall reading/hearing an interview that you gave input into making "Your Latest Trick" the straight 8th groove that it is on the record (An incredible suggestion by the way!) and that the original was a swing feel.
I've always been curious since hearing that, Do you recall if the original was a medium or ballad type swing? Or was it a faster swing?
I was at rehearsals and they were trying it with a mid tempo jazzy approach, I think to capture a kind of late night New York feel, so like a Sinatra kind of finger snapping thing, “I've Got You Under My Skin” tempo.
But it didn't swing.
So I got on the drums and played a bossa nova with one beat taken out which was just how I heard it, nothing fancy, and that’s what got used (as done by Omar Hakim who’s arse I am not fit to wipe).
Dear Ed. Any rigging disaster that you remember from touring, and how was it solved?
No thank God. The closest was a rigger we had called Tarzan who made the beast with two backs with a musician’s girlfriend under the stage in full view of the audience (unknown to him as he literally played above them.).
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hello ed,during the nhb tours did u play all drum parts the way u specifically wanted to?
Well I played it the way I play going back to my teacher in Leeds aged 15 (me not him) and the music I played growing up and right through which was every genre you can imagine. .
But Mark definitely pushed me during the first tour rehearsals (6 weeks no days off) and gave me a better understanding of dynamics than I’d had, and of course that music was new to me so I had to learn THAT.
But I pretty much played it then way I wanted because I couldn’t have played it differently if you see what I mean. By the time we got to the Ronnie Scott’s runs I was completely at ease with it as we all were, and thankfully enough fans filmed it so I can watch some every night.
when were you most starstruck and why (during your time with the band and Mark, NOT afterwards)
I had to laugh at this one…no, they were starstruck to meet me!
I draw a huge distinction between people I consider to have real, lasting talent…Ennio Morricone, Miles Davis, Chet Atkins, Buddy Rich, Clint Eastwood, Ridley Scott, Meryl Streep, and heroes like The Shadows and Everly Brothers from my misspent youth, and the dross that makes up 90% of disposable pop music.
But then just like all of you I'm a musical snob. Ha!
I met and spent time with all those mentioned and I suppose I occasionally got starstruck (spending 2 hours with Miles would qualify), and having Brian Bennett the Shads drummer and a childhood hero as my best friend is pretty cool, but generally I don't give a shit about fame and celebrity which is really just part of selling something.
Awards shows make my balls shrink.
I would like to have met Elvis before his decline.
There were lots of special guests during the DS years, particularly the BiA tour, but were there any notable guests planned that fell through for any reason, scheduling or whatever?
Not that I can think of. Nearly all the ones that did happen were spontaneous, arose on the day things. With the NHB’s for instance I didn't know ANY guests were coming and they were ALL great, especially Lonnie Donegan and Chris Barber. The best things are not planned.
What did you think of Mark's version of Private Dancer?
Not much but he only ever put a guide vocal on it which I originally sent to Prince for Vanity but got no reply. I doubt he listened to it.
Why would he…sheer opportunism on my part!
It was literally lying on the floor next to my desk when Roger Davies came in looking for more Paul Brady songs for Tina which Paul didn't have right then so I gave him the cassette for PD.
As Mark said “it needs a woman to sing it" and sing it she certainly did (and Steel Claw).
Not one of my favourites but Tina made it come alive.
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Hi Ed
Do you know if there were ever any talks or collaboration ideas between Mr. Knopfler and George Michael ?
No. I don't believe they ever met.
I passed on managing WHAM right at their beginning, just too busy and not really my thing. .
As a Led Zeppelin fan, my second favourite band after DS, it's great to know that the managers of both bands, both key in their respective success, were friends. I would like to ask you about anything you could tell us about Peter Grant, specially if is anything related to both Zepp and DS. I doubt that both bands crossed their paths as DS were starting to success when Zepp were about to abruptly end (rip John Bonham) but maybe there is any nice story that in any way cross both musical worlds.
That’s too big a subject (literally!) to deal with here. Have you read “Bringing It On Home” by Mark Blake? Excellent bio of Peter who was my dearest dearest friend for the last 5 years of his life. I think of him every day. Ditto George Martin who became like a second Dad to me.
Zep/DS did not cross over although Robert did discuss management with me in about 1984 but he wisely went with Bill Curbishley one of my heroes.
The last 2 Mark's albums (with bonus tracks) + EP has almost the same amount of songs that the entire Straits discography.
If Mark's solo albums were released those days, probably the amount of songs per album would be way less then nowadays.
However, the 'winds of change anxiety' changed everything and now, like the Swedish Shredder used to say: - More is More.
Rumours from Hal ex-members says that, to the LOG album, there was way more songs recorded that the 5 released.
Since the band always have the appeal for details and admirers that are musicians (include the pro's), I always wonder about a Ultimate Dire Straits package that brought all recorded demos, outtakes, unreleased and unfinished songs, interview with the ex-members...
Something like PF's The Wall Experience, Mile Davis Kind Of Blue Legacy or the Dylan rehearsal albums.
The question is: The band have this kind of material archived?
I am asking it because I feel that the band's legacy is going into obscurity with the same kind of material released again and again and again... and now ATMOS... Without nothing really new.
I haven’t seen or listened to any of his stuff since STP.
My personal view is that CD ushered in an era of way too many album fillers/average songs for MANY acts and MK was no exception, which was partly why I stopped listening. It was the format that drove that and I think you’re right…..it meant there was an extra 20-25 minutes to fill or “pad out”.
LOG. Yes. About 20 songs I seem to recall. It was originally planned to be a double vinyl album but common sense prevailed (mine..ha!) . I've dealt with this previously in some thread (under my name I think).
You’d have to address Crockford re that (good luck).
I have NO idea what if anything they have archived.
When I was there pretty much everything that got recorded that was good enough to be released, was released, and there was quite a bit which wasn’t and MK definitely “edited” his own output as do most prolific artists.
From the little I know, I’d agree with you re stuff being “over released” but it’s none of my business thankfully.
Your English is fine and you know Kind of Blue. Kudos.
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Hello Ed,
In the Arena documentary about Dire Straits, Mark is seen reading the lyrics for the song Sucker For Punishment, we know that song wasn't released, but was there many other songs in that black book of his that never saw the light of day?
Dozens.
Hi Ed,
You very kindly signed my tour book at the Town & Country in Leeds (Golden Heart) before the show began. I told you that I was very excited and you replied that you were very nervous. The question is, were you always nervous before a show?
Many thanks! :)
Yes I remember you 😀
No. Not nervous, more full of anticipation and relief to see the sheer amount of preparation and work by all concerned coming to fruition and to see and feel the audience getting what they came for. Ultimately that’s what it’s all about for me, the live experience has always been the best part of the whole process.
Dear Ed, is there a story behind Tunnel of Love and the reason MK stopped playing that song during the OES tour and never played it again.....
Thank you...
No idea. Sorry. Bored with it maybe, too much new stuff to put in? Great song.
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My question is about Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull, who seems to be a great admirer of MK/DS, and maybe vice versa.
In an interview https://paulroland.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/paul-interviews-ian-anderson-of-jethro-tull/ (https://paulroland.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/paul-interviews-ian-anderson-of-jethro-tull/), IA said that in the early eighties, MK was looking for a guitar that would give him a more Martin Barre-like sound. Apart from that, was there ever any contact between the two, any idea of working together?
You are correct in both directions, as I am., big fan.
He wrote “Hotel California” pretty much and The Eagles “stole” it. .
I'm not aware of that interview.
Ian did ring me once to ask for some advice about touring the US with an Orchestra and I connected him up to the Moody Blues (Justin) and said “don’t do it!” He didn't.
No contact on my watch.
What era (either DS / solo ) would you say is peak MK in terms guitar playing ?
For me the BIA era when he was on fire and NOT because he was technically at his peak which to me is irrelevant in a way. His playing still had the soul and originality that being young gives you, before ideas and licks started being recycled (which happens with just about everybody on any instrument eventually)
After I stepped down in 2000 I stopped listening to his music so can't comment on that. I did go to a couple of solo RAH shows and ended up leaving out of sheer boredom.
What is Your personal favourite and least favourite track of each album? (DS; if You want MK, too)
Or if too time consuming (what I would understand :hmm) personal top 5. (DS; if You want MK, too; or / and least fav top 5 – is that one question? yes; You can even choose :wave)
I've included the live albums.
This is VERY subjective and implies the ones I “don't like” I think are crap. I don’t unless I’ve said.
DS
Ist album. Sultans of Swing / Lions ( God that used to go on and on and on played live).
2nd album Portobello Belle/ Communique
3rd album Tunnel of Love /Les Boys ( unlistenable)
4th Album Telegraph Road/Industrial Disease ( like Pick I detest that drum machine).
5th Album Sultans / Two Young Lovers
6th album Brothers In Arms/ One World
7th album You and Your Friend/ The Bug ( Walk of Life Part 2 )
8th album On Every Street /Calling Elvis (sounds like a man with a wooden leg falling down a flight of stairs).
MK
Golden Farts …honestly, I’m not keen on anything on this.
Sailing To Philadelphia Speedway at Nazareth/Junkie Doll
I haven’t listened to any of his records since.
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Hi Ed,
How did start the friendship between MK and Clapton? Was ever planned or discussed to record songs together, maybe a whole album?
Not sure when they met, where or why. Around 87?
Having a fag behind a bike shed.?
Sharing a Viz Annual ?
You meet so many people and it was a long time ago.
Eric’s a nice guy. Lives down the street for me but never has any sugar in, cheap sod.
Not as far as I know and certainly not mentioned to me by either Mark or Eric or Roger Forrester, Eric’s manager who became a close friend.
This is a simple one, what were yours and Mark's favorite Viz comic strips?
Well I can't speak for MK but for me The Fat Slags and I’m guessing same for him. Most of those characters are brilliantly drawn and I don't mean the pictures.
Sid is another, and the animated cartoons they did are brilliant.
Hi Ed,
thank you for answering our questions.
I really enjoyed your podcast with Bob on my return flight from Greece.
I am interested in facts. What were the albums sales from each DS and MK album in your managing period?
As this is not a real question... ;D
What is your favourite track of Dire Straits and MK's solo catalogue?
Thank you for all, I really missed you as MK's manager
That podcast must have been longer than the flight!
Thanks for sticking with it.
It's the longest Bob has done I think and a lot of fun.
Great interviewer, knows his stuff.
I said there might be questions I couldn’t answer and you want FACTS by which I take it you mean accurate facts.
I simply can't recall the break down of sales in the time period you mean ie 1978 up to mid 2000.
If I could I’d be guessing ..it was 24 years ago.
The PHYSICAL sales of the whole lot incl sound trax, GH, Best Of’s , 2xLive was about 135 million by the time I left.
The figs on the web are way too low ditto Guinness Book of Hit Records, all those things.
Sorry I cant be more accurate.
No idea re streaming and less interest.
Fave DS BIA and Telegraph Road.
MK ..as I've said I shut off after August 2000.
In light of what happened at the end I just couldn’t listen to his stuff anymore so I don't have any favourites.
Thanks for your kind words.
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OMG, folks ...
Nobody screwed anything up, we're adequate human beings and resolved all our differences in DM's. And I'm sure Ed perfectly understands the situation.
By the way, don't forget to notify all your Dire Straits friends they can ask one question about the band's history and get an answer from EB.
I asked a few friends of mine and as expected, they were like "errrr, let me think about it for a few days". It's not that easy ;D
Perfectly.
You’ve got to Sept 17 then I’ll review.
I'm going to be away with the life in my love Sept 8-11 so likely won’t be online then.
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Also, a good source of questions could be Ed's interviews, maybe you want him to elaborate on something (or ask whether he was joking or not):
The Bob Lefsetz Podcast (3 hours!):
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4tKI1Oiv8kf7Ce2wEkrtbv?si=d3a1c5563b254a83
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ed-bicknell/id1316200737?i=1000657274743
Chet Atkins and false teeth' by Ed Bicknell: youtube.com/watch?v=Ln_KnVyaKm8 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ln_KnVyaKm8)
John Illsley on Ed: youtube.com/watch?v=f84c7R54tjQ (http://youtube.com/watch?v=f84c7R54tjQ)
And so on.
Lefsetz…sure. Not much of that was joking.
Chet…....that’s just an anecdote , nothing to add really. They were a bit stained …
John……go for it! Peter Grant was my friend, not my mentor, I didn't meet him until April 1990.
OMG, folks ...
Nobody screwed anything up, we're adequate human beings and resolved all our differences in DM's. And I'm sure Ed perfectly understands the situation.
By the way, don't forget to notify all your Dire Straits friends they can ask one question about the band's history and get an answer from EB.
I asked a few friends of mine and as expected, they were like "errrr, let me think about it for a few days". It's not that easy ;D
was wondering about the same thing.
people are exited to come up with "THE" question, and then there will always be that friggin language barrier
Carry on folks!
I know 23 languages including Creole.
Don't worry about that.
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OMG, folks ...
Nobody screwed anything up, we're adequate human beings and resolved all our differences in DM's. And I'm sure Ed perfectly understands the situation.
By the way, don't forget to notify all your Dire Straits friends they can ask one question about the band's history and get an answer from EB.
I asked a few friends of mine and as expected, they were like "errrr, let me think about it for a few days". It's not that easy ;D
was wondering about the same thing.
people are exited to come up with "THE" question, and then there will always be that friggin language barrier
Carry on folks!
Many friends keep telling me "ask him this, ask him that" and I say to him, I made my question, go to Amit and ask yourself!
Ssssh, I didn't tell you…..
Just between us…ok?
This whole thing is a devious scheme by Dusty to increase the “membership” and then promote his band to the resulting mugs, he’s not called “Dusty” for nothing. I get 20% commission.
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Hi! Is it true that you and MK broke up after STP because you wanted him to play again in stadiuns and he didin`t? It´s a pity that you got to follow seperate ways. Thank`s for your atention.
THANK YOU for asking that.
Let me clear this up once and for all (I’ve addressed it before)
And just so we are clear a Stadium to me is an enclosed but open air venue in excess of 25,000 capacity up to say 100,000 plus, eg a sports ground, something that was not designed for music.
NO!
That idea which has been floated on this forum numerous times is completely false and played no part in our split. None.
As an aside, I have never been to to a stadium gig by any other act except Live Aid and Nelson Mandela (with them) and never will. The Albert Hall (5000) and Ronnie Scotts (300) are my limit.
Incidentally round buildings like the RAH, bullrings and Roman amphitheatres are ideal from the sight lines and intimacy point of view and Mark loves doing those.
The chapels for laying out dead bullfighters in the bullrings are pretty spooky, not an activity I agree with AT ALL and which are fading out thankfully.
Anyway, I did not want, and I NEVER proposed to MK that he do stadiums on STP which would have been utter madness, and he never in 23 years asked me to do anything in relation to live work except “ follow the sun ” at the second OES planning meeting which because of the Gulf War I wasn’t able to do entirely ( Canada and parts of the US were consequently very cold ).
Overall they were a great act to work with because they trusted my judgement completely in respect of EVERY aspect of their career and they/he always delivered their end, cancelled only one show ( Luxembourg,,,safety reasons) and for the most part tolerated my mistakes!
After OES I did not want to put any musician let alone him in a field or sports ground or any kind of “stadium” EVER AGAIN.
I hated doing them and came to detest them.
Other than money and artists ego there is no reason to play that kind of venue when you can do multiple arenas/theatres/bullrings etc which is easier on the band, the crew and definitely better for the audience.
Going to a stadium to watch big TV screens baffles me (yes, hypocrisy on my part) but the public obviously disagree. Usually they are not given a choice because most acts are too lazy and too greedy to do long runs (and too narcissistic).
Too often the act becomes a cabaret at a social event. A very few, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, The Stones, Prince, maybe Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift now, have turned then into an art form but they are the exception. As you can imagine the costs are mind boggling, probably at least half the gross less VAT.
I did not think he could even quarter fill stadiums anyway and what I was intending to do was max capacity of say 6-8,000 in Europe/UK , maybe a few multiples, and even that was risky.
In the US definitely not more than 5-6000, so roughly what he ended up doing anyway. Australasia and Japan weren’t even on my screen.
I had a whole lot of venues held when the separation happened and that was for reasons which as I said on Bob’s podcast were just weird and certainly had nothing to do with the size of venues I was considering WHICH WAS NEVER DISCUSSED.
What he said at that last professional meeting was grossly insulting, patronising, bewildering and deeply hurtful.
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I've been at work, hope this one can squeeze in. My question would be "how many shows were recorded by the record company or instructed by the band / management between 1980 and 1989"? Thanks
"Are you in yet?
"Yes darling, I just squeezed in”
💦
Another I can’t accurately answer BUT, it would have been me or me/band who would have initiated that not the record companies.
I never let them initiate anything (are you kidding me?)
So other than Alchemy, the long-form TV's we did eg Live At Wembley, the last night in Sydney1986 and On The Night ( after your dates) and the audio portions of those I can’t think of any.
If anybody else knows, pitch in.
OK. That’s it for the first batch. I hope you got what you needed and if I was rude to anybody, tough.
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Now in hindsight when the complete "On the night" got released and fans all raving about it, why were so many songs cut from the original release? And did you have any thoughts about it back then?
Well your pal and my saviour Love Expresso has saved me responding with his reply.
He’s 100% correct. I will just add that after OES tour listening to all that material AGAIN for MK was daunting and Guy and Neil Dorfsman stepped up to the plate and dealt with a few tech/performance issues that needed overdubs and no, I'm not going to tell you, you’ll just have to keep smiling.
Hi! Is it true that you and MK broke up after STP because you wanted him to play again in stadiuns and he didin`t? It´s a pity that you got to follow seperate ways. Thank`s for your atention.
I think Ed already answered this in his first long message provided by Julio some weeks/months ago
I have given you my final word on this , please can we drop it.
Many friends keep telling me "ask him this, ask him that" and I say to him, I made my question, go to Amit and ask yourself!
exactly the same happened to me
You already know my opinion. I think not everybody (INCLUDING ED HIMSELF ;D) is willing to take the time to register on the forum to ask a single question or post a comment or whatever, so another amendment to the rules could be possible.
Like allowing one question per person, not per member. The question is gonna be filtered anyway, it may not be answered at all. Whether to ask for proof of how genuinely the question is coming from a single person — that's another thing to consider.
There is no filtering.
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Many friends keep telling me "ask him this, ask him that" and I say to him, I made my question, go to Amit and ask yourself!
exactly the same happened to me
You already know my opinion. I think not everybody (INCLUDING ED HIMSELF ;D) is willing to take the time to register on the forum to ask a single question or post a comment or whatever, so another amendment to the rules could be possible.
Like allowing one question per person, not per member. The question is gonna be filtered anyway, it may not be answered at all. Whether to ask for proof of how genuinely the question is coming from a single person — that's another thing to consider.
this is not coming from us, but from Ed who awesomely agreed to do this, on his terms. so there is no use in continuing to discuss the rules.
Thank you Pottel. I just don't want to get overwhelmed and end up saying “sorry, I can’t be bothered to answer this”, I'm spending a huge amount of time as it is.
Way more than I’d expected.
Happy to continue but I do have other things to do.
I've asked Dusty to log the extra questions ( ie over the one limit) and I’ll take a look Sept 18. Not promising anything
It's the QUALITY I'm interested in, not the quantity.
I thought it was pretty clear why. The market back then was difficult for double albums, sales for them were difficult, plus they had already done a live double album before with Alchemy. So they decided to do a single album which featured the OES content (and Paul Franklin) and cut everything long that already had been released on Alchemy. I doubt that there are other reasons
LE
See above.
I thought it was pretty clear why. The market back then was difficult for double albums, sales for them were difficult, plus they had already done a live double album before with Alchemy. So they decided to do a single album which featured the OES content (and Paul Franklin) and cut everything long that already had been released on Alchemy. I doubt that there are other reasons
LE
But also quite a clever solution by making the promo single an EP and adding space for it in the CD case :)
I'd forgotten that.
Yes. Brilliant indeed. Loved it. Sounds like an idea from Ed! :lol
LE
Could be!
You already know my opinion. I think not everybody (INCLUDING ED HIMSELF ;D) is willing to take the time to register on the forum to ask a single question or post a comment or whatever, so another amendment to the rules could be possible.
I can't speak for Ed, don't want to and don't need to, but if I was him I wouldn't register for the forum - he would have private messages constantly from every crazy fan around.
Like allowing one question per person, not per member. The question is gonna be filtered anyway, it may not be answered at all.
For the avoidance of doubt, no questions have been "filtered" by Ed. Ed has answered every single question here.
I removed two questions from someone who either didn't read the rules, didn't understand them or was just plain rude. For what it's worth, I did share them with Ed who found them amusing.
There is NO possibility of me registering for this forum.
I'm not filtering and neither is anybody else .
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this is not coming from us, but from Ed who awesomely agreed to do this, on his terms. so there is no use in continuing to discuss the rules.
I understand though I'm still confused. Good questions aren't exactly growing on trees and a "random" "family member" can ask something that Ed would like and could yield an amazing answer. The quantity of questions has nothing to do with their quality, that's why I had problems with these artificial obstacles from day 1.
Get as many questions as you can, pick the very best ones and answer 'em, I thought it was a simple idea but for some reason, I get bombarded with negativity all the time just because "that's the rules, man". Rules are made to be broken, and I know I'm in the minority of one as always. I apologise for being so pushy.
I know I'm the major pain in the neck here and the rules are going completely against my grain, but thanks for hearing me out.
UPD: Dusty, that's an AWESOME update from ED. Much appreciated.
All good non intrusive questions will be considered in due course.
Ed - Which line-up of DS did you find the most interesting musically?
Aaah. Something to get my teeth into.
Musicality...In some ways the first because they WERE the first and in a sea of punk back then they were new, fresh, different AND M had a RED Strat like Hank Marvin’s.🎸
Read “hero”
They were very different to the other acts I was or had been agenting eg Wishbone Ash, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Elton John, Ramones, Talking Heads, Richie Havens, War, Bobby Womack , Jimmy Ruffin, etc etc etc.
And they weren’t loud which Deep Purple certainly were! .
All the other lineups had their plusses and minuses.
For me the BIA lineup was the best we had, the most dynamic, the most fun, the most creative, the sexiest and the most "of it’s time” …....everything aligned perfectly including that that particular group of players.
In life timing is everything …the age we were , the drive we had, the arrival of CD , the songs on that album, coming off the build of the previous four and so on.
I'd describe the entire experience as magical.
OES ended up too overblown for me but that wasn’t anybody's fault, the alignment had been disturbed and the reasons for doing it were wrong, though it did contain some excellent songs and performances.
Of course the NHB’s were the most fun by far and had easily the best rhythm section 🥁
Sorry I really don't understand your problem here. You write so many words and spend so much energy instead of just ask your question. It's totally clear how the rules are, stick with it or not. It's exhausting really and not attacking you.
I mean if you buy tickets for a show, you don't start to argue with the promoter why it starts at 20:00 and why the concert is on your birthday and you don't want to ask them to start at 19:30 on another day that fits better. If you don't like what Ed has set up, don't participate and please don't be angry and leave the forum (again). Just relax. That's the main key to most if your trouble it seems to me. Stay relaxed, wait 15 min before relpying and breathe! Your contributions are among the most valuable here, really, but your should take it all not too serious here. As Ed said, it's only Pop. Greetings to you dear friend and all the best to you.
LE
You’ve nailed it. The words of common sense instead of a waste of energy.
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Sorry I really don't understand your problem here. You write so many words and spend so much energy instead of just ask your question. It's totally clear how the rules are, stick with it or not. It's exhausting really and not attacking you.
I mean if you buy tickets for a show, you don't start to argue with the promoter why it starts at 20:00 and why the concert is on your birthday and you don't want to ask them to start at 19:30 on another day that fits better. If you don't like what Ed has set up, don't participate and please don't be angry and leave the forum (again). Just relax. That's the main key to most if your trouble it seems to me. Stay relaxed, wait 15 min before relpying and breathe! Your contributions are among the most valuable here, really, but your should take it all not too serious here. As Ed said, it's only Pop. Greetings to you dear friend and all the best to you.
LE
i think we're all good now. let us focus on the questions and no longer on the initial squabble. i believe Ed is having a ball. let's join!
Yes. Really enjoying this. Especially the questions with some meat on the bone.
Sorry I really don't understand your problem here. You write so many words and spend so much energy instead of just ask your question. It's totally clear how the rules are, stick with it or not. It's exhausting really and not attacking you.
I mean if you buy tickets for a show, you don't start to argue with the promoter why it starts at 20:00 and why the concert is on your birthday and you don't want to ask them to start at 19:30 on another day that fits better. If you don't like what Ed has set up, don't participate and please don't be angry and leave the forum (again). Just relax. That's the main key to most if your trouble it seems to me. Stay relaxed, wait 15 min before relpying and breathe! Your contributions are among the most valuable here, really, but your should take it all not too serious here. As Ed said, it's only Pop. Greetings to you dear friend and all the best to you.
LE
Dusty is doing an amazing job of keeping it manageable and enjoyable. I disagree, however, on filtering questions and their quantity over quality. A lot of questions seem to be boring or simple anyway, like all the "list-type" questions even coming from full-fledged, genuine AMIT members. It's entirely subjective and not that interesting, at least to me, so basic filtering could be implemented. You can't answer ALL the questions, right? Learn from Guy Fletcher, who ignores half of the questions on his forum.
And some questions Ed already answered in his interviews. Asking questions is an art form on its own, and we can develop an entire long set of rules just for writing questions. Instead, having more questions and a simple filter can do the trick... Again, my 5 cents. There are truly a lot of good ones, and I hope to see more with less strict rules. LE's analogy is not good because people organized shows for centuries, and Ed coming to the forum is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I'm only trying to make it better, that's it. I also encourage people to stop fighting me, because again it's the first time a real Q&A is happening on AMIT and it baffles me that nobody seems to care about discussing it, while even Ed himself seems to agree and allows for less strict rules and longer deadlines. A forum is a place for exchanging ideas and views, I'm sorry I'm doing exactly that. And yes, I write a lot of words to explain EXACTLY what I mean.
I'm trying not to repeat myself but i've no idea who has seen/heard the interviews I've done nor can I remember what I said!
Quizzy ..you are overthinking this.
I’ll decide what I answer.
If they are sensible and interesting to me they’ll get a response.
If not they won’t eg "how much money did you make" will be ignored, yep, had that one. .
Haha, I actually opened a new thread for discussion which Ed even promised to ignore, but it was DELETED and I was attacked beyond belief. Here's for democracy, right?
I genuinely think the problem is not with me, but the problem is with the rules and/or organisation. Look at ways to improve the product, not to attack me personally.
You can make it a questions-only thread and move the discussion somewhere else, but again my main concern is the best result and experience. And I apologised!
“ Now if you feel that you can't go on,
Because all your questions have gone
And life is filled with much confusion
And happiness is just an illusion,
And your world around is crumbling down , darling
REACH OUT ( BISH BASH BUSH BISH )
DARLIN’ , REACH OUT ( more BOOOOSH )
Quizzy will be there posting post-its by the score "
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
Chill out. Be cool. Give Isaac Hayes a listen…"By the Time I get to Phoenix" the 19 minute version ..an absolute classic where pop music becomes ART 😎
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"A lot of questions seem to be boring or simple anyway, like all the "list-type" questions even coming from full-fledged, genuine AMIT members"
Anyone who asks a question, this question is important to them. Why do you think some questions are boring and uninteresting?
“ Question” is a great song by The Moody Blues.
I would first like to say the I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the interviews Ed has given. Very entertaining! As for a question I thought 'what would I ask Mark if I ever got the chance, something he never mentioned in the interviews he gave'. So here it goes: Have you ever blown up the family radio with one of your instruments?
When he got his first guitar as he’s OFTEN said, somehow he connected it to the family radio and blew that up.
You’ve not been reading his early interviews have you? .
Go to the back of the class and face the wall, I will do the jokes.
Ok, since we're allowed to a second question from family members:
- What do you think of the renditions of the DS classics in the Golder Heart Tour and would you say that Mark was particularly happy of having to fill 2/3 of the show with such material given the massive burnout he went through few years before on the OES tour?
“It’s a family affair, it’s a family affair”
Hmmm. I can't remember the renditions. Sorry.
One of M’s traits is to try and approach the older songs in a fresh way to keep them interesting for HIM. Not unusual, alot of artists do that.
He had a bunch of musicians here who were capable of just about anything technically, really great guys but sometimes what is interesting to musicians is not necessarily interesting to the wider public who want the comfort of familiarity, and thats always going to be subjective.
Any artist with a successful catalogue gets trapped by the audience (rightly) wanting to hear that catalogue “like the records” I don't mean folks who join a forum like this .
I think he did a pretty good job of balancing that with the new stuff.
Whether he was happy I couldn’t say (that is a whole different subject ).
Naturally he’s gradually increased the post DS at the cost of the DS.
One day he will form his own tribute band and send out robots with sparkly headbands to play the BIA set so HE doesn’t have to go on tour, just Guy with an ATMOS ROBOT WIGGLE STICK, one follow-spot and a tour bicycle with a basket full of Mars Bars as a substitute for catering.
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Hi, Ed.
Thank you for answering my question.
Now that we are able to do one more, i'll go for it.
Explaining part of my first question: I know that you won't listen to Mark's music since 2000. I was made a comparison between the release strategies from MK' music and the DS days. The recent 2.5 MK albums have more songs that the entire DS discography.
Now, my final "question".
For experience, i know that artists (in case, musicians), most of them are "excentrical personas". They have a distinctive point of view about socienty and personal relationships.
I mean "excentrical" because part of an artist personality escapes from the "normal" world.
In real life, artists are normal people who work hard on their art but enjoys the same jokes, food and places like "normal" people likes.
(Yes, it's hard to me to explain)
However, some of them have some affraid of conflicts or disagreements in general. In the near circle, this is very common.
And, if you are bossy.... hmmmm (problem).
As an admirer of Dire Straits (as a band) and his formation variations, i always saw MK as the guy who avoid conflicts. I am want to go into 'too personal' detais, however, watching interviews from Pick, Terry and David (who can be very idiotic egomaniac sometimes) along my DS fever days, and reading your interviews (and AMIT answers), when someone quitted the band, your job was the worse.
I mean, protect the personal/professional relationships and, above all, keep the "fired ones" as good friends it's not for everyone.
I always saw Mark as a guy who doesn't really care about the fans. He always talk about playing BIA and RJ as a tribute to the fans and bla, bla, bla. Sorry, but to my view, this is bullshit.
I know that is NOT your matter, but The Straits RRHOF thing was a tragedy (for the business and for the fans)
Since your departure, what seems is that Mark were "ashamed" of Dire Straits.
Is always "between the lines" that Mark didn't really like the band (songs/albums/concerts) and his recent songs are WAY better than the DS days.
(I know he talks it because his recent work. But, come on.... ignore the past is nonsense)
Well, Mark it, Mark that...
Like as quoted by a forum friend - Mark didn't want that.
(This is Guy's answer for everything that he can not answer)
For most of the public, Mark was reponsible for 99,99% of the arrangements for the DS songs. To my view, the concerts "represented" this idea.
Well, the band played everything the same every night, the only who "could" play different was... Mark.
There is no bootleg that has information like: - 'Alan was killing this concert' or 'Terry made an amazing job on that song... Was always things like: 'Mark was inspired', 'Mark went crazy during Sultans'...
Now, finally, my question: ;D
How much input Mark receive from the musicians/co-producers during the DS days? He got input's on his lirycs too?
To my ears, LOG (album) is a Alan Clark masterpiece.
Local Hero soundtrack, for me, it's a collab between Alan and Mark.
The 80's DS sound, to my ears, is much more focused on Alan inputs than Mark's.
Ok, its Mark songs. However, Mark guitar solos would be "nothing" without Alan's magical keyboard layers.
There is a huge (again, in my opinion) rupture on MK's music when he stopped to work with Alan.
Another thought that i had years ago:
Calling Elvis, When It Comes To You, Fade To Black, Ticket To Heaven, How Long, Millionaire Blues.
Those songs are originally planned for a 2nd NHB album?
Come on, Rolo... shut up.
Well, my life quotes, based on years playing in bands are.
"Every person needs to be in a band once in life to respect "excentrical" personalities"
and
"Every soloist (mainly guitar players) should be bass players for a year to learn how to listen and respect the band"
and the most common one:
"Learn to separate the art from the artist."
i'll shut up.
THANK YOU, Ed.
And a special thanks to your sense of homour.
I haven't laughted this way about music subjects in years.
Rollo Beethoven.
If you want to ask more that's fine..they will go into the Sept 18 pile.
Now to your essay by paragraph, yep, you certainly went for something 🤡.
1. I don't know about those albums. I’ll take your word for it.
2. “Eccentric". PING!!!! I am on the floor eating my shag pile carpet.
Eccentric is definitely part of their makeup., almost HAS to be.
Narcissism at full tilt is common to almost any successful artist not least because they filter critics out of their circle and only hear what they want to hear, even though deep down the intelligent ones know that their real friends and advisers give them honest opinions (essential as a manager) The danger arises when they don't WANT those opinions and then they generally self combust. .
Think Spinal Tap….. that was based on the band Styx by the way.
I understand completely what you are getting at.
3. Yes. Nailed it. Anyone in particular your thinking of?
4. It’s Mark’s personality do almost anything to avoid outward confrontation. I can count the arguments we had on the fingers of one hand. It might have been better if we’d had more.
Now please ..all of you…do not mention David K to me.
I have a weak heart, high blood pressure, acid indigestion, piles, constipation, impotence, my life hangs by a thread , please don’t cut that thread, I'm already uncomfortably numb.
Being a manager frequently means doing things the musicians won’t or can't do themselves and saying “no” is top of that list, holding their cocks for the pre show pee is next….Coldplay actually employ someone to do that called Shakin’ Stevens an old UK pop singer with the shakes, perfectly qualified . Google him.
Yes. Management is like spinning plates. I've managed to stay friends with many musicians who came and went in numerous bands, not just DS, and crew, my staff, significant others, it just depends on the individuals and my personality of course, and I'm very easy going . I LIKE people unless they try and screw me ( or the people I’m representing).
5. Interesting that he comes over that way to you.
He definitely cared about them at the beginning.
Signed autographs happily, chatted, enjoyed interacting.
Then it all got VERY big and some fans ( who are not fans) became threatening/demanding, idiots appeared in droves, John Lennon got shot, he had to have a bodyguard on tour which puts a wedge in the way, the fan-mail got VERY weird especially from girls, loads of really medical nude polaroids , fantasy letters about him fucking whoever ( female fan stuff is out there but they aren’t fans they are fantasists) and of course, death threats.
Mandela gig gave rise to hundreds, really worrying stuff ( pre social media, it would be nuts now)
Girls camping outside the office offering me sex if I’d introduce them to him but they never had any teeth so they got a pass (I didn't tell him any of this).
A stalker who stole his garden gnomes ( yes!) .
The whole lot.
So that had/has an effect, it would on you, you become suspicious, pull back, become untrusting.
I don't think that's really what you’re talking about when you say “ashamed” , I just can't say how he feels about DS but I kind of know what you are hinting at. .
I just don't know how much he cares about audiences now and I’d be speculating so I won’t.
I haven’t been to a gig in YEARS and when I did I noticed a completely different feeling to, say, the NHB shows at Ronnie’s.
He didn't talk to them., it was like a recital, don't recall which tour. .
I went home to watch Newsnight as did all my previous office staff , all of us baffled by what the shows had become. No smiles, felt he was sort of detached. .
Actually I got completely involved in the RRHOF thing and not because I wanted to.
I'm very close friends with someone in that ( really fucked up) organisation who tried to get me to mediate.
There is a long and incredibly tedious tale behind that involving the RRHOF policies about who does/plays what and insane politics over which MANY acts have kicked back eg Kiss, Steve Miller, Blondie ( watch the clips) , and the issues between MK and DK and DK’s indignation about the expenses he had to pay.
Pick was first to bail and I completely understand why and it's personal to him.
There were also weird politics from Alan Clark and Crockford was just doing what he always does, bowing to MK’s wishes, but he and I did agree they should all go for the fans who don't care about any of this BS, but the sibling thing proved impossible to resolve.
To me the whole thing was a shambles.
As Guy said at the time , it opened up old wounds that had never healed.
I wasn’t invited and wouldn’t have gone…….to Cleveland?
It was nice of John to pay tribute to Paul C and myself but really their appearance ( the three) without M and John’s bland excuse “ its a personal thing “ sounded and looked pathetic.
But he did the best job he could so fair play I guess.
Just my opinion.
Once M said he wouldn’t go the HOF couldn’t get ANYBODY to induct them. Whoever they had lined up ( Keith Urban I think, might be wrong ) pulled out .
NO ONE, so there’s John doing it, a first for the HOF and probably the last.
Says it all.
So DS accepted basically as a backing band.
Really sad.
The US media had a field day.
7. I can't speak for MK but DS is the monkey on his back.
At the end of the day he’s a two hit wonder SOS and MFN , maybe WOL, certainly in the eyes of the media and general ( non fan) public and maybe the BIA album is remembered. Maybe.
Unfair..yes.
Realistic..absolutely, and before you rubbish that, think really hard about what I’m saying. Not about what you as dedicated fans think, what the man/woman on the street thinks and how many people NOW have even heard of him or DS?.
Modern culture is disposable at an ever faster rate.
I've met kids of 25 who have never heard of the Beatles or Elvis, why would they? .
MK’s solo career has been sustained by the fan base. I doubt he’s expanded his audience at all and without DS he wouldn’t have had a career, probably not even a record deal.
Yes. Harsh but pragmatic and I could be completely wrong.
But ask yourselves, am I ?
8 Guy is an extremely sweet bloke with a lovely wife and family and he’s not about to bite the hand etc. and why should he? He loves what he’s doing and he has a completely non confrontational personality and can bend to anything. Love him.
9. Your words not mine ( you are 100% right) .
10. You have a question? Bugger, I was enjoying this.
No input on lyrics.
One of the things you all seem to miss is the producer input, Muff, Jerry/Barry, Jimmy and especially Neil Dorfsman who should have been paid a % on BIA …...great guy as is Chuck Ainlay.
Those two had a BIG part to play in the stuff they worked on, way more than the musicians who basically do what they’re told or rather the songs determine what they play ( not a criticism).
Not sure I agree re the AC bit.
Most of what he played came from MK who certainly back then had a very clear idea of how he wanted the completed music to sound. I'm not trying to dilute AC’s talents or place in this , not at all, that's just my observation from being there.
I can’t comment on why M stopped working with him.
11. No. There was never going be a second NHB album. Thank God, if I had been included I would have really not wanted to play TTH ( cant stand it) HL, MB ( we did the others except FTB).
12. Very funny. All correct.
Especially the last one.
Quizzy are you reading this?
It’s my pleasure, this is really interesting for me, rather more than blowing up radios. .
Glad you enjoy the laughs.
That's the MOST important thing.
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Great Dusty, my colleague and friend Jeppe who is a great fan of Pink Floyd just as I am of DS/MK. He would like to know if (back then) there was ever any collaboration thoughts between Knopfler and David Gilmour ?.
I love your questions Peter.
So simple and direct.
No. They didn't meet until recently I think, I’m off to see him in October ..one of the greats for sure. The last time I saw DG I would rate in my top 5 gigs ever.
And he is a fab guy except he’s called DAVID.
Oh no…………aaaargh , waahhhhh Ddddddddd DAVID 😱🤮😩💀.
I promise not to write more off-topic content as admins will kill me, however, I do have yet another request. Dusty, could you please think about making a separate thread for each new batch of Ed's responses? Like "Special Q & A with Ed Bicknell - THE ANSWERS (PART 1)" because otherwise if you put all answers in one thread, it will be doomed to be clogged with responses and it will be impossible to follow. Just another 5 cents in the collection of possible amendments. Even the Constitution of the United States had 27 amendments, bear with me.
I think he’s going to. That’s his end of things, not mine. I'm not going to be responding to responses as I said yesterday but that shouldn’t stop anybody. I know it went stop you! 😀
Ed,
Off-topic: You mentioned the Blue Nile. From what I have read, managing them must've been sort of like herding cats. Could you give a short synopsis of your work with them and maybe an illustrative anecdote or two?
Blue Nile
Yes. It was, a very frustrating experience. .
I took them on as a favour to Warners US and because I liked them as people.
Bad call.
There's a book about them called Nileism by Allan Brown I was interviewed for.. Get that.
Poorly written but he gets their essence which to me was they were playing at being a band.
It took 7 years to record “High" the record I got. RIDICULOUS.
That was motivated by fear.
The fear of it coming out ( not uncommon) .
They had no momentum to their career, Paul Buchanan over intellectualised everything and eventually PJ bailed in an absolutely histrionic row involving cutlery.
Paul could not take criticism and I was up his ass about the sheer nonsense of how they approached things.
They got a huge advance and it disappeared. I don't mean it was stolen, it disappeared. Several million dollars.
This was before I arrived.
They had the most fucked up situation I ever encountered.
I wasn’t allowed to leave the record with record companies after Warners dropped them and I was trying to get them a deal.
They had to decide on ONE listen, so no takers. RIDICULOUS.
When I got them $300,000 off Warners as a settlement he objected to paying me the commission.
After 7 fucking years of nothing!
I switched off then .
I eventually got them a deal, the band promptly broke up and I PRETENDED to the record co they were going to go on tour when they weren’t.
The album did about 150,000 worldwide and just about recouped.
Then the record co went bust ( Sanctuary).
So it all fell apart.
But I'm still in touch with Paul and I really like him, good soul. .
But he blew what could have been a spectacular career , a real shame.
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Dear Ed,
What's the best question we could ask where the answer isn't "Mark didn't want to?"
I’m not sure I understand your question which may be translation. Could you re ask in a different way please and I will do my best to re address? Thanks.
I'm sure wakeywakey meant something along these lines: As DS was an authoritarian band (was it?), a lion's share of answers could end with "Because Mark didn't want to". As in: Mark didn't want to go to Poland (just as an example, not to offend Polish people!), didn't want to release his version of "Private Dancer", etc.. And the question is, I guess, what is something (the best) that happened to DS without any connection to MK, his desires whatsoever, or even against them?
wakeywakey, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Aaah. Quizzy. You’ve been quiet for a while. Hugs x
You’re not seriously asking me if it was an authoritan band are you?.
Democracy in bands never works so thank God it was!
I'm going to wait for Wakey to answer but based on your input I'd say most of his career at least when I was doing it.
He came up with the music and I came up with pretty much everything else and that's not ego on my part, that's how ALL the successful artist/manager relationships work, or should.
Of course he and John were "connected" but we discussed it, I came up with a plan and they went off and did it.
And it worked.
Ed do you remember why Dire Straits never came to Poland? The same question applies to Mark Knopfler first tour.
Ed:
Hmmm. No. No one ever approached me and back then I don't think I could find a promoter let alone a reliable one. A shame, I tried very hard to get the band into new territories partly for the fans but also to keep it interesting for the musicians.
That's what I suspected. It was our fault :( And the other side of the coin is that it was a time when we had too much phonographic piracy.
Not your fault, a consequence of the times sadly.
"A lot of questions seem to be boring or simple anyway, like all the "list-type" questions even coming from full-fledged, genuine AMIT members"
Anyone who asks a question, this question is important to them. Why do you think some questions are boring and uninteresting?
Exactly, and what others find "deep and clever" could come across as nerdy nonsense with no little value to others. Like, I'm very curious about setlists, songs that were rehearsed and not played live and so on and couldn't care less about "behind the scenes gossip". if someone stole a sausage and Mark got mad over it, who cares, right? But there might be a few "who-s" who genuinely care, which is fine. It's a bit like comparing ACDC to something like a classical composer. Just because one of them is a bit more basic and "straight forward" than the other, doesn't mean it has less musical value or is objectively of less quality. If the question brings something new out to the public, then it is very much a valid question. Also, we can't expect people to keep track of all interviews. If something is already answered, maybe pasting the answer from "back when" is a good solution.
As for more questions, it all depends on how many of them there are and how many there is time to answer - we can expand from two per member if there is room for it, too. I don't have anything against expanding the # of questions from each member, but in reality it's not a "family member" who is asking additional question, it is the person behind the keyboard.
My first question is: "How do unreleased tracks make their way into set lists, especially when multiple albums are already released?"
Reason for asking: if you choose a basic setlist for a tour (with a wild card or two in the rotation), and you have dozens of tracks to choose from, there is obviously limited space for songs - especially if you do extended versions which limit the # of songs you can play. My first thought is that there are numerous popular tracks that would fit that are left out, and it seems less obvious to give priority to songs people can't buy on a record and listen to later. (this is not a critique, thanks to bootlegging I'm very grateful for the unknown tunes that have found their ways out of concert arenas on various tapes)
"Uncle Fester bonus question": Has there ever been considered doing less extended versions of songs live to be able to include more tunes in the set lists? I'm interested in some thoughts on the balance and compromises here (DS seemed to be a bit more heavy on the longer/extended tunes than most other bands I have come across).
Quick story.
For the OES tour DS rehearsed up a huge number of songs so they could change them around at will.
The first time they tried that Chas our brilliant lighting guy came running into the dressing room “ Its going to take me 3 hours to reset the computer”
So they went back to set one and played that at EVERY show to the end.
Pretty depressing actually, music controlled by the lighting. .
Unreleased tracks.
That happened ALOT at the beginning because Communique was recorded but not released BEFORE the first US tour and they just played a lot of material the US audiences ,who are very open to this, hadn’t heard.
That became less later on ( I don't know post 2000) and its just when M fancies doing them, really its no more complicated than that and he always had a very good sense of the audience and their expectations.
I never made a set list suggestion EVER. Didn't need to.
In the NHB’s we constantly played stuff with NO rehearsal.
Audience requests etc., great fun and usually not DS stuff.
But we were special.
Fester..no. Not that I know of. I don't think that would occur to anybody ..first time that’s ever come up. You got what you got!
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Thanks Ed, this is really kind.
I saw you play drums with the NHBs at Ronnie Scott’s. It was a perfect night. Steak and chips, red wine, and this amazing band. What was your happiest memory of the DS/NHB era - a day or night when you just thought ‘life doesn’t get any better than this’ Thanks again. Steve Szalay
Yes I remember you 🕺.
You ate Ronnie Scotts food and lived.MAJOR kudos.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Wow there were so many. So many and that was just the girls 👩.
First Madison Square Garden in 85 with a number 1 single and album.
Actually all those Ronnie Scott nights. The perfect venue to play and the band were so tight by then.
The Australian tours , great place.
Really the first 12 years were living the dream, one of the happiest times of my life.👩👩👩👩👩
Hello Ed, you said 'What he said at that last professional meeting was grossly insulting, patronising, bewildering and deeply hurtful.'. Given that you basically never listened to his music after that gives me the impression that Mark never apologized for that. Given that another family member got a chance to ask a question, I'm afraid that I have to give my dirty uncle the chance to ask his question. I personally wouldn't dare to ask you this, but my uncle assured my that you would enjoy the question: 'Did what Mark say involve the size of your knob?'.
I don’t think I told you to come out of the corner, did I? Please advise your uncle that the career he’s thinking of in stand-up comedy is a non starter and to stick to cutting hair.
Hi Ed, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, it's much appreciated.
Edit: I changed my question because I realized it had already been asked!
About the 96ers! Choosing the Nashville guys was a good idea in my opinion, and I particularly wanted to talk about Chad Cromwell. Did he really suffer from hearing problems that would have pushed him to leave the 96ers later on? Perhaps he was less docile than the others?
What direction would you have taken with the 96ers if you had continued?
Ahh I so wish I'd had an official recording of the 2000-2001 tour, what a great album STP.
I hadn’t heard that about Chad so can't say.
Real shame if he did/does.
Yes, he was “less docile” ( funny) he’s a DRUMMER. 🥁....Glenn, Jim, Richard are so laid back they’re horizontal.
Good question.
Made me think about it for the first time.
The direction is defined by the music.
Probably pretty much what happened , Crockford just does what he’s told and is quite open about that, fair enough.
I will say that although the end of my professional involvement with M was extremely sad and unnecessary in the way he went about it, we had reached...no ...passed our sell by date and it was time to part.
I'm not the kind of person who could represent somebody if i'm not 100% into the music they are making and i'm sure its clear to all reading this that the changes starting with GH didn't float my boat and thats as much down to me as it was to him.
After all, he wasn’t making music to please me!
Anyway, I was worn out physically and mentally and needed to get away from it for a while and just have a life instead of living surrounded by unpacked boxes., spend time with my gorgeous kids and wonderful friends and travel to places and SEE them , not the inside of some soulless arena. I have no regrets about that life change at all and he went on to do what you all know.
That's it for today.
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Hi Ed, a family member would like to know: Do you think Mark going solo was always inevitable from more or less the beginning of Dire Straits?
I never thought about at the time but, yes.
It gave him complete control and then I went and he got complete control in that area.
Hi Ed, it is a magnificent gift you are giving us, thank you.
Three questions, but you can pick one:
- we know many artists make special requests for tours, in the sense of things they always want to find in the dressing room, or special food. Such requests from MK?
- What do you think of Mark as producer of the DS records?
- John Illsey speaks very badly in his book about DS's Italian concerts, at the level of organisation above all. Do you confirm his impressions? (I am Italian)
You’re welcome. Thank you
Yes. Sausages, In padlocked metal boxes to which only he had the key looked after by a “key roadie” who had no other function, called The Ultimate Warrior.
Big fat sausages with the ends split and circumcised, dipped in English mustard with the fat dripping off and pooling on the Tiiffany gold plate that was his and his alone.
“ Mark’s Plate” it said round the edge , “ do not touch or The Warrior will shag you”.
Seriously no, they got what the caterers put in and what we could afford at the time and its pretty standard fare …crisps, sandwiches, salami/ham, celery, dips , an apple or two, juices. Beer. Some wine , gnat’s piss usually. That kind of thing.
Oh and cocktail sausages on sticks. Lots of those to dilute the desire for Mark’s sausages and the risk of a random muso, or wife, or gf, being arse blasted by The Warrior who’s booming voice would yell “assume the position” if they even APPROACHED the padlocked box.
Production. Once he got the hang of it after MM, world class.
Same on the 3rd party things he did eg Wally de Vile and the soundtracks. You can HEAR it.
Ah yes. John’s non fact-checked ghosted book full of humour and jokes, a required read for every DS fan who likes their literature DRY.
But he’s right about the first two Italian tours.
Pure chaos, didn't get paid properly, lost money and DANGEROUS, I was endlessly threatened with death if certain people didn't get the dates, we never played in any contracted venues, the capacities were ignored, no security, but great audiences.
Ferrara was particularly good because you were there.
I know it's much changed now with a new generation of proper promoters and newish venues. The OES dates were fine.
Wonderful country, love it. I wish I was there now instead of on AMIT, answering questions about my knob, which I have on good authority is a beast of a thing with a mind of its own 🍆.
One person in DS was so active in that area, his body just became a life support system for his penis.
For a bonus UNFILTERED question anybody like to guess who?
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Dear Ed,
thanks for your replies. Very nice facts to know about.
For most of us OES tour was the first and only time we saw DS. It is quite sad to read about being so hard for almost everyone involved who has talked about it. I love every bit of it, and the new expanded On The Night has been a gift.
Question... There were a few names of musicians that could have done it but declined... Jeff Porcaro, Vince Gill, Manu Katché¿?... Were there any other musicians proposed that finally did not make it?
This question could be used for other tours, if you are so kind.
Again, thank you very much.
Well the OES tour was sustained by the crew who were magnificent and n n n nearly all of the band who in spite of everything were total professionals throughout.
Heroes, the best. .
Along with my office staff and me of course. I was singularly fabulous.
Manu and Jeff declined because, I’m sure you know why by now, and Vince decided to keep going at his own career and ended up joining the World’s Most Dangerous Band, The Eagles who are winding things down. At last. Hopefully. When Henley decides he has enough money.
In my time up to 2000 I can't recall anybody being proposed who declined.
I got Terry in, Paul Cummins knew AC from Lindisfarne, my office found Hal having his hair permed, Joop just picked up a tambourine one day, I got Mel in, Neil Dorfsman recommended Tommy, I got Guy and Chris White in, Mark knew Jack , Crockford was “managing" Chris Whitten, Danny I can't remember who recommended him, a shed builder perhaps?
Seriously, with one exception ALL great guys , we were lucky to have them.
Dear Ed,
A great big thank you for doing this, and I'm pleased to read that you're actually enjoying it. It's so interesting what you say about MK really being a two-hit wonder. Sure he's a talented songwriter, hardworking and an unbelievable guitar player, but was he so much better than say Richard Thompson or Ry Cooder? I've always thought he was extremely lucky to be in the right place at the right time twice. And listening to his (very long) solo albums, it is evident that not everything he creates is gold. The two albums that have stuck with me are the first and second DS albums. They are just amazing in every respect much due to the true band feel that comes across, Mark's fantastic guitar work, Pick's drumming, and that they for some reason sound timeless.
Forgive me the rambling. I do have a question, and it's not DS/MK related. Since you're passionate about music, I assume you have a top-notch sound system, or maybe even a dedicated listening room. Would you care to tell us what your sound system consists of (components and brands)?
Cheers!
Let me just clarify the “hits” thing I mentioned .
You could say, and you’d be right, that DS had many more hits than two/three and a brief tour through any of the Hits/Best Of’s will demonstrate what I mean.
The biggest seller of the compilations was the first one ( MFN) and that did about 15 million mostly in countries where the preceding studio albums had NOT sold eg Central and South America.
That's quite a bit LESS than the population of Greater Los Angeles (18m +) so equivalent to just ONE US city which gives it some perspective.
So I’m not talking about the dedicated fans like you lot who bought ALL the studio and live albums but maybe NOT the Hits collections because try as I might I couldn't get any new extra tracks recorded, say, for MFN (and I did try….a normal marketing trick for those things back then).
What I'm talking about is the wider general public who perhaps bought ten albums a year OR less, for whom pop music isn’t that important it's in the background, who may not follow ANY acts , only have “Thriller” by MJ …don't know his other stuff , used to go into record stores ( remember them?) , look at the singles chart behind the counter and say “ I'll have 4, 6, 11,15 and 20” based on the SONG title and not the artist, and I've seen that happen many times.
It’s like streaming now, people in the main go for songs, not acts, but of course the big acts DO have dedicated followers and they are the ones who convert into ticket buyers.
So THEY are the ones who MIGHT know SOS, R and J, PI, MFN, WOL if that.
And if they are under the age of say 25 they probably don't know DS at all, definitely not MK, unless they’ve heard via their parents.
And who wants to listen to what their parent’s play?
Many years ago, early 2000’s, M asked me if MTV still played DS vids and I said “ yes but only MFN, very occasionally SOS ” which didn't best please him because it clearly meant that the programmers of that saw him as a one/two hit wonder.
Ditto “Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel, "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders, "Dancing in the Dark" by Springsteen, “ Jump” by Van Halen and so on.
Quite simply there is too much music out there.
Too much noise you have to break through to get heard.
About 100,000 songs are uploaded to services like Spotify EVERY DAY.
So before you lot get your knickers in a twist , that's what I mean when I say that for MOST people, DS is a two, three hits act at most, MK is a no hits act and his solo career has relied totally on the launch pad DS provided and the loyalty of a smallish part of that original fan base because you will never convince me that he’s picking up fans from the under 25 age group and it doesn’t matter.
He has found exactly the niche he wanted to be in, good luck to him.
And in that he’s NO DIFFERENT than just about all the artists of the generation he belongs to. When I go to see David Gilmour next month I will be astonished if I see any young people there. They can't afford the tickets to start with ( the whole ticketing thing is a rip off disgrace eg Via Go Go , Ticketmaster etc) !
End of lecture.
Sound system .
Great question.
Unfortunately my kit has been in storage for a while ( house move screwed up by Covid but I didn't die…7 friends did including David Stewart who worked as a TM for me then ran British Grove for M, terrible loss ) and I can't remember the model numbers.
It was bought around 2006/8 and its top of the line stuff…..KEF British speakers, Bose noise cancelling headphones, a beautiful Technics deck ,Technics CD player , original Phillips CD player ( number 2! ), Technics amps etc. I don't have a dedicated room but in my previous house it was all wired into the walls, speakers embedded in walls etc.
I only have vinyl and CD’s.
No cassettes., alot of vinyl including a huge number of original Blue Note and ECM jazz albums that were given to me by the label which have wonderful artwork .
I mostly listen to soundtracks, classical, ambient, jazz, big bands, classic soul, drum stuff, the rock and roll and pop I grew up on. No contemporary pop , no hard rock or heavy metal ( I worked with the best at that so ….) no hip hop or rap.
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Question from a family member.
Hi Ed. Thanks for squeezing my bro in. Moving on...
Do you think that there are any music producers out there or were considered who would have brought something better to either Dire Straits output or Marks solo career? My feeling is with the latter and OES he would have definitely benefitted from some more overtly outside influence but really interested in your view and wther other producers were ever considered during your tenure as manager.
Not really. All the third party producers we worked with were/are top of the line and of their time. No others were considered that I know of , maybe Phil Ramone would have been a good choice but academic. George Martin did a bit of arranging ( TTH) but wasn't asked to produce a truly amazing man) .
I cant speculate about what a difference they might have made.
The engineers also made a big contribution.
And the assistants who made tea.
Many thanks for doing it for us - get-a-lifers, Ed. It's an absolute highlight in the history of this Forum.
Following up on hunter's great question above (who hunted my original question - re "was he so much better than..." ), I'd like to know your opinion on why DS was as successful as they became. I was listening the other day to Chris Rea, similar age to MK, with some really good songs, interesting deep voice, characteristic guitar playing (slide), (red strat is his thing too btw) etc. Many ingredients for potential huge success are there and yet, he got nowhere near the level of DS/MK popularity. He was quite popular in Europe but rest of the world doesn't know him.
So, what was it that made DS so huge? Surely more than just being at the right place and time? Although it must happen at some point if you want a serious success I suppose. When asked about these things, MK always says that you really must want to do it, regardless of the ups and downs in your life, you got to be addicted to it, it has to be compulsory. But surely there must be other factors that make someone a world act instead of a toast of the town. Does (good) management play a key role? BTW, I always loved the name of your company - Damage Management. Says a lot about your sense of humour ;D Is that what it comes down to at this high level? Damage management?
How long is a piece of string?
My partner Sadie doesn’t believe in luck.
She calls it “ perfect alignment ”
I can't think of a better answer to your question, that's what we had.
So, breaking that down
Timing ..now they wouldn’t get a record deal or radio play. No TV, no sex symbol.
Talent ( the songs, the guitar SOUND, the original line-up minus David, the vocals, Muff’s production. )
Drive and work ethic is way more important than talent ..talented acts fail because they are not driven.
MK is absolutely right about that and he had drive in spades
Acts with little talent often make it through drive , we could all name dozens.
Personalities …the original 4 blended perfectly but David wasn’t able to handle the rapid rise in popularity ( not everybody can) and didn't think “it was supposed to be like this”.
He once tried to get me to STOP the record companies promoting the first album which got squashed very quickly... “ SHUT UP ” MK.
Once he’d gone the shackles came off and off we went to the topper most of the popper most.
Other than the talent the single most important element is great…not good…great management with a dedicated team which I had ( one person eventually let me down very badly but that's life, you just have to get on with it ) .
All the acts with long and successful careers have great managers and the relationships tend to be for the entire career.
But not always, as we know🔥🤮
Yes, damage control or as I used to put it, managing expectations.
Hi Ed
My, um, sister, Busty Valentino, has this question for you:
Who were the top acts you worked with, and also the more “challenging”, during your pre DS days at Hull University and as an agent?
I once shared a red Woolworths light bulb in a dodgy guest house in Leeds with an enthusiastic dancer who introduced herself…” they call me Busty June” and I ended up deaf.
That's a LONG list.
At University the big ones I put on ( 1967-1969) included The Moody Blues x2 , The Who x2 , Pink Floyd, x2 , Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Free, John Mayall, The Kinks, Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger Trinity, Family x 2 ( best of the lot) plus a bunch I've forgotten.
No problems with any and some…...Justin Hayward, Pete Townshend ( amazing guy..brightest man in music and funny as fuck) became pals.
As an agent , pretty much the same story and I've mentioned some above.
Only one asshole springs to mind, Bobby Womack RIP. Drugs sadly. Total shit.
Elton had his moments but underneath a good guy, funny.
Sabbath were pretty funny. Loved their stuff back then, ditto Purple.
Talking Heads were a great bunch, nearly managed them but not ready.
Gerry Rafferty was difficult, alcoholic and bi polar which killed him but he opened alot of doors for me and thereby for DS.
Wally de Vile RIP was a 100% total asshole and BIG mistake for MK which I had to tidy up , completely pointless.
Worked with some good people on festivals and TV's…..Rory Gallagher, Robert Palmer, Talking Heads, Barry White, Charles Aznavour ( brilliant), Marvin Gaye, The Police, Gordon Sting, others I cant remember.
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Hi Ed and thanks again for you disponibility, huge sens of humour, kindness, and mindblowing informations for all of us
one of my blog followers asks me always the same question : is it true that Mark doesn't choose what songs are released or not on an album ?
is it really the record compagny who decides this ?
for example, who decided to put Eastbound train as B-side and not on the album ? same for Badges, stickers, posters and T-shirts, or Millionaire blues and Kingdom come... lonesome wild blues (NHB), gravy train, my claim to fame... (I just gave examples during the time you had the job)
Thank you for your kind words.
I've always enjoyed interacting with fans,( especially electric ones when it’s hot), although not the idiots of which I’m afraid there are many.
That is utter rubbish.
One of the great benefits of having that initial success was it gave me the leverage to keep the record companies, especially the Phonogram UK lot, OUT OF IT.
We delivered finished recordings including all the B sides you mention to them and I worked with them on campaigns to put them out and market, promote and sell them.
At no point did they have ANY say in the content or artwork.
But I DID let them choose singles with the exception of PI which I kind of forced on them because M wanted that and I thought it was utterly brilliant.
I was stupefied it did so well because of it’s length.
We also didn't let them do edits ( but radio stations did them anyway eg R and J )
In the US I learned an important lesson.
The music was what came BETWEEN the commercials, not the other way round.
Warners did a two and a half minute edit of TR which I just point blank refused to let them issue, hilarious really as they acknowledged.
I can't recall why the tracks you mention weren’t on albums ( rubbish perhaps?) .
Probably because after putting Les Boys on MM just to fill time ( unlistenable after two plays), the stuff you describe just didn’t “ cut it ‘’ i.e not good enough or didn’t “fit” conceptually.
All those songs are art, and the rest weren’t , so they were put aside to be stored in a box marked “ POP ART “ with some Andy Warhol photocopies
But that’s an opinion, I just can't remember.
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Dear Ed, it is a privilege to have this opportunity that you have given us, to come across so much valuable information that you provide, some paradigm shifts, all of this through a contagious sense of humor, many smiles and reflections came to me.
I am one of the few fans here who has never had the opportunity to see a Dire Straits or Mark Knopfler show. I would have loved it if Dire Straits had ever come to Brazil. I never knew if this was ever considered and the exact reasons why they never came to South America.
After acquiring all the official Dire Straits material in the late 90s, I delved deep into bootlegs and discovered a new world. There are two Dire Straits, the studio and the live. No famous band's history will be complete without going through the bootleg universe. (In my opinion), unfortunately, due to commercial and logistical reasons, DS's official live recordings have never revealed the full experience of a band's show. (At this point, I would like to highlight the importance of bootlegs, which reveal another dimension of the band that the official discography of most bands like DS is not capable of offering. Believe me, this brings great happiness to the most dedicated fans. Those who are into this already have everything official material, it's a matter of honor), Alchemy and On The Night were examples of this for decades, only last year they were released in full. If it weren't for the bootlegs, we would never know what the On Location tour 80/81 was like, or the legendary BIA Tour 85/86, just to name a few examples. I used to be a very dreamy fan, I longed for years to watch the Alchemy video in its entirety, with Portobello Belle, the footage of the show in Paris 1983, Wembley 85 in its entirety, outtakes, demos... none of this has come to light to this day, but some pleasant surprises came after a long time, such as the live 78/92 box set, especially the TOTALLY UNRELEASED last show of the original quartet, Rainbow Theatre, London, UK, 20th-21st December 1979, which brings my favorite "incarnation" in terms of sound, I'm a purist DS fan, I love above all that sound of the original quartet.
Mentioned all this to ask a complex question, why aren't there penguins at the North Pole, there are only penguins at the South Pole? Have you ever stopped to think about this aspect of existence? 😅
Of course I'm joking a little, my question is related to the Communique tour 79,, it was the only tour in which Dire Straits toured the United States on two separate occasions, between February and April 79 and September and October 79. I read somewhere that the second American tour was not successful, paradoxically for me it is strange, judging by the bootlegs available, the band is even sharper, with a wider repertoire. What could you say about this period of the last tour with the original line-up? Any notable shows, it seems to me that the Pink Pop Festival, Geleen, The Netherlands, June 4th 1979 was the first time the band performed for a huge audience, probably more than 50,000 spectators in the audience. In the only available DS video of this festival, there is a rare scene where it shows you with sunglasses 😎 watching the band, just before they play Lady Writer.
That's it for now.
I wish you much happiness and health in your life, Ed, you seem to have a remarkably rejuvenated spirit, I love people like that. :wave
Aaah. So you’re Brazilian.
I like a Brazilian.
I always smile when I see one, especially close up.
I'm genuinely sorry about that but playing SA back then was a bit like playing Italy. Problematic. .
I did a whole plan/budgets to play Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico plus South Africa and parts of Eastern Europe, on the OES tour but because of the overblown production, the ridiculous overhead, the air freight costs , the band costs and ESPECIALLY the misery factor , I dumped it and extended Europe by about 2 months ( the last bit).
I had at least three musicians begging me not to exercise the options on their contracts for that section and consequently I did not think I’d have a band to do it.
They were homesick, fed up, exhausted and done with the atmosphere.
We barely scraped through the last few weeks.
I’m so glad that the bootlegs were recorded.
I used to get stick from the idiot record co’s ( not WB) about live TV broadcasts , bootlegging , anything coming out that wasn’t “official” and I told them to “fuck off’’…..if it didn't happen the way I/we wanted it didn't happen at all.
I don't know how it is now but the senior management at Polygram ( with the exception of Ramon Lopez ) had NO CLUE about music or what it was like to be a fan.
Wankers.
When you are a manager sadly you have to be tough sometimes, really tough.
I can't remember why the live records came out in the form they did.
Mainly for technical time reasons back then I think.
I think the 85 Wembley Show is owned by the TV company
I did see a documentary which said that penguins just can’t swim that far.
For my part I've never understood why modern toilets rarely flush all the turds away first go.
I always have to give it a second flush and crank the handle up and down to assure a sparkling clean bowl.
Late summer of 79 the Arabs hiked the price of oil substantially with catastrophic economic results in the USA where gas prices shot up causing a massive recession. So the cities we had played on the spring bit, when the FIRST album was a huge hit off the back of SOS , sold out eg East Coast but from Greensboro down to Florida was disastrous as the recession bit.
Detroit and Chicago were OK.
I was trying to expand the US fan base but it backfired.
Plus “ Communique” wasn’t hot, not even lukewarm.
It was not a happy tour ( huge understatement ..nearly as bad as OES ).
The brothers were not in arms and M was in a complete funk over Holly Vincent which i'm only mentioning because that’s in the public domain.
The band came very close to collapsing during that and the period up to New Year 79.
If I was wearing sunglasses it’s probably because I was crying at the thought of “Lady Writer” coming up.
I love you too Brunno but you need to get a Brazilian not be a Brazilian before we can take that anywhere.
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Hello, Mr. Edward Scissorhands
(now i remembered about a 90's porn movie Edward penis hands.... go figure why) So many emotions from my youth
Enough with this nonsense, Rolo.
The guy have high blood pressure (don't say the magic word)
You talked about producers and one thing that still amazes me is the first DS album. Comunique is better in terms of sound. The guitars are cristal clear, drums are big, even J bass is quite good on this album. However, there are the Muff's touch on the first record that is, to my point of view, amazing. For me, the magic happened at Mark's guitar tone. I don't know about it, but to me, that tone it's all Muff's magic.
That mystical chorus/vibrato almost cracked clean tone is magical. And never reproduced live. It's all studio.
Another Muff's touch, to my ears, is that In The Gallery was raised a half-step after the recordings. Well, there was too many songs in A...
Seems to me that Muff got some issues with MK, because he said that D (i almost sayed the magic word) was a great player and good as anyone. (Thank God that D's guitars is almost unaudibles on that record, proven that the 'anti-Golias's' guitars was, at least, weak)
Maybe the little brother would have red light syndrom, who knows...
You talked about Mark was unable to record for Michael Jackson.
People always imagined about a partnership between Gilmour and Mark. However, i always felt that Roger Waters was artistically more "adequated" to a collab with Mark.
Both are "inspired" by wars and pipes.
Did Roger ever made an aproach with you or Mark? I really like his albums "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" (with Eric) and "Amused to Death" (with Jeff)
Ah, another one:
Is well know that, at the 90's, MK often spoke about a Unplugged MTV wicth never happened.
How close a MTV Unplugged Mark Knopfler was to happen?
(i have my toughts, but i'll won't say it)
My very good friend Brunno Nunes talked about you guys touring on South America and i remember when you guys came to Brazil (STP Tour). I think that the brazilian media didn't do the proper cover. (I remember to see an MK very short interview on a kid's show called 'Turma da Xuxa'). Seems that was a mess.
I don't know the Rudy's influence on the Brazil mess. He is argentinian, so... HA!
Ed, thank you again.
If you get plans to next summer in Portugal, don't call me.
I am a pain in the ass.
cheers, Ed the Scissorhands.
Ah. Rolo. The emotional one😩.
I’ve seen that movie.
Not a patch on “ The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann”., that’s a corker as we say up North.
Muff basically recorded the live performances as they were then. It was done in 12 days including mixing and had a spontaneous, exciting feel to it.
Wexler tried to copy that eg “ What strings did you use?” “ What drum heads?”
I was surprised by Muff’s comments in that TV doc but he’s a producer, I’m not ( and a lovely bloke ). I do not think M shared that view.
Roger Waters. No.
MTV. He did? Really?
We were never approached, we did not approach them, he never mentioned it to me.
Your thoughts are "not a good idea" aren’t they? .
I wasn’t involved in the STP tour.
Dusty tells me you don't take collect calls so I wouldn’t anyway.
“Muff’s touch”
(https://img.rasset.ie/00124d9e-800.jpg)
We have reached a 100 and things are heading downwards, just like a Muff Dive.
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Thanks, Ed, for your answer about your sound system. I'm sure it's lovely. Personally, putting some money into a better-than-average playback system and taking the time to learn about proper speaker setup, have been some of the most rewarding things I've done. The music just comes alive in a very different way. Especially well-recorded music like DS and MK, not to mention ECM albums, of which I'm a great fan and collector. Talk about a vast and varied catalog of artists, many totally obscure, who just create the most amazing and amazing-sounding music. Fantastic.
A question, if I may, this time about Mark. One of the things I admire the most about him as a live performer is how effortlessly he plays lead lines behind his vocals. Many famous singer-guitarists don't, or can't. I mean, take Lady Writer for instance. An uptempo song, a mouthful lyrically, and then to play those intricate lines with precision and without messing up the singing. In your opinion, or from observation, is that just something he has a gift for, or did he practice a lot to achieve that kind of independency?
Thank you, and cheers.
Great. Someone who is familiar with ECM and their esoteric works.
Rudy Van Gelder’s recording’s for Blue Note are in the same league.
They are jazz so qualify as ART.
Gift I’d but there’s no point having a gift/talent if you done practice and apply it.
You know I can't recall ever seeing him practice in the time we worked together…doodling yes, but dedicated practice, no.
Good morning Ed,
a dear friend of mine from Italy asked me to pass this question to you, he thanks you in advance for a possible answer, whatever will be. :)
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WILLY DEVILLE:
An interview to Mr. Deville released in 2006:
I wanted to ask you about the album you made with Mark Knopfler, I can't remember its title ("Miracle" Willy supplied) how did that come about? Was he assigned to produce you by your label or did it come about some other way?
It was Mark's wife Lourdes who came up with the idea. She said to him that you don't sing like Willy and he doesn't play guitar like you,
Nobody plays guitar like him.
That's for sure, but you really like his stuff so why don't you do an album together?
So I went over to London to do this album. It wasn't easy because we didn't want it to sound like a Dire Straits' album, and his guitar playing is so unique that it was hard to do. But nothing good is going to be easy. I know that I spent the whole time really trying to impress Mark, I wanted it to be good.
But, yeah it was his wife Lourdes who was responsible more than anyone else for that album. She's a really great lady, really nice. I still really like that album, especially "Southern Politician".
In an interview with you on the Live In The Lowlands DVD you talked about Mark's reaction to the song "Storybook Love"...
Oh yeah that was funny. I played him what I had and he looked at me and said how did you know about that. I said what, and he said that he was working on a movie with Rob Reiner called the Princess Bride and I'd just written a song that told the story. He got on the phone and phoned Rob and told him, and Reiner said to get it out to him as soon as possible. So we did it up rough and sent it off and he loved it.
The next thing I know I'm standing backstage and listening to Dudley Moore and Liza Manelli introduce me before going out to sing "Storybook Song" at the Oscars. There I was standing backstage with Tom Selleck and Karl Malden, waiting to onstage. It was weird...
Well Ed, this is my question:
it has always been very strange for me that Deville who was so musically distant from Mark, he had composed a song that fitted perfectly in terms of music and lyrics with The Princess Bride soundtrack, at the right time in the right place. My question is: is it possible that Deville had secretly listened to the Mark's early recordings of The Princess Bride main theme through Lourdes before and then he wrote his song ("Lourdes who was responsible more than anyone else for that album", cit. Willy Deville) ? OK, it seems to be sci-fi but the Mark's reaction was so natural and spontaneous ..( "Oh yeah that was funny. I played him what I had and he looked at me and said how did you know about that. I said what, and he said that he was working on a movie with Rob Reiner called the Princess Bride and I'd just written a song that told the story")
Thank you so much Ed for your time.
Before I start, the most unpleasant artist I ever had to deal with by light years.
There was no PB recording prior to WDV’s arrival so no.
M’s involvement with him was catastrophic for all of us involved.
I’m afraid working with heroin addicts is just not a good idea.
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Thank you again, Ed.
I was surprised by Muff’s comments in that TV doc but he’s a producer, I’m not ( and a lovely bloke ). I do not think M shared that view.
M didn't share Muff's view (and the rest of world too)
MTV. He did? Really?
We were never approached, we did not approach them, he never mentioned it to me.
Your thoughts are "not a good idea" aren’t they? .
I remember to see one or two interviews and he talked about a Unplugged Concert.
(my thoughs are that he was waving to MTV)
Well, if MK was interested in a low profile public life, maybe the MTVUnp wasn't the ideal.
I think that (confirmed) MTV never made an approach.
Would be nice? Yes.
I wasn’t involved in the STP tour.
That explains a lot.
Dusty tells me you don't take collect calls so I wouldn’t anyway.
Please, Ed.
Don't take me serious, ever.
All my questions for you are about having a good laugh at the end.
And I never take collect calls.
By the way, Muff had no “issues” with M during recording of first album but the brothers did , just starting to show. .
Unplugged..nice? Who knows?
Academic, it was never done.
Hello Ed,
Again, many thanks for doing this. I was on vacation while this initiative started, so now I've had to waste 8 hours of life reading all your previous answers. Worth it.
Three questions if you and Dusty allow me (I'm not sure about the rules).
- Which countries did you try to get DS to perform but never managed?
- Which country was the most difficult to tour in (in terms of logistics, promoters, payments, all of that)? I know you've mentioned Italy as being difficult in 80/81, but was there a country you particularly struggled with?
- Dire Straits visited my country, Portugal, twice in 1992. Any particular memories of those days there, and why did DS not perform there during the 85/86 tour?
If I took a World map and stuck a pin in every place we DID play it would look VERY sparse. But then it would for ALL acts.
The World Tour market back then was pretty restricted (1977-2000 )
UK, Europe, parts of Eastern Europe,
US, Canada, Australasia, Japan.
The main problems were lack of infrastructure/venues, safety/politics eg Russia, nobody insane enough or reliable enough to promote, restricted record markets.
Over that period a few started to open up, Italy being one in its unique fashion.
Excluding South Africa western acts rarely play African countries even now, or China, huge tracts of Asia eg Mongolia, Thailand, Cambodia
.
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico I tried to do.
Just too difficult then.
Austria was really difficult though we did go.
Doing Greece and Israel was a real throw of the dice, lost money in both, great audiences.
I loved Israel. So interesting, beautiful women.
Portugal…….no promoters in 85/6.
I didn't go on those shows, too busy, atmosphere too shit but they went off ok and I got good reports back from the band and crew.
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One person in DS was so active in that area, his body just became a life support system for his penis.
I'm still facing the wall in shame for bringing up your mighty beast, and had MKs solo career been included I would have definitely gone for Richard Bennett, but my guess would be Danny Cummings (If you can play latin percussion and recorded with George Michael and Elton John all options must be open!)
Hilarious. WAY off.
Another one of your jokes?
Danny….FOR FUX SAKE 🤡 ( love him). .
This is such a great opportunity to ask someone from within the whole operation, I love it.
I wonder (I don't mean this as a gossip-question) how (and if ;-) the band stayed sober and seemingly blind to all the excess drug-fueled showbizz that was going on in the '80's. It seems every band for those years has crazy stories to either tell of being told about them, and DS is never 'accused' of any that! Where there afterparty after shows, did the band go into town for drinks after shows or was it as professional as it appears to be, and were shows being done without some divine intervention (wink) after weeks of little sleep and the occasional cold and/or hangover?
Actually most bands DON’T.
It’s a myth.
I've worked with hundreds of acts ( 1970-2008 ) and most by far are dull, boring, drink too much, are too cheap to buy drugs, couldn’t pull a rubber band, can’t even wank properly, often don't like each other, fight, break up, join another band and do it all again. .
DS. Afterparties…no. Maybe in the odd capital city….Paris. LA. NY. Sydney.
In Winnipeg..no. Nurnberg ..no. Gothenburg …no. Canberra….impossible.
Promoters might take everyone to dinner, ditto record cos which were usually mind numbing.
Clubbing. Ha!!!.
They were not a clubbing band and most clubs ..say in Minneapolis or Rotterdam …are dreadful.
So drinks in the bar and off to bed to read the hotel copy of the Gideon’s Bible to a nun they’ve pulled in a Burger King.
Sorry to disappoint you.
The Management however did EVERYTHING you are hinting at ( no marching powder though and I don't drink, nor even when Chet Atkins rang up).
Hi Ed,
How was like, managing David and Alan?
Generalied opinion is that david leaving the band was not easy and affected family relationships and so on. But after leaving the band we can see Mk playing with David’s band in San Remo both happy and smiling and good harmony. You have any clue what was that about? Was then after david leaves, the major problem between them?
Same with Alan. We can see him after OES and after OTN supporting mk on keabords in a masterclass for 3 guitar players in a tvshow. Was everything ok between them ?
Outside of the original four I didn't manage any of the other band members outside of their work WITHIN the band and didn't want to.
I went to San Remo with them. Boy that was fun.
The definition of a good time, joyous, funny, creatively perfect.
I’d rate that as the best time I ever had in San Remo, the Las Vegas of Italy.
I think M felt sorry for David but I don't really know, he just said I’ll do it if you come with us so I did.
Not aware of the TV. I don't have anything to say about Alan .
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Ed
Thanks again for doing this.
It was told to me once that you had pushed or maybe just suggested to Mark to get the band back together and do another big tour when the Sultans of Swing compilation was released. Or perhaps the record companies wanted it. Any truth to this?
EDIT: This seems kind of unlikely to me given what you've said about the OES tour...
No. Completely untrue.
The record co’s never suggested or asked and as I have indicated earlier I told them what we were doing, they NEVER told me ( too scared !) .
Hello Ed, my cousin Ally (not on this forum sadly) always wondered about what Mark had said at the Nelson Mandela gig about Jack. In his little speech at the Walk Of Life break Mark made it look like he suddenly and surprisingly had to find an replacement inside-left as Jack would have become daddy of two lovely babies. How much truth was in this? I wonder if Jack really would have played the Mandela gig if the babies would have been born in, let's say August.Q: Was he ever really asked to do the gig? When was it really decided that Eric would play inside-left?
I know this touches the Jack Sonni theme again but the Nelson Mandela gig was an absolute great thing for me. I always wished this concert would have been properly and officially released as an live album (much better idea than "Live At The BBC"...)
I know Dire Straits were asked very early and were headliners together with Simple Minds. I loved that the rehearsal gigs were made available for fans, was that your idea? Those gigs must have been pure fun. (I always wondered why Mark looked so pale, tired and old at the real event. He could have got a proper hair cut and a decent suit before. Those striped trousers! )
Thank youhuuuuuuu!
LE
can't quite recall the backstory to this.
If you listen to the podcasts Jack did not long before his passing (I think there are 2) , you will get a good idea of how HE saw the apparent collapse of his friendship with MK. I wasn’t present when they met in LA and M told me nothing about that or even that they had met, but Jack’s take on it is very sad to hear and entirely believable …...I do understand why what Jack was suggesting wouldn’t float M’s boat.
The problem was that his expectations of that situation seem to have been completely at odds with the reality, which was that he was employed as a sideman for the BIA tour alone .
I believe he thought his friendship with M was way more than that and that his position in the group would continue including recording, maybe as a “full member”.
What I don't know is what M had told him when he came on board to replace Hal who was sacked ( and not by me…see John Illsley’s funky book which tells part but not all of the reason).
NM.
He says “management” called him but I didn’t.
Maybe Cummins did, M certainly did not .
I believe he WAS asked but the issue of his daughters' expected birthdate meant he couldn’t commit .
I can't remember when Erica was asked but I do remember that when M told me he’d spoken to Clapped Out I said that would cause a huge problem because of some extremely drunken racist remarks Erica had made many years before ( in Birmingham I think) which had given rise to the Rock Against Racism “ movement in the UK.
And it did.
But that got sorted in the way that I always sorted BS, I exposed my arse.
The politics of that show were ridiculous …see website devoted to it.
But I'm really glad we did it and for me it was one of DS best performances ever. Top 5.
The recordings of that show were not owned by us.
The warm up gigs were offered to the “fan club” at my instigation.
Simple Minds were not joint headliners but I think that they were the first to accept.
Fun? Yes. A riot of laughs. I wet my pants then loaned them to M for the show.
Haircut. Suit. Pants. …...Listen, M was and is a fashionable, hip, cool daddy-o , right up there with Ozzy Osbourne, Moby, Chris Martin and Cannonball Adderley.
Don't you have a go at my boy, Joop de Korte cut his hair and that suit jacket was borrowed from Lars Ulrich The World’s Greatest Drummer.
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Ed, the almighty.
Lord of Laughs.
Sometimes, me and my dear friend Brunno Nunes (which is a great guitar player and has a great DS Early Years cover act at his hometown ) catch us talking about DK and Hal as, and only as, guitar players.
Hal is a pro-session guitar player until nowadays. Composed a bunch of film scores and recorded a lot of albums. David, was never a pro-player (in my opinion). However, he was capable to deliver the job until the date that he leaves the band.
Thru the 2 first DS albums, DK's guitar is very, very discrete. Both albums are essencially Mark playng guitar, like 90/10 in coparison to David.
To my ears, Hal was (is) very capable to mimic Mark's playing. However, his playing turned (i don't know if was because of Alan) very modest and far from his capacities as a guitar player (Hal can play, technically, much better than what we hear on the records)
So, I have 1 question and my uncle Muff Rolovsky has another one.
- How Hal joined the band? He was indicated by someone? He played on some kind of audition? Were other players in mind or was only Hal?
He wasn't a Joe Doe either, was he?
- How much Hal played on the LOG album? In percentage, less than David? I am asking this question based on a recent discussion here on the forum.
My thoughts are that Hal, because he could mimic MK very well, his parts (on the record) are, sometimes, interpreted as played by Mark.
The public opinion says that Hal played only few lines and chords on the record, the rest (95%) was MK.
off topic:
Did you know that a modern version of a brazilian kind of romantic style called ''brega' is totally inspired by DS? (mainly about Sultans)
And bunch of Brazilian Latin (based on latin-spanish culture) bands are crazy about DS?
There are very small poor cities (almost villages) in the Northeast of Brazil that the only international music that plays on the streets and bars are DS.
Thanks again, Ed.
I am laughing just imagining your answers.
Oh fuck, its Roll me over again.
I would never have guessed you and Brew NO Brew, were guitarists.
I thought you were cellists.
This might be translation but Hal is a pro session guitarist. Really? Because he strummed on Private Lap Dancer ?
David K…😱. HELP MEEEEEEEEE 🧛♂️
I don't know if you are teaching me the ways of the guitar, tugging your tiny todger, or asking me a question.
One of the girls in my office knew him when he was in a group called Darling.
Yes.
Darling.
No wonder they didn't make it.
No one else auditioned ...same as with Chris White, Terry Williams, Mel Collins, Guy Fletcher Tommy Mandel, Alan C, Phil P, Danny C, Pauline Franklin and non of MK’s solo lot for sure .
No Joe Doe Hal Lindes. Do Joe Hal Lindes. Get it right.
I do not know AND I DO NOT CARE who played what chords in what proportion on any record made by any act in the history of music. POP or ART or RUBBISH.
That you have carried out a Worldwide poll with the entire World public of 8 billion to establish that MK played 95% ( it was actually 96.3% ) is why your hero calls you ‘' get a lifers ”.
I call you “ trainspotters”.
And as for brega. So ? SO?
Are you laughing?
Because I am crying.
Hi Ed, loving your answers, pure funny!!
One question I have - when Johnnie Walker interviewed Mark in 1992 at Woburn Abbey, they were talking about Brendan, and Johnnie says “when all this (ie OES tour) is over might you be back on stage as I’ve heard you’ve thoughts of a nice gutsy RnB band as a change for the Hillbillies and you and Brendan might do something”. Mark says it won’t be for a few years but he’d like to do more with Brendan.
Can you shed any light on this? Obvs the NHB did get back together several times but no such sideline project.
Thanks Ed!
My answers ARE me being serious.
It’s the questions that are funny.
Johnnie Walker.
Good guy, one of the best.
On that interview he must have been drinking too much of his namesake.
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Hello Ed, I have been asked by another family member: Can you give us the names of some of the film soundtracks Mark either turned down or couldn't do because of other commitments?
So many.
Amongst others he turned down The Last Emperor, A River Runs Through It, Legend, Maverick, Thelma and Louise, Last of The Mohicans, Anal Stories …The Sequel starring Rocco Sifreddi’s botty.
And he chose to do Wag the Friggin’ Dog.
This is why I got paid multo lire.
Ed, the almighty.
Lord of Laughs.
Sometimes, me and my dear friend Brunno Nunes (which is a great guitar player and has a great DS Early Years cover act at his hometown ) catch us talking about DK and Hal as, and only as, guitar players.
Hal is a pro-session guitar player until nowadays. Composed a bunch of film scores and recorded a lot of albums. David, was never a pro-player (in my opinion). However, he was capable to deliver the job until the date that he leaves the band.
Thru the 2 first DS albums, DK's guitar is very, very discrete. Both albums are essencially Mark playng guitar, like 90/10 in coparison to David.
To my ears, Hal was (is) very capable to mimic Mark's playing. However, his playing turned (i don't know if was because of Alan) very modest and far from his capacities as a guitar player (Hal can play, technically, much better than what we hear on the records)
I am laughing just imagining your answers.
Funny, as I already mentioned to you, dear friend Rolo, I attribute the same phenomenon to Hal's participation in the Love Over Gold album. I have a lot of difficulty in perceiving his signature, where he is present doing some filling, something that identifies, "this is Hal Lindes.", everything seems to be MK. In Private Dancer with Tina, I simply cannot identify any signature of Hal's, the only thing I see Hal copying MK is the tone and nothing more, they had copies of Schecter guitars, the same equipment, this helped him a lot in this sense, in addition to all the guidance that MK certainly gave him. A great professional guitarist, but, for me, he does not have a signature, something that I have always valued a lot, as well as beautiful soulful solos.
In the first two albums, despite the predominance of MK's guitars (in which album does this not happen in DS or solo?) I can more easily notice DK's guitar, which despite being a band with 4 members. In my opinion, DK naturally has elements that emulate guitar sounds more clearly. MK, there is a whole context behind this, they have the same influences, they created their own dynamics between guitars and equipment over years and years (forget the differences in personalities), I'm talking about sound, identity, the rhythmic parts that DK sound very similar to MK's, live it becomes clearer to me.
In the end, it is clear to me, regarding guitar sounds in DS, DK has more identity in what he set out to do, rhythm guitar, he had more expression in this and style than Hal, none of the songs on the first two albums sound like the original quartet and it's not because the next stage went to another level of dynamics because of the keyboards, it's just that when a member leaves, the sound can change a lot, it was like that with DK in 1980, it was like that when Pick left in 1982, but it wasn't like that with the absence of Hal Lindes in 1984.
If Bruce Welch's guitar was not in The Shadows would it be the same? I don't think so. It could be Brendan Croker or Steve Philippe instead of DK, but it wouldn't be the same. There are these nuances.
Just my point of view.
Ah. Brunno The Magnificent, Lord of the Humongous, Ruler of the Wasteland.
I couldn’t read his signature either.
He has very poor handwriting.
Look. I simply CANNOT talk about David Knopfler.
Not even if I swallow an entire bottle of v i a g r a.
Bruce Welch who is a real pal is a GREAT rhythm guitarist, an original and DK and Hal are not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as him. I AM SERIOUS.
Thank you for your point of view ..I will tell Bruce.
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Hello Ed, my cousin Ally (not on this forum sadly) always wondered about what Mark had said at the Nelson Mandela gig about Jack. In his little speech at the Walk Of Life break Mark made it look like he suddenly and surprisingly had to find an replacement inside-left as Jack would have become daddy of two lovely babies. How much truth was in this? I wonder if Jack really would have played the Mandela gig if the babies would have been born in, let's say August.Q: Was he ever really asked to do the gig? When was it really decided that Eric would play inside-left?
I know this touches the Jack Sonni theme again but the Nelson Mandela gig was an absolute great thing for me. I always wished this concert would have been properly and officially released as an live album (much better idea than "Live At The BBC"...)
I know Dire Straits were asked very early and were headliners together with Simple Minds. I loved that the rehearsal gigs were made available for fans, was that your idea? Those gigs must have been pure fun. (I always wondered why Mark looked so pale, tired and old at the real event. He could have got a proper hair cut and a decent suit before. Those striped trousers! )
Thank youhuuuuuuu!
LE
jeez, feeling like the great killjoy here, but also THIS was touched by Ed (in a decent manner of course) and by Jack himself in his podcast. again, should i be wrong, someone throw the first of many stones..
I checked myself and it was not in the Podcast but Dusty had messaged him and Jack had answered that he had been contacted by the Management to play the Mandela gig, not by Mark himself and he called that phone call "ridicoulus" and even if Mandela was an important man, he never would miss the birth of his daughters. So maybe Ed can answer my question nevertheless.
LE
This is when Jack got pissed about the money end I think ( “ridiculous”)
I’ve dealt with this above.
My memory is that we paid all the sidemen and our crew for the rehearsals/warm ups and NM gig since it was M’s choice to do it, not theirs.
We did that with any charity shows DS did.
But I definitely did not have that conversation with him.
I will say Jack and I always had a good relationship and he understood exactly that I was “in the middle” and why.
Miss him, great player and a better man and Dad.
Dear Ed,
I would also like to thank you for your willingness to answer questions, clarify ambiguities and spread a lot of humor, which is particularly commendable. :thumbsup This leads to my first post after 13 years of forum registration.
After the many questions I have already asked, I find a lot of interesting things in your comments about the colloborations and companions around the band and MK in the various projects. That's what my question at the end is aimed at. I could name a whole list of people I would like to ask you about your point of view and especially your personal experiences, but I will limit myself to a few.
1) Van Morrison: There is a wonderful British folk-pop-rock duo (sometimes band) called “Ezio” from Cambridge. Perhaps you know them? They are still phenomenally good in live performances today (usually gigs less than 300 in attendance ;)) and their first albums showed how gifted Ezio is as a songwriter (or rather was back then). The second album was produced by Peter van Hooke, who you probably know as he is a drummer and producer and is about your age. Peter van Hooke was also the drummer in Van Morrison's band for a long time, for example when the album “Beautiful Vision” was recorded. Ezio once told me that he was probably also in favor of getting MK as a guest guitarist for the album and then had the “chutzpah” to complain during the recording of “Cleaning Windows” that the MK contribution was actually quite nice, but why did it have to sound so much like Dire Straits? Not unfunny at all... Maybe you know Peter personally and can confirm that? Anyway...Van Morrison is one of Mark's favorite artists according to his own statement and Mark has also said in interviews that the idea of a duet album came up in the days of STP. Conversely, Van does obviously not seem an easy person to deal with. I would therefore be very interested in your actual findings about the collaborations between the two (was the duet album actually planned?) and your personal image of and experience with Van from these connections.
2) Gerry Rafferty: Another one of my more favorite artists, with whom you also had a very intense and sometimes difficult professional relationship due to his illness. The first musical connection between MK and GR was most likely Local Hero, correct? That will presumably also have come about with your personal involvement?! The collaboration on “Another World” was of course musically not really from "another world", but in my opinion is still better than many others feel and for sure it still touched me in view of Gerry's life and both of their interplay on that. How did the two of them see each other? Can you a little bit elaborate about your experience with Gerry as his manager? If this takes too long, can you at least specify on your experiences and emotions when you saw the two making music together?
3) Randy Newman: One of the few real heroes for me. Of course I don't know him personally, but the wit, self-irony and sarcasm that flows from his interviews often warms my heart. Many of his songs are simply terrific and the lyrics are brilliant. His type and humor must have been right up your alley. Did you have any personal experiences with him. Maybe not because it was probably only about “Land of Dreams” and a few joint appearances by MK and RN at that time, but if so, what would you like to say about your impressions?
4) Chris Rea: He already came up briefly in a question. As far as I know, the two never worked together, but I have read interviews in which Chris, who unfortunately had to endure an unfair and gruesome health story as most of us probably know, spoke very positively about Mark's music. The only connection that has remained with many is the worn-out “Diarrhea Joke”, which unfortunately doesn't last long. Was there anything we didn't know? Did Mark and you know and appreciate Chris and his musical work?
5) Lady Diana - a must! I had to end with something special, but have no doubt that others will be interested in this too. It is always said that Lady D was a big Dire Straits fan and the media coverage of the Princes Trust Galas seems to back this up. Is this true and if so, do you have any interesting stories of your own from that time dealig with the royals?
A big introduction to a short question, but this was also done to give you something to read and some background for the reasons of my personal interest, in the hope that it will inspire you to answer.
Now the question in a nutshell:
What are your personal experiences and views on a) Van Morrison, b) Gerry Rafferty, c) Randy Newman, d) Chris Rea and 5) Lady Diana with regard to your work as a manager of Dire Straits and MK?
Don't worry - there won't be a second question naming additional five from me. ;)
1000 thanks from Germany! :wave
First of all, congratulations and celebrations on your first post 🕺.
And what a post it is.
A post of steel.
The kind that holds up an impenetrable fence.
Rather like your questions🤪
I am going to disappoint because what you are asking requires a book on each subject and I don't have the time or energy SO I am going to answer almost in shorthand and you are going to have to fill in the blanks.
Van the Man.
No, not heard of Ezio.
Terrible name if they are operating in UK, sounds like a household cleaning product, a toilet bowl liquid perhaps.
“ EZIO 💥, KEEPS YOUR RIM SPARKLING CLEAN. Just £7.99 for a giant bottle. Get yours today. EZIO 💥🔥💀 “
Peter VH. Played drums on Climate of Hunter the Scott Walker album I worked on.
Not met him but he is a Division 1 studio drummer for sure.
If he survived being in Van’s band then he must have the will of an Ox and the patience of a Saint.
MK sounds like MK.
Tony Iommi sounds like Tony Iommi.
Hank Marvin sounds like Hank Marvin.
Joe Walsh sounds like Joe Walsh.
Richie Blackmore sounds like….and so on,
Brunno Ninny Nonny sounds like Brunno Ninny Nonny i.e crap. 🎸.
All of the great individualists on whatever their instrument is have their own sound.
Being a drummer I can recognise Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Steve Gadd, Willie Hall, Lars Ulrich The World’s Greatest drummer and so on.
In Lars case because he is SO bad he’s good, rather like vomiting is good after too many lagers.
You’ll know about that I’m sure.
That sounds a VERY unlikely comment for PVH to have made because he would have known that Van would have got Mark in precisely because he DOES sound like MK and in turn that’s the sound of DS. Van is very precise about how he wants his records AND his farts to sound so….
Van the Man not Can the Can ( I love Suzi Quatro…a real hoot 👄).
Yes M likes V and V likes M musically.
Yes there was talk of a duets record but for better or worse it bit the dust when V wanted to own the copyright in "The Last Laugh" which he hadn’t written, hadn’t paid to record and had only sung the chorus on, and then said he would licence it back to us for £1.
M and I just got fed up with his nonsense so the duets idea bit the dust.
The issues I mention then got resolved after M said he would take V off and sing the part himself , V backed down and the track went onto STP.
A complete waste of time and for what gain?
They must have made up because I see clips of M and V burbling away like two rather plump pub singers with their fingers in their ears doing a piece entitled "Ode of the Celtic Wanker” they wrote together in Paul Brady’s back garden.
“ Aaaah I wuz a rover, now I’m just a twat,
I loik ta singue this song and wear a cowboy hat,
My cock is very scraggy,
It hangs down boi my knees,
It only gets a stiffy when oi cough and sneeze.”
Knopfler/Morrison. Chariscourt Ltd /Celtic Wanker Ltd.
Good.
They make a lovely couple.
I turned down managing V about 3, maybe 4 times?
I have enough stories to cause you to have a heart attack as does anybody who has come into contact with him BUT underneath all that bluster and grumpiness is a shy man with a sense of humour and an unusual intelligence.
I must admit to liking him.
Gerry Rafferty.
Sad.
Looking back the experience I had with him was intensely frustrating, irritating, mystifying , occasionally uplifting but mostly sad.
Really sad to watch him bully folks, be appallingly rude when drunk, piss on his own talent and display an almost pathological bitterness towards the “Biz” which he blamed for his OWN shortcomings. It wasn’t MY fault he was an alcoholic.
I actually managed him twice, made almost no money BUT he opened doors for me and thereby for DS.
Yes. LH. "The Way She Always Farts” inspired by one of M’s girlfriends who liked turnips .
M and I tried to get the great Roy Orbison to do that but it didn't work out.
Yes, I set all that up, actually played on some of LH and was managing Gerry at the time but I made the stupid mistake of having him come to the studio at 3 pm so he was pissed 🤮
Drunk 🤮🤮.
Slaughtered 🤮🤮🤮.
M got one take before G fell over, double tracked it to make it sound like the Everly Brothers ( our 110% heroes) and bingo! Game, set, and match.
I have never heard "Another World" and know nothing about it. I'd dropped Gerry long before that and M must have done just after he and I had parted ways. Ironic really.
Gerry saw M thru his glasses.
M saw Gerry slumped over the microphone snoring 😴
My emotion was “ oh shit, he’s pissed" when he staggered in to the studio but M sorted as I've explained, he wasn’t known as "one takeaway Knopfler" for nothing ( usually a chicken vindaloo with chutney and a samosa. )
Sorry to burst your balloon.
It wasn’t long after that I bailed, life is too short.
GREAT songwriter and singer but a bitter man living with bi polar.
The drink killed him in the end
It doesn't get sadder than that.
Randy Newman
Great writer, funny man, v dry humour , witty as you say, yes right up my alley but not my back alley.
The three of us spent a great time in New Orleans at a Warner Bros Sales Conference.
Went to Allen Toussaint's studio where some magical record were made eg Lee Dorsey, Fats Domino ( holy shit..one of the true greats) and then visited the zoo which is entirely on water.
Lovely man to spend time with and who has an interesting knowledge of snakes and crocodiles.
Chris Rea.
DS did an early Old Grey Whistle Test with him in Manchester in 1978 (?) .
Great guy and talent, sad re his health issues, no didn't work with him but we did help push his van out of a snowdrift that night .
That’s it really. I'm sure M likes him, what’s not to like?.
I wish him well .
Princess Diana RIP.
Nobody called her “ Lady Di “ here.
Yep. Huge fan.
Prince Charles ( now King ) told me that at the first Princes Trust show we did in 1983 I think. WHAT A NAME DROP!
Yes I have stories but not for you , I have to keep some stuff back for my book. If I ever get round to that.
I will say really nice people , not stuffy and funnier than you might imagine.
Did about 4 shows for them I think.
I hope you and Robson got something out of this and its encouraged you to keep posting.
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Hi Ed,
I’m really interested to hear more about your life on the road as a manager.
You’ve mentioned before that you weren’t at every gig - did you travel with the band, were you in the same city or hotel?
What is life like running a great travelling circus like the OES tour?
What would you be doing backstage (keep it clean…) and how did that change over time - on those early days were you counting the money from ticket receipts and paying the venue etc or was that done separately?
Was much of your work pre tour getting everything set up (venues, hotels. Riggers, logistics, rtc) or was there still a lot to do to keep the wheels turning
It’s really interesting hearing about the band and the music but as the manager leading behind the scenes you and your team are at least 50% of making what we as fans see happen!
Many thanks!
Ps. As an aside, do you ever go back to Tadcaster and what do you think of Humphrey, MD of Samuel Smiths brewery closing down many of his pubs just because he heard a rude word in there or someone dared to use their phone?!
I went to as many gigs as was practical from 1978 on including the whole of the BIA tour ( not much of OES because…well you know by now).
It's the best way of getting decisions when you can see the white’s of their eyes and anyway it’s fun AND productive, you get to meet local record co’s and publishers, sort out any problems, front the team, deal with the promoters directly many of whom were and still are friends.
My favourite people.
Yes re hotel and cities ( I would hardly stay somewhere else!)
It can be tiring and staying in touch with my London office from Sydney or Tokyo by phone or telex or fax etc was wearing.
No email then.
Backstage …accounts for sure .
Sorting any problems with Tony Wigens our Tour Manager , Alan Hornall our Production Manager or Clay Schell our Tour accountant. All brilliant guys.
All our crews were always…the best people.
Only ever sacked one crew person in my entire career.
Looking constantly at what was coming up next.
Co ordinating the whole thing incl albums, singles, videos , interviews etc as we went along. .
Sorting musicians aches and pains, worries, issues with ladies ( a constant ) , any crew issues, things you can never plan or anticipate, knowing the location of every VD clinic in every city , things the audience would never imagine and the biggest pain of all by far.
THE GUEST LIST.
Promoters pay venues, not acts. Ditto staging, security, ticket printing, advertising etc.
Preparation is EVERYTHING.
Creating the team is EVERYTHING eg, my office staff, riggers, drivers, backline crew, keyboard techs, drum techs, sound, monitors, lighting director, caterers, knob cleaners, baggage handlers, wardrobe ( if you have that) bus drivers the whole machinery of it all. ..it's almost like a military exercise. .
Working with the best people you can afford, paying them properly, treating them properly eg catering, decent tour busses, weed, is essential.
And you must follow the money, especially what’s going out!
And I LOVED the shows and music.
You should try it some time, it’s easy 🧛♂️
Tadcaster.
Rarely. Very quiet now no vibe , not helped by the tosser you refer to who's karma will get him in the end 💩
Dear, Ed.
Take this question for the last day.
We asked about internal relationships, divorces, musicians, been bossy, phone calls, closing contracts, recordings, trips, drugs, gnomes, threats, tours, sausages....
I feel that, there is one question, that you thinked that it could be on the very first lot of questions. But still haven't been asked.
Tell us, before you say bye to this forum, wich questions we don't made that you were hoping for.
cheers!
There is one obvious one nobody has asked and several others I’d expected.
-
Dear, Ed.
Take this question for the last day.
We asked about internal relationships, divorces, musicians, been bossy, phone calls, closing contracts, recordings, trips, drugs, gnomes, threats, tours, sausages....
I feel that, there is one question, that you thinked that it could be on the very first lot of questions. But still haven't been asked.
Tell us, before you say bye to this forum, wich questions we don't made that you were hoping for.
cheers!
Let's see how you get on. You all have 4 days left then I really have to stop. I will have run out of Ibuprofen by then🤕.
Dear Ed, I don't know if I'm in time for a extra question from a friend of mine, who is a Fleetwood Mac fan, he said to me that in the Oldfield book it's written that Mk did a session with Stevie Nicks, and that it didn't get released but along the years it was said the song they did together was called "Garbo", there is a demo of that song in YouTube but MK is not there. Some years ago a Stevie Nicks song saw the light of day in which he used one of the instrumentals songs from the Cal score but that has nothing to do with those sessions he and Stevie did years ago. There is anything you can tell us about that?
Thanks!
Don't rely on either the Oldfield or Palmer books for anything. I can't imagine either is in print anyway.
MEMORY……in the words of John Lydon, I could be wrong, I could be right.
Stevie was dating Jimmy Iovine around 1984/5.
So IF M did a session of which I have NO memory, it might have flowed from that.
I have never heard of “Garbo” and I’m pretty sure M did not play on it, but as I say maybe Jimmy got him in on one dark and spooky night and Stevie sang “ OM ” and got him to strum.
When you say “he” used one of the instrumentals from Cal do you mean “she”?
Which instrumental?
Are you saying she put lyrics to a Cal piece?
Either way I have no idea what you are talking about, sorry .
I DO have a memory that she fully recorded a version of Romeo and Juliet and changed the gender round ( ooo a first 👄) to Juliet and Romeo or something like that and Jimmy told her it would be ok when it absolutely wasn’t!
M heard about it when we were playing in NY on BIA I think and I had to tell Jimmy to scrap it which didn't go down too well since they had spent a ton of money.
They should have asked FIRST.
-
Ok, my uncle Fred has a question:
- I remember hearing that sometimes the band would soundcheck with The Man's Too Strong but with some rather vile alternative lyrics. Do you have any recollection as to what they were? "Strong" rhymes with "bong" and "dong", but that's about as much effort as I've managed to put into my guesswork. Better question: After Making Movies was released it appeared that the band matured massively in terms of on-stage presence. Mark become much more natural at interacting with the audience, more relaxed, more swagger, less manic, lots of eye contact rather than staring at the fretboard etc. Do you recall whether that a conscious thing? It seemed to set them up for the arena life that was to follow.
In addition, my aunt (also named Fred) has a question:
- Can you elaborate any further on Hal's departure? To me, Hal (and Jack) added a bit of international intrigue, and dare I say it, "cool" to what was otherwise in essence a giant pub rock band.
Cheers!
Yes.
Yes, I do.
No. I'm not telling you.
Way too politically incorrect and in today’s climate UNACCEPTABLE, really disgusting.
But they were funny and it was the whole song.
“Bong" and “dong" did not appear…...nothing like..…it was actually a very clever lyric but these days, would be considered offensive in the extreme.
I’m amazed no one recorded it.
I should add that M and I have a VERY similar sense of humour , same backgrounds, same taste in jackets, mutual love of hip hop and hardcore street country rap.
( Remember, you can't take the “try” out of “ country”. )
Hal.
I could but I won’t.
That's for the book if I ever get round to it…..surreal like so many things with DS.
John touched on it in My Life In DS but either he, or more likely the ghost writer, only scraped the surface ( but who would have been taping John presumably).
There's much I could say about Hal but he was young then and had an excuse.
They did play in some large pubs I’ll give you that.
Thanks for the part that touches me, Ed, it's exciting to read, it makes me laugh naturally, I understand well about being hilarious.😅 I just wanted to add an addendum, you left a gap here when you quote: "MK sounds like MK.
Tony Iommi sounds like Tony Iommi.
Hank Marvin sounds like Hank Marvin.
Joe Walsh sounds like Joe Walsh.
Richie Blackmore sounds like….and so on,
Brunno Ninny Nonny sounds like Brunno Ninny Nonny i.e crap." 🎸
And guitarist "(Rolo) Over Beethoven" sound like what? For "crap" to be complete, I'd like to know.😂
Wonderful stories, Ed. If you'll allow me, of course, my father, a young man of 65, a lover of the Golden Oldies sounds of the 50s/60s and of course, the 70s (which he says is where the "Filet Mignon" is in world music), having a son who loves Dire Straits, naturally listened to a lot of their discography (much more than he normally would) in addition to several bootlegs from 78/92, through me of course, and in view of this, he would like to know from you, six studio albums, six tours, which were the most memorable shows for you, if you want to name a top 5, that's more than enough.
Assuming that your participation here will be like Halley's Comet, a rare event that happens every 75–76 years, many of us will be old by then (yes, very soon science should allow many of us to live to be 180 years old in good health, depending on how much money you have in your bank account, it is very likely that I will not be on that team), I need to ask you one last question, while you are in our orbit:
About possible archived material of the band.
In an interview - Top of the Pops, London, UK, 16th March 1984, Mark mentions that he was satisfied that 17 different performances were not filmed for Alchemy, although some nights in Paris were filmed, but they were not used.
So, what happened to the recordings and filming of the Paris Show, in June 1983, a month before Alchemy? The live version of Portobello Belle on the 1988 Money for Nothing compilation was taken from one of the nights in Paris 83, which underscores what MK mentions in the interview. Is it possible that these recordings from Paris 83 still exist? After the completely unreleased show at Rainbow Theatre 79 on the Live 78/92 box set released last year, a spark of hope lit up in me. What do we know about the Paris 83 footage, dear Ed? Was Rainbow Theatre 79 filmed in its entirety as well?
Phew...
Anyway, I've finished my "almost scientific article", boring, something for nerdy fans.🤓😅
If you meet Bruce Welch's, please extend all my gratitude for everything he has done with the guitar, everything he does is beautiful and very competent, he moves the music like no one else through his guitar and I am another one who learns a lot from him. :wave
As Spock would say in Star Trek: Live Long and Prosper.🖖🏻👽
Good question.
Memorable shows, wow so many.
The first one I saw at Dingwalls Dec 13 1977 because it changed my life and I changed theirs.
The first Princes Trust on July 20 1983 .They did a great performance, we met Chuck and DI AND Duran Duran, got incredible press and TV coverage.
Any of the BIA at Wembley Arena 1985... ..great run.
Live Aid on BIA just because it was Live Aid ( the 20 mins went by in a flash).
Madison Square Garden NY BIA tour with guests Billy Joel and David Sanborn RIP.
Number One album and single, perfect alignment, amazing show, tremendous audience.
Any Australian BIA especially Sydney, maybe that last one that was televised.
Auckland, 102,000 punters, BIA tour, the biggest show we ever did, magical night .
Nelson Mandela with Eric Clapton and a cast of thousands including Chubby Checker who several of us mistook for Winnie Mandela and where Whitney Houston burst into our dressing room snd asked, “ Does anybody know when Nelson Mandela is going on?” SERIOUSLY.
Many I can't recall because they were in obscure places nobody remembers but one thing about DS is they were consistent ..I can't recall a poor one EVER after David left ….up to then we had a quartet with three people in it.
Halley’s Comet. What the fuck..I’ll be dead !!
I’ve asked that on my headstone someone engraves “ I told you I was ill “ .
I have no memory of the Paris show (s) being filmed. I wonder who by?
Are you sure it was?
Which night (s)?
I don't know what M said in what interview? (see what I say re Top of the Pops below)
I suppose the P Belle version could just have been an audio recording with no filming …..
It wasn’t done for Alchemy VIDEO that's for sure…I am absolutely positive about that because as I've answered before, the VIDEO portion was done last minute….I was still fine tuning the deal with PMV on the afternoon of the show because I nearly pulled it ( glad I didn’t ).
The wankers were trying to charge US bank interest on THEIR filming costs! Shameless.
Maybe we were planning a live album off that tour and ended up adding the filming bit last minute. I just can't recall, it was decades ago.
I know we wanted to preserve Hal's performance for history and for AMIT which wasn’t even a spermatozoa then but I sensed that one day someone would think he was cool.
Rainbow …no idea.
I didn't even remember that Phil Lynott appeared nor can I remember who filmed it or why.
For TV?
That BBC Arena Special?
You lot bang on about how great they were and by most band’s standards, that’s true, BUT my memory is of an exhausted band going through the motions because everyone was so tired, one person teetering on a breakdown, actually two when I think about it, and after those and Christmas 79 I dumped everything we had set up for 1980 so we could all have a rest.
I would say that period September 79----December 79 was the lowest point in the band’s career and if they were ever going to break up it was then.
Mark wanted to cancel those shows and Lewisham Odeon about a week before because of sheer exhaustion but John and I talked him into them.
But I knew we had to stop the roller coaster before we all fell off it. .
Then MK and I went to NY in Feb/March I think and met with Jon Landau to produce MM. He was doing The River with Bruce ( Jon was literally in tears he was so tired so we weren’t the only ones ) and recommended Jimmy Iovine and the rest ISN'T history, it’s pop music. 🤪
Cue Quizzy for more of his intellectual babbling which is great.
I love a person who knows his/her own opinions and isn’t afraid to express them even when they’re wrong .
I have a question for him and I'm genuinely curious…….
Is Wet Ass Pussy ( WAP) by Cardi B, art?
Is BIA art?
Is Tales of Topographic Oceans art?
Is Dark Side of The Moon, art ?
Is What’s Going On, art?
Is Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2 art ?
Is Kill the Foetus ( by Esham) art?
Is MC Hammer art?
Is Kind of Blue art?
Is A Love Supreme art?
Is Mahler’s 5th Symphony art?
Is Adagio for Strings art?
Is Wonderful Land art?
Is Like A Virgin art?
Who decides?
On what basis?
Back to that “interview” you quote, I am completely baffled.
Top of the Pops didn't do interviews, ever.
We only did it ONCE, a pre record for R and J in 1980 with no audience.
Acts only played their singles or they used videos.
What single are you saying we had out then?
I have no idea what M is talking about IF what you are reporting is accurate.
Are you mixing it up with another TV?
Is it important?
Why do dogs lick their balls?
Check out “ Mustang” by the Shads for some beautiful crisp rhythm guitar. I just played it….tremendous. 1961 their first EP with the great Tony Meehan RIP on drums.
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Dear Ed, question: just how much did Mark practice the guitar, daily? Many thanks.
As I've said previously I never saw M practice the guitar, certainly not on tour ( when ? ).
I did see him doodling in the same way David, Hal, Jack and Phil twanged, Mel and Chris honked, Tommy and Guy whooshed, Joop and Danny clattered, Pick, Terry and Chris bashed, Paul F zinged, John walked forwards and backwards, then backwards and forwards, I tapped on my calculator and ordered people about, the roadies roadied, Chas turned the lights on and off, Robert Collins selected his earplugs for that evening.
But obviously M practiced, from the time he picked up a guitar, how long or how often I don't know, but enough to play the twiddly bits on SOS with style and panache even when Terry speeded up, Joop hit one and three on his gold plated tambourine, Terry hit two and four on his huge drum kit and it sounded like the first battle in Gladiator .
ROLO - DISCUSSION THREAD
I said I wasn’t going to bat back and fourth but I'm going to make an exception.
In the Discussion Thread items 120/124, Rolo is obviously a bit anxious at my response.
So firstly apologies, I did not mean to offend and I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic.
I generally do these answers late at night and I had been travelling so was a bit tired.
Plus as Dusty points out “ taking the piss ” is just a particular type of British humour which is not intended to be confrontational or brutal, just an extraction of urine from overfull bladders.
A kind of verbal “ Golden Showers” if you like.
So I'm going to go thru Rolo’s points by para.
1. Sarcastic. As stated that wasn’t my intention but sometimes its very difficult to convey the subtleties of humour in print when if we were speaking or zooming it would be much clearer.
Your English is pretty good and your reference to body language is exactly what I’m talking about, well put.
The “poll” was a poor joke, yes, even I am capable of poor jokes.
.
2. I understand and agree with all the points in your mini list.
3. I get why you find it curious.
No..I did not mean he was as “ bad ” as David OR that David was “ bad.” , those are subjective terms and I am not a guitar player.
I have favourite guitarists of course, but it was not my place to select musicians although I was “ consulted ” on drummers. .
The comments I have made about individuals come from the perspective of my dealings with them and my perception of their personalities if they had one.
I'm sure they would make comments about me if only they knew about AMIT but I’m not going to tell them ( Pick knows but does Paul Franklin? ).
I’m not aware of Hal doing sessions.
I am aware of his soundtrack work.
He ‘’ passed the audition ” and he was the only one we tried out, so he was in the band until he wasn’t.
4. You are correct.
5. You are correct.
6. I don't know what he did after DS in terms of playing hence my sort of question.
ST’s ..yes and good for him, he carved out another career which is not easy .
Maybe no tribute band has asked him? Maybe he’d like to for fun? For cash? I don't know.
You know my view about TB’s…..good luck to them as long as they don't mislead the audience into thinking they ARE DS.
7. I understand and your comment re The Shadows is hilarious!
That's because Brian Bennett is my best mate.
From hero to mega pal.
Brilliant, the stuff of dreams .
8. I take your point because you answered mine. Pretty impressive.
9. Not sure I agree re gossip.
You can't “ listen " to gossip and by the way, if you haven’t read John’s book how do you know that?
It’s his take on his life, not just DS and my view of it is just that, MY view.
.
No disrespect but I don't believe you have never read books about or by guitar players.
If MK wrote one would you read his gossip? ( I can just see M now, scribbling away about me and my love of winding people up ).
I don't know any of you personally and yes, this is fun, but we do sometimes have a small but not significant language issue and also a cultural divide.
Humour is VERY different from country to country, town to town…..
Lastly, how deep you can put your finger in really depends on where you are putting it.
And yes Quizzy, I do read the questions , usually several times so I can be as accurate as possible in my slavish responses.
"Brunno Ninny Nonny" was another pathetic attempt at a cheap laugh which backfired.
I assume the position and await Rolo’s finger.
As far as obvious questions go, imagine you’re me ( I know, I know) what might YOU like to be asked which doesn’t necessarily involve DS/MK (or it might ) .
And now back to THE QUESTION THREAD.
-
dear Ed,
my son, Mats, would love to know what you remember from the Chet Atkins Musician days, back in 1998?
https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=7146.0
is a link to where our favourite spaniard had collected a shitload of info about the event, including the news that PBS had apparently taped it all, any idea as to why it never aired? any way to still get it out?
Not much I’m afraid. I was there but don't recall seeing any cameras filming.
I think Johnny Cash and Chet were wheeled on and sat on a sofa on the stage but didn't perform they were too sick.
That was a bit weird ( Chet did at the end on “ Next Time My Arse Turns Brown” )
It was a bit of a trip to meet Cash.
His version of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” is beyond great as is all that stuff he did with Rick Rubin. .
I have no idea why it wasn’t transmitted IF it was recorded.
M wasn’t paid by them and I didn't sign any releases so…..
It was very much a favour and thank you to Chet. I did a class for managers and Mark did one with the American band for mostly guitar players.
You knew they were guitar players because they all brought tennis rackets.
A fun week.
No idea how you would get hold of it. Contact PBS?
NOT A QUESTION BUT MIGHT BE A QUESTION OR SEVERAL QUESTIONS OR NO QUESTIONS AT ALL. .
To all…this “last question thing” I posed…based on the discussion thread you’re overthinking it.
Not about money, parting with MK ( nothing to add on that here), selling my rights ( or that) , , not really about DS eg it might be my Desert Island Discs ( just an example) and it won’t matter if no one comes up with anything ….I was just musing.
-
Ok, my uncle Fred has a question:
- I remember hearing that sometimes the band would soundcheck with The Man's Too Strong but with some rather vile alternative lyrics. Do you have any recollection as to what they were? "Strong" rhymes with "bong" and "dong", but that's about as much effort as I've managed to put into my guesswork. Better question: After Making Movies was released it appeared that the band matured massively in terms of on-stage presence. Mark become much more natural at interacting with the audience, more relaxed, more swagger, less manic, lots of eye contact rather than staring at the fretboard etc. Do you recall whether that a conscious thing? It seemed to set them up for the arena life that was to follow.
In addition, my aunt (also named Fred) has a question:
- Can you elaborate any further on Hal's departure? To me, Hal (and Jack) added a bit of international intrigue, and dare I say it, "cool" to what was otherwise in essence a giant pub rock band.
Cheers!
Let me go back to Reply 130 and the second part of the first question ( I already part answered the bit about TMTS spoof lyric. )
Really good question and cheeky to slip it in ( there’s a joke there somewhere).
It did mature .
I agree 100%.
.
The first and probably most important factor was David’s departure.
I made a joke that we had a quartet with three people in it but that really was how it seemed to me right from day one.
Literally ( and you’re going to LOVE this one…..).
At that Dingwalls gig Dec 13 1977 that was the FIRST thing I said to John Stainze the Phonogram A and R guy who took me there when I was looking for a support to Talking Heads.
“ I can hear a rhythm guitar but I can't see a rhythm guitarist”
“ He's hiding behind the pillar BUT WE CAN FIX THAT ”.
If only he knew ….
There was a constant battle with David turning his amp volume down so it didn't register a signal and Peter Granger RIP FOH sound man pushing his fader up to ten, nowhere else to go.
Then Pete Murdoch who was doing backline, would hide behind the amp and turn David's volume up without him seeing.
Peter G would then move the fader down to compensate.
Then David would realise, turn his amp down and the cycle would start again.
This went on for the entire show and was ridiculous, absurd, and just plain weird.
It came to a head when I went up to the Durham University gig they played whenever.
I was sitting with Peter G on the FOH desk and watched him moving D’s fader up and down. When I asked why he explained as I just set out in pretty colourful language and said “ go and look at the volume control on David’s amp when they finish”.
After the show I went into the dressing room and asked David what he was doing.
“ If I play any louder then Mark plays louder and I’m going deaf ”.
That set M off, obviously.
A row broke out, a big row.
As he always did Pick left the room.
Quite rightly he would not participate in post gig squabbles which 95% were always between M and D.
John generally stayed calm and rational and tried to act as peacemaker, impossible as he admitted to me right before the Rainbow shows in Dec 79 when things between M and D had reached rock bottom and M wanted to cancel them ( they and the two Lewisham Odeon’s were long sold out.)
This was driving me nuts …..I really thought during that second US tour they were going to collapse ( there were other personal factors and economic reasons at play ) and I was having mega rows with David because apparently I was “ conspiring with Warners against the group”, this because I was pushing them to sell even MORE records ! He wanted me to get them to pull independent promotion “ because they are gangsters” ( hearsay and I couldnt have cared less ) and sell LESS.
This volume thing never really got resolved ..in fact D then started complaining to me about flying…” it's making me deaf.”
“ Well hold your nose and blow down it! “ ( these were short flights to do European TVs. )
So after D left ( he just couldn’t cope with the rise and rise…” it wasn’t supposed to be like this” ), the addition of Hal and Alan gave M a new confidence in the players behind him.
He wasn’t having to “carry” D or deal with his insecurities or their sibling history or whatever that was.
Plus we now had keyboards which really shifted the sound, we had a huge album, an epic in TOL, a classic in R and J, a hit in many territories with Sk, and a new inspired purpose all round.
I would say it was sub conscious but when you go from constant arguments to no arguments , AND enjoy huge commercial and critical success, AND get your personal life in order ( M had met Lourdes on the recording of MM), AND have one of the greatest teams behind you AND the greatest manager since the previous greatest manager, then you can for sure swagger, talk to audiences, and raise your game.
Which is exactly what M did.
They ALL did.
I know it comes over that I'm hammering D but I can honestly say I never had an interaction with him that wasn’t immature, naive, fraught, rude, confrontational and unbelievably it got WORSE between him and M after he’d gone which I can't get into here.
You’d think I was making it up anyway ( I did address one issue a while back about M and I “diverting" his royalties which was just his ignorance but very hurtful to M.).
I haven’t had any direct dealings with him since 1980.
44 years and writing this is making me anxious all over again.
So let's move on.
-
Ed,
Thank you for the good laughs and for the finest british humour. I felt that I was at kindergarten.
And, thanks to Dusty for the spiritual translation of some jokes.
I don't have a question (thank god)
I have two questions! ;D
Thanks for the laughs.
add:
I just read you answer and the Rolo Thread (LOL)
Don't need to apologize.
I didn't felt offended, I never felt.
I understand the sense of humour barrier. It's absolutely normal.
I know that you have passed thru a LOT during all this years managing and been a musician.
So, I tried to be spontaneous but with carefull to not be intrusive or, even offensive. Because of that, I (like Quizzy) tend to write a lot and it can be boring to read.
The coment about my finger was purely innoscet. I garantee.
However, my good friend Brunno Niny Nyonny turned it into a good joke.
Now I'll pick my guettar and play the newest hits from AMIT.
- The Way She Always Fart
- Golden Fart
Thanks, Ed.
You are pure gold.
Thank God. It’s Rolo and he is grovelling before me, no need, spontaneity is everything.
Gold but not Golden Heart.
Thank you.
-
You mentioned how Terry and Jack didn't really get an explanation on why they were not asked back and Pick became marginalized at the time which you didn't really understood, and I guess there are quite some other examples. But you were also there. You were the manager. Why didn't you speak up about this, or did you, or was it just not your role to talk about this? I can image that in a group which such pressures relationships brake done, but I'm surprise that in almost all those cases it seems, nobody managed to go out to dinner and have a conversation about it and at least have some closure.
Edit: I'm not sure if you still want to answer questions related to DS after reading your lasts answers. As an alternative; You mentioned in the Bob Lefsetz interview that of course you are very proud of your children and how they have quite different jobs. Do you think you career has influenced them in any way in their career choice, or are they just finding their own path in life?
Possibly the most interesting and perplexing question I've had.
I say that because it really made me think and realise there are some things that still mystify me all these years later.
.
WHY was it like that?
WHY did things evolve the way they did?
Here I was managing this huge act and things are going on that I wasn’t told about, asked about, or included in OR was I just so busy I couldn't see them?
And I was VERY hands on.
You would have to know the personalities and I can’t deliver that for you.
My answer to this is that I have no answer.
I don't mean I'm not telling you something, I simply don't know, or at least I don't know or can't recall the minutiae of how these things arose in the way they did certainly after BIA.
That was a watershed, after BIA things shifted in a very subtle way.
Gradually I sensed M didn't want my opinion or pushback any more, he wanted me to “do” or, as it turned out, eventually get somebody else to “do” and not question his direction or decisions eg doing crap soundtracks for crap movies…..Wag The Dog, LETB, MetroLand, whilst turning down Thelma and Louise or Last of The Mohicans or Maverick or, or whatever.
That didn't happen overnight , not at all, there were lots of interesting and exciting things we did, ( eg Nelson Mandela, Clapton tours, charity stuff ) but there was no real central focus more a string of bits and pieces, and maybe the issue was with me, not him, I really don't know. After all he wasn’t working for me!
I'm not sure he was/is even aware of that shift and ironically, speaking up was the seed that led to my quitting as it is with just about EVERY manager I know.
Every one.
Do you keep your mouth shut and take the money, or be the last bastion of truth as you see it and inevitably get dumped on?
What would you do?
And as you will have realised, I’m not one to keep my mouth shut .
I have spoken to Terry since we started these Q and A's and he is as baffled as I am because his take is TOTALLY different to what John told me at the time and I'm still trying to piece together what happened ( actually today and he told me not to bother, that he enjoyed his time in the band and it was a long time ago.)
Gracious and easy as always, lovely man., Welsh you know.
Jack and I were able to meet in California around 2008 for several hours and what he told me was basically what he said in those final podcasts he did, all of which was news to me and boy was he angry and bitter. It was very very sad to hear , he felt abandoned by his friend.
As Guy has said, other than Pick and David, every musician that went through the band was hired record by record, tour by tour and understood that there were no guarantees after each project finished. That’s common to ALL bands that use sidemen, backing singers or whatever, it's the lot of the professional musician .
So it wasn’t a question of “having dinner” as you put it, things ended and that was that until something started up again.
Could things have been handled better? In some cases yes, for sure, but I can't change yesterday and as I found out myself, it turned out that what I thought was a deep friendship with both M and J had morphed into something else ..more a business thing …as we say in the Biz, “ it’s not about the money, it’s about the money”
Not sure why you think I don't want to answer DS questions.
Not at all, thats what I'm here for.
My daughter Lauren is a senior lawyer at META in the Data Protection area.
My son Joe teaches foreign students English on the web. I can hook some of you up if you want!
He used to be a suicide counsellor until he just couldn’t do that anymore , just too difficult bordering on the traumatic I think.
The only thing I can tell you is that Lauren toyed very briefly about getting into the music biz and decided against “ because I saw what it did to you”.
Good for her, and she’s is a fantastic wife and Mum to my two gorgeous grandkids.
She went to see Taylor Swift recently and loved it.
Joe is into hip hop and hardcore rap.
No idea where he got that from!
concerning desert island discs, what would be your 10 (yes, 10)
also, pls do feedback after you went to the Gilmour show. the man is a treasure, unlike his bass playing megalomaniac former "bud"
seen him twice, experiences to treasure (hence ...)
also, do you remember a fella called "Herman Schueremans"
i heard stories bout him and you guys. great festival i used to love to go to. but only managed to see you guys there in May of 1992...not 78, ..or 79...(stuff of legends)
I KNEW that was a mistake as soon as I posted it!
In no particular order and I’m going to cheat because I can!
Fantasia On A Theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams .
The Adagio from Mahler’s 5th Symphony.
Milestones, Miles Davis
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
Night Train, Oscar Peterson
Sensual, Sensual, B Tribe.
El Indio’s Theme, Ennio Morricone.
The Lonely Night, Moby ( from his Reprise Album)
The Sun Records Collection, Elvis Presley.
Elvis’ Gold Records volume one Elvis Presley
Bonus …By The Time I Get to Phoenix Isaac Hayes ( the 19 minute version) , Gene’s Blues, Gene Krupa and anything by Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey , Joe Morello , oh and Wonderful Land by The Shadows.
On a desert island i'd want my Slingerland drum kit and paper/pens so I could write my memoirs.
Gilmour is Oct 9. Remind me. Wonderful musician and awesome guy..lovely wife and family ( dont really know him). .
I emailed Herman two days ago. A great great guy, one of the best promoters I dealt with by far ( helped get him started), a gentleman an a real friend who helped me when I needed it.
Hi Ed, thanks for your time and your stories! MK has mentioned many times that if a song doesn't work out, he doesn't push or stress; he may try it later on or work on it (Speedway, Rudiger, Secondary Waltz, Do America, etc.). As there were about 20 songs for the LOG sessions, do you remember if anything was passed to the BIA record? In '82, he had already written BIA (the song), but maybe it was after the LOG sessions. Also, I wonder if that happened often during the DS days or if he started to revisit songs more later on in his career.
No. Sorry. I cant recall any except the ones that made it onto to the record. I'm guessing many got dumped, some got used and some got changed.
That’s been a career long thing and is common to MANY writers. Certainly all the ones I worked with.
Don't know, M generally writes at home and in private.
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Dear Ed, regarding my Stevie Nicks question, yes, I meant SHE (not he), I'm posting from my phone and not only the small screen but the corrector doesn't help too much, lol
The song SHE released in a record called 24 karat gold, with rare and unreleased songs, is called "She loves him still" and it's basically the MK song "Irish road" from the Cal score sounding at the background with Stevie singing his song over it:
https://youtu.be/ATYhiepD0FE?si=FxJDQ2a2gIQ5qnN1
If I'm allowed to filter another question in this post, you said you managed Paul Brady, would you tell us anything about him, his career, personality, friendship with MK and collaborations? As far as I recall MK played on "the game of love" song by Brady and many years later, during the 2000 (can't remember if you were still MK's manager then), Paul Brady did some special shows at Vicar Street in Dublin, and MK played one of those gigs with Brady, and they both shared the stage during maybe a 80% of the song, and with Bonnie Raitt for some songs
Thanks in advance.
Thanks for clarifying. I assume MK knows about that, I didn't.
Sounds dreary to me, like she’s got piles.
Brady.
Ace bloke. We are still very good friends though I don't see him sadly.
He and his wife Mary are the best and finally both his kids have got parole .
Wonderful writer and an intense and exciting performer.
I didn't really manage him, that was my ex partner Paul mCummins, I just did his deals
He’s pretty friendly with M.
They tried writing together eons ago but it didn't work. They are both too pig headed!
I wasn’t there but I recall the shows you mention.
I’m so glad we represented him and he got the career he wanted. One of my favourites.
Bonnie is a class act. WONDERFUL woman and artist and really helped me during a bereavement, great writer and performer. .
I know you'll think she has no taste in music, but Golden Heart is my wife's favorite of all the DS/MK albums.
I seem to recall that you had a whole tour lined up behind the release of GH, and then Mark decided he needed to record more songs, so you had to scrap the whole tour and start over. Did you have any input into Mark deciding he needed more material for that album? as in, "Mark, this album as currently constructed really doesn't cut it", or similar, or was that all Mark's doing?
And I imagine the PITA it was to start all over with the tour - was the original tour going to be more extensive than the one that ultimately was done?
Did you suggest the album be titled "Blade of Love"? ;D
No. Your wife has no taste in men.
I have no recollection of that at all.
No. I'm sure that’s not right either re more songs or moving the tour.
I definitely didn’t do the latter and what we did was what I planned from the outset.
No changes additions or subtractions. .
No idea where you are getting this from.
All the records were “ his doing”.
Didn't understand that comment. .
No. HE suggested that…...
We were having dinner at Julies in Notting Hill and I called over a waitress I knew and said
“ If I said Blade of Love to you what would you think I was referring to?”
“ Your cock?”
I did the same with another one.
“ A penis”.
M got the message.
Sometimes you have to save artists from themselves. I knew the press would have a field day with that one 😂
Dear Ed, regarding my Stevie Nicks question, yes, I meant SHE (not he), I'm posting from my phone and not only the small screen but the corrector doesn't help too much, lol
The song SHE released in a record called 24 karat gold, with rare and unreleased songs, is called "She loves him still" and it's basically the MK song "Irish road" from the Cal score sounding at the background with Stevie singing his song over it:
https://youtu.be/ATYhiepD0FE?si=FxJDQ2a2gIQ5qnN1
If I'm allowed to filter another question in this post, you said you managed Paul Brady, would you tell us anything about him, his career, personality, friendship with MK and collaborations? As far as I recall MK played on "the game of love" song by Brady and many years later, during the 2000 (can't remember if you were still MK's manager then), Paul Brady did some special shows at Vicar Street in Dublin, and MK played one of those gigs with Brady, and they both shared the stage during maybe a 80% of the song, and with Bonnie Raitt for some songs
Thanks in advance.
Yes, MK composed the music. I completely forgot about it. "Irish Road" in the background. Beautiful. Thanks wayaman:)
Chad Cromwell – drums
I agree “Irish Road “ is beautiful.
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Dear Ed, I want to thank you on behalf of my father for mentioning some shows that were memorable to you. When I saw your list, I immediately realized the historical importance of each one of them.
The show in Madison Square Garden NY, BIA tour with guests Billy Joel and David Sanborn RIP, has always been in my top 5 shows of the BIA tour. The bootleg recording reveals the incredible atmosphere of a band at their peak.🔥
Whitney Houston's question in your dressing room in 1988 was absolutely hilarious!😂🤦🏻
It's interesting that you mention the Auckland show in March 1986. Almost two years ago I came across a recording of that show made by a cameraman you had hired. His name is Avital Davidzon. According to him, you liked his work and invited him to the tour in Australia and New Zealand in 1986 to film the band for the big screens at stadium shows. For us it was a find, a time capsule that remained unreleased for almost 40 years and that reveals an incredible performance by a band at the height of its career, ending an impressive tour.🔥 I released it here at AMIT, we were all very happy with this recording. Avital also made available a very fun video of the band and the road crew playing a game of cricket, a way to relax a little, to get away from the routine during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in March 1986. I don't know if you know these recordings, but you might want to see them. I'm leaving the links here:
Footage of the show in Auckland 86, improved quality.
https://youtu.be/FLxUVCPIdzw?si=RhzlWJsB72uRvWSw
Band v's Crew part 1
https://youtu.be/WhfL6ghT-kE?si=Eh3mENW7UzQFnwFj
Band v's Crew part 2
https://youtu.be/3kb-A-ZOkhY?si=G9W1jy46njywWqvA
Regarding Mark's statement about having recorded some of the shows in Paris in 1983, the information that it was an interview on Top of the Pops may not be correct, I saw this information on an old website a while ago and it stuck in my mind, but I'm leaving the link to the interview below, a video of only 3:27, at the end, when asked about Alchemy, Mark addresses this issue.
Personally, I believe they used the Rolling Stone Mobile to record some of the 5 nights in Paris 83, a month before the Hammesmith Odeon shows.
https://youtu.be/BfjjHANqovE?si=uTcfCaR_u0nECmOP
If Portobello Belle live in June 83 was recorded by the band and is present in the MFN compilation released in 88, who knows if there are more recordings from that occasion, or even from others, 80/81, 85/86. (Just a hypothesis). Rainbow 79 was certainly recorded by the BBC for the BBC Arena, very lucky for us (the fans) that they recorded the audio of the entire show, it would be great if they had the complete footage, from a historical point of view, a record of the end of the band's first phase. Although for you it is the worst period of the band, September to December of 79 is the period that fascinates me the most musically, I love the setlist from that period, especially the versions,🔥❤️ they are incredible, but, I am just a fan looking from the outside at everything that happened, and you were the band's manager and your view is from the inside out, you saw everything happen in real time, another experience completely different from ours, which is very fascinating, very grateful for sharing.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This morning I revisited the song "Mustang" by the Shads. Not only Bruce's rhythm guitar, but the drums here also do an excellent job. Everything about this song takes me back to the Old West. I love that feeling. Listening to The Shadows has always been a luxury at any time.💎❤️🎸
If you'll allow me, I would be interested in a few more aspects related to DS (and I believe others would be too) I will return to the topic again, live releases of the band: The question of how Alchemy was planned and elaborated was already wonderfully explained by you, so I would like to know if at any point was a live release of the BIA tour 85/86 planned, given the size of the success of the album, as well as the tour? And of course, to finish, how was the planning of what became On The Night? Was it a decision of the record company, or between you and the band? By the time it was recorded in May 1992, the band had been on the road for almost a year, so Nimes and Rotterdam were chosen for this production, a very different dimension to what Alchemy was, the result of one night. Did On The Night happen as planned?
Was STP initially planned to be a DS album? Or was that "The voice and guitar of Dire Straits" thing just marketing?
The Police and Dire Straits are from the same generation. They emerged at the same time and in the same place, but with different sound proposals. In retrospect, when you look at the trajectory of both, is there any parallel in their careers? What could you consider? I am impressed by the amount of video recordings that The Police have between 77/81 (the first three albums), many of them filmed shows, Dire Straits doesn't even come close to the amount of recordings that they have, was the reason for this some internal politics of the band, or rather, of its management?
Finally, have you ever visited Brazil? Is there anything in our music that you appreciate? I imagine that you know names like Tom Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto, maybe Ivan Lins, Hermeto Pasqual or Gilberto Gil.
Cheers!
OK Brunno, here’s your very own essay by your para.
That was a great gig made doubly so by the audience response which was deafening, unbelievable, especially at the end of SOS, 5 mins at least.
Proud moment for me and numero one album and single to boot.
Perfect alignment.
Afterwards we were back at the hotel winding down and M called my room…….
“ Do you know anywhere to eat round here that would be open now?’
As it happens I did, so he and I and Paula my gf walked down to Richoux ( open all night) on 6th Avenue and saw Paul Crockford going the other way across the street probably looking for passing trade..
How weird is that?
Anyway he joined us and we got a table next to two guys.
After we’d ordered I whispered to M,
“ This guy on my left is Joe Pass RIP ( one of THE great jazz guitarists) and the other one is the writer Jerzy Kosinki ( who wrote “ Being There” ..became a great Peter Sellers movie )"
“ Do you know him?
“ No”
“Well can you talk to him. He’s an amazing player| ”
So I introduced myself, then the rest of us and we had a fantastic chat, mainly with Joe ( this guy had played with Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, dozens of others, Holy Shit , a real guitarist who played art not pop so Quizzy will know him.)
He asked if we were musicians and where we’d played that night. I told him MSG.
“ How many did you have in?"
“ About 19,000 ”
“I just did ( he mentioned a small jazz club) to around 130 folks “ which we all thought was pretty funny, especially him .
Lovely guy, ridiculous player what a treat.
When we were walking back M said to me “ you know meeting him really capped tonight off, it was better than the gig! ”.
Yes. Whitney thought NM was the headliner! In the US very few knew who he was or about the apartheid issue, they had/have their own.
Americans only look inwards.
I remember that guy! I think he was hired by Philips who were providing the screens as part of the Sponsorship. I also recall that cricket game on the pitch behind the Sebel Town House hotel, scene of much debauchery.
So weird seeing those clips now.
That black and red cowboy shirt was Jack's.
He never got it back.
That interview was for an Old Grey Whistle Test. The hosts were Mark Ellen and David Hepworth. They look as nervous as M does.
Paris. As I thought, the shows were audio recorded only, the filming was only done at Hammersmith and only the second show was released. It is NOT a composite of the two as some on AMIT keep suggesting ( and it wouldn’t matter if it was). .
So yes, presumably somewhere are other tapes from Paris in a vault , the problem is who knows WHERE?
Polygram routinely “lost” tons of tapes by everyone imaginable and alot “walked”.
And then there was the Universal fire.
Yes re Rainbow, which ended up in bits on the BBC Arena doc. .
Problem was it was terrible footage due to lack of white light…….gig stage lighting back then was inadequate for TV eg see Prince gig in Syracuse which despite “fixing” is still way too dark, ( amazing show though ).
I understand your interest but I simply can't recall what was recorded or filmed other than what’s out there. We were quite “picky” about filming etc although I had no issue with fans doing it ( the venues were often a pain about that ).
I'm seeing Bruce and Brian Dec 3. I’ll tell him!
BIA live. No. Just didn't happen.
A bit of Jerusalem filmed and owned by The Tube, that last night in Sydney and the Wembley 85 ( owned by the TV companies) are the best you're going to get.
I regret we didn't but there you go.
OTN. How many times do I have to repeat that the record companies had NO say in what we did or released ? Once we got past MM I took no notice of them BUT in fairness they never asked for or about anything. They were there to manufacture, market, promote and sell.
That's it.
They had no part to play in the creative side.
Somewhere along the way M/J and I decided to do what became OTN …...a mistake in my view but that's with hindsight and I know most reading this will disagree.
It did tick off a contractual commitment but we were not OBLIGED to do it.
That was up to us so that wasn’t really a factor.
These Q and A’s tell me that most of you don't understand how record deals work, at least pre streaming, and there’s no reason why you should. I don't have the gas to tell you I'm afraid ( and they’ve changed out of all recognition)
.
There were technical issues with the actual recording ( bass I think ) which led to some later overdubbing ( only a few bits ) and some other tweaking .
No I'm not telling you what ( ask Guy …I’m sure he’ll tell you everything 😇😇😂 …..I LOVE him and Laurie Ann 👩) .
It doesn’t matter, it is what it is. .
I know of live albums where only the audience track was retained and everything was re recorded. So they weren’t live at all!.
I also don't know what songs came from what shows or what underpants in what colours those who WORE underpants put on ..not my job description!
STP.
NO.
NEVER ( where DO you get this stuff from?)
DS were dead and buried by then, never to return 🤮.
The OES tour destroyed any hope of that being revived and I would likely have quit at the suggestion.
Like M but for slightly different reasons because it wasn’t affecting me in the same way it was affecting him, I was DONE with it, done with a certain musician and his pathetic politicking, done with 900 lights and stadiums, and I could afford to let it go as could MK/JI.
That's important in the mix of things but never mentioned ( John would like to have kept it going and/or revived it as he’s often said ).
Money buys you CHOICE
That marketing phrase/sticker came from me because I was very concerned after GH ( where it was used as well ) that the GENERAL AUDIENCE, not the fanbase, not you lot, did not know or associate MK with DS .
He did not have the profile of, say Gordon Sting , Eric C or George Michael, Annie Lennox, or others who had left huge bands. Hard to believe I know but he didn't.
GH was disappointing to me in terms of sales, esp in the US , I don't think M ever asked me what it had done but he’s not stupid, he must have realised that commercially it was a bit of a dud ( not everywhere and I did give him regular reports.)
But then agin he was travelling a different path by now and part of the reason for that was to “reduce the heat” of being in this mega band, or at least that's what he was trotting out in interviews back then. I'm not sure I entirely believed him ( there were other non musical reasons that are nobody else’s business.)
Let me give you an example re his “ profile” .
The day AFTER the Mandela show which DS headlined and was seen by 72000 in Wembley Stadium and 800million + on TV, he and I went into a local wine bar on Westbourne Grove.
It was packed 200-250 people easy and many were wearing T shirts from that event, so they’d been there.
We had two drinks and NOT ONE person recognised him in over an hour. .
As we were leaving a guy came up and said “ you look a bit like , eeeeerrr, um, that guy from, what are they called, eeeerr ah yes, Dire Straits. What's your name again? I know, Mark Knopfler, are you him?".
“ Nah, but I wish I had his money,”
And we left.
No autograph. Nothing.
A small incident but telling ( AND the guy was wearing a T shirt ) .
Dingwalls. 13/12/77
Mark had a red Fender Stratocaster.
That was IT. Seriously.
Echoes of Hank Marvin!
Plus I really needed to sort a support for Talking Heads FAST. I'd left it a bit late…that was starting in less than a month.
.
Musically I can't remember but I do recall they were playing "Down to the Waterline" when we walked in and it wasn’t very loud ( I'd just been on the road with Deep Purple 💥).
The only other song they did was “Nadine” ( Chuck Berry).
They might have done “ What's the Matter Baby”…just can't remember.
Because it’s not memorable.
I was and am great friends with Miles Copeland, manager and impresario.
We had been in business together 1970-73 ( agency ) and he dragged me go to a very early Police rehearsal before they got the A and M deal…so maybe 1977?
They played “Roxanne" had dyed blonde hair and it was obvious Gordon Sting was a star.
He was maybe 5 feet in front of me and had a cucumber down the front of his pants left over from Robert Plant’s fruit bowl. .
Stewart was in Curved Air who I booked and Ian RIP I gave his first job to in 1971 I think .
So I knew all the family ( still do ).
Both bands started out together.
Funnily Miles passed on DS and picked Squeeze after both bands did a gig together at the Albany in Deptford by the Sea.
We did several early festival gigs with The Police at Pinkpop in Holland and 4 in Germany and both bands were great pals.
Of course M and Gordon Sting came from Newcastle but I don't think they knew each other then.
No. Unplanned, no politics, no management policy, completely random.
Of course from a TV point of view Gordon Sting was a sex symbol and MK definitely was not.
Gordon Sting was on at least one of the BIA Paris Bercy gigs.
Doing "I want my Mommyeeee “ and being especially golden.
I have some hilarious tales about him but they’re for my book if I ever get round to it.
Good guy, all the Police were.
I often email Stewart who has become a really good TV presenter.
He never replies.
Sadly not and no plans. I've promised to take Sadie to Whitley Bay and show her the Spanish City so that's on our bucket list. I do know some of those artists, actually nearly all of them..
Always loved the music of your country, great percussionists. That’s where the rhythm for YLT came from.
-
"No. Your wife has no taste in men."
That was a given, but turned out great for me.
"I have no recollection of that at all.
No. I'm sure that’s not right either re more songs or moving the tour.
I definitely didn’t do the latter and what we did was what I planned from the outset."
This i remembered from one of Liz's last DSIS letters, which I have tracked down.Here is the relevant section :
The reason for the postponement is that Mark wants to write and record some additional tracks. Since it will take him a little time to do this (he hasn't even written the songs yet), we will not be able to deliver the finished product to the record company in time for them to meet the proposed March 1st release date. The most likely time for the album to come out will now be autumn of 1995, and the tour will be after that, possibly even as far off as 1996. We will keep all names ...
Very, very sorry about this - but there's nothing I can do about it. We had an exceptionally well routed tour set up which took months of planning and which we have now had to cancel, and a lot of people lined up to work on the tour who are now without work for next summer, so believe me, it is not a decision that was taken lightly... and we are all just as disappointed by the whole thing as you probably are (understatement of the year)!
https://neck-and-neck.hier-im-netz.de/dsis/9501/jan_95.htm (https://neck-and-neck.hier-im-netz.de/dsis/9501/jan_95.htm)
Well well well I stand corrected 💀.
Funny but it was 28 years ago…….
If that came from Liz then it came via me.
The tour we did was almost exactly the one I had previously set up. I just moved the dates and thankfully most fitted since the replacement was quite a long time ahead.
Reading her note I assume she sent it out in late 94 , its hard to remember the chronology now and before you ask I cannot remember what “ extra “ songs resulted.
As I’ve said I'm not a fan of that record.
Some of Mark's songs, including one's you won't have heard, involve shady sarcastic macho characters: Money for Nothing, Mans too strong, Cleaning My Gun, Rudiger, Boom Like That, 5:15AM. Can you see shadow aspects of Mark's personality in these characters ?
MFN..NO! But he does like dressing up as a microwave salesman sometimes ( whoops, I'm giving too much away, thats just between me and thee)
MTS..that’s about a war criminal so NO!
Rudiger was an actual person in Berlin I think. Mad autograph hunter who sold them.
The others I don't know.
M is an observer, not an auto- biographer ( with a few romantic exceptions).
Ed. Thanks for doing this. Some quite enlightening answers.
Being a big Sting/Police fan as well as an MK fan, I’ll ask this. Did you ever encounter their manager Miles Copeland III on your travels? I gather he’s quite the character. I wish Mark and Sting had performed together more often over the years.
It's Miles AXE Copeland 111.
His Dad was Miles Axe Copeland 11.
His grandad was Miles Axe Copeland 1
His great grandad was Miles Axe Copeland 0 and he had a mighty chopper.
Answered above ….one of my dearest friends, hugely likeable, rude, obnoxious , complete tosser, everything a great manager should be then.
Just like me.
-
Ed, Thank you for the ton of info you gave us
My Q: When you say 'dozens of unreleased DS songs' do you mean finished songs ? if so, can you reveal any title ?
and if there were some that you think should have been absolutely released?
Uncle Q: Is the rumor of about 20-25 OES concerts recorded for On The Night correct ? Who had the idea to mix
2 shows (Rotterdam + Nimes) for On the Night ? Did you agree with the decision (by MK ?) to leave out many important songs ?
Friend #1 Q: What MK's guitar sound you like most ?
Friend #2 Q: Any chance of a NHB live concert release ?
Friend #3 Q: Can you describe the relation between MK and money ?
Friend #4 Q: Any idea why MK has not released any video official live concert during the whole very long solo career ?
You're welcome.
I can't remember…I was referring to his lyric notepads I think, not recordings.
Recording is expensive so very unlikely and certainly not dozens.
Maybe some were finished …..not sure.
As I've said many times ALL intelligent artists self edit, dump stuff, change stuff. .M is no exception.
LOG was originally going to be a double album and I do remember listening to more tracks, maybe 5, 6, and fought tooth and nail for that to be a single album as explained elsewhere.
This was when things were still discussed.
TR and PI , maybe INR wiped the floor with everything else I hears. ID is not a fave for me ( or Pick) .
There was no point diluting the impact of those songs with second division stuff.
I always thought double albums were too often an excuse for self indulgent fillers, this was one of those cases.
“The Way She Always Farts” might have been one which ended up on LH.
No titles.
Released…..no, actually the other way round.
OTN 20-25. That's a silly rumour ..bonkers for same reason as above, cost.
Absolute rubbish…...25 recordings!!!!! .
Why?
The gigs were basically the same determined by the lighting computer!
R and N. No idea. Guy maybe? Neil Dorfsman after listening to what we had?.
My memory is we only recorded/filmed those two, we didn't need more and Nimes was chosen because it's such a beautiful venue aesthetically.
I seem to remember I had quite a big input into what went on it and I was anxious not to duplicate songs eg Solid Rock, Local Hero that had appeared on Alchemy.
All the other tracks came out on the Encores EP so the whole show WAS/IS available so he didn't leave any out.
He didn't play much of a role in mixing that.
Too exhausted with it all I think, I know I was.
Easy. The red Stratocaster, that sang. Had soul.
Easy. No. Nothing recorded unfortunately some good BLeg's on YT. The Lonnie evening especially.
Easy. He has a small French boy aged 15 called Assaad who walks behind him carrying a bag of coins to pay the dentist, a melted credit card and some dinars from the gigs we did in Yugoslavia in 1903 which no one will change.
He is actually allergic to banknotes ( the ink I think) hence this arrangement.
Assaad also carries a counting frame since M's calculator exploded when he tried to convert several billion lire I gave him in 1980 into sterling to buy some replacement garden gnomes .
He has a cash allowance of £200 a week for cabs, Snicker bars and miniatures of gin in case Chet calls from Heaven.
Easy. Hair-loss.
Him and most of the band so the lights bounce off their sweaty bald domes and screw up the camera shots.
This was an issue going back to the post headband era.
I know Crockford looked for a hair restorer company to sponsor a video but no one stepped forwards. The Wig company that did volunteer and offered free wigs used slaughtered snow leopards to make their product so that was a no no on eco grounds.
Dear Ed, thanks for answering my wife's questions, now here's mine:
what can you tell us about DS album covers? You said that from MM onwards the record company had no say in artistic matters. Who chose the covers for the first two albums? And the others? You, M, someone else? Are there any anecdotes about the covers? Do you like them? Why is the OES cover so bad? ;D ;D
Ha! Good question.
Not much. Not a strong point with DS.
PERSONAL opinions coming …..well all my opinions are personal but some are shared by many.
DS…chosen from a bunch of photos the record co hired design team produced after a huge fight between the brothers about what constitutes ART.
Yes.
Seriously, and Quizzy wasn’t even born then but instinctively they knew they’d have to answer to him one day.
I didn't care. I just wanted a sleeve so we could meet the release date.
IT HAS NO SIGNIFICANCE ARTISTICALLY.
Completely random.
It could just have easily been a shot of a baboon's or Sala Hu Din wrapping a gold turban round his head sitting on a children’s swing
Those glorious hip and cool back pix were done at the vid shoot for SOS, v early in the morning when it was v cold.
A joyous day as you can tell.
Comm. Almost the same.
A compromise after sibling arguments.
The envelope has some vague connection to the title. Halley fucking loo yah.
Otherwise no significance.
Back shots done at Compass Point, Bahamas. It was v warm there so smiles.
Little did we know the mosquito egg laying season was about to start 🦗🦗🦗🦟 HOLY SHIT.
MM.The blue insert ( vinyl) was supposed to protrude 1/2’' from the red outer sleeve but the factory bagging machines couldn't do that. So last minute a facsimile was produced which actually worked really well.
No idea which genius thought that one up.
Less is always more, like the black sleeve of “Smell The Glove” in Spinal Tap.
I wonder if they based that on MM?
LOG. Stock photo someone chose.
Probably M and J, not me guv'na , I was somewhere else, you can’t pin this one on me.
IT HAS NO SIGNIFICANCE ARTISTICALLY.
Completely random.
BIA. Lucky shot by Deborah Feingold who was on Montserrat to take band press shots.
I think Ron Eve held it up and she just snapped it.
NO SIGNIFICANCE but it did the job, best we had. Iconic, thank you Debby.
OES. Something M and Cummins came up with. I was past caring. Truly dreadful.
So bad I couldn’t be bothered to argue.
IT HAS NO SIGNIFICANCE ARTISTICALLY.
OTN
Even worse. M was given a book of stock photos. He chose that , if he’d turned the page over he might have chosen that.
Do I like them?. No.
BIA ..yes.
But they are ART so Quizzy’s trousers will be flapping around now.
GH …another dreadful one and STP! What the fuck!!! . When I queried that M said “ Why? Don't you like planes?”
The soundtracks are obvious.
-
Where is Liz Whatley? She was great managing DSIS
Liz …..Well it’s Monday. Probably doing errands, hoovering, in Hampstead anyway.
We are still in touch ( Ditto Jean, John H, Tony Wigens, Clay Schell, Gilly Tarrant, not Cummins )
Yes. A really professional, on it, caring person, loved the fans and they loved her.
Brilliant to work with, loyal, no headache but sadly felt things were flagging at GH time and left and went to work for Elton’s charity.
I was VERY sorry to lose her. VERY.
A class act.
Hi Ed and thanks for the opportunity to ask questions.
The closest thing to DS reunion must’ve been John Illsley’s wedding back in 99? What can you recall about that event?
What about offers for reunion, any particular stories about those? Festivals or one off events?
Thank you for your time and patience 😄
Was that in 99?
Time flies when you are learning triple paradiddles and playing to 1999 by Prince.
There was a house band he’d hired ( £75 quid I think , no expense spared anyway ) and after the speeches, Mark, Guy, myself, John, played MFN , something else maybe SOS, and LH on their equipment.
Chris White was there but hadn’t brought his sax.
It was knock about rubbish but alot of fun.
The drum kit was all but unplayable and everyone was pissed 🤮.
Except me. I was stoned 🤪.
Some years ago I was at a music conference dinner sitting next to a guy I think from AEG , Live Nation’s biggest competitors and a great company., their boss Jay Marciano is a gentleman and a scholar.
He asked me if DS would ever get back together.
This was LONG after I’d quit.
“ No” I said
“ But why not, they’d make alot of money.”
“ They’ve got alot of money, tell you what, send an offer to Paul Crockford the Best Manager in the World “ ( that’s biting sarcasm folks prompted by my bitter and twisted mood today).
He’ll give it to Mark and he’ll make a paper plane with it and fly it into his waste bin”
“ I don't understand?”
“ No. I know you don't. Your offer would be so silly it would mean playing stadiums at ridiculous
ticket prices and MK definitely does not want to do that. He’d rather play Ronnie Scotts ”
The guy just didn't get it.
Gilmour has the right approach, Waters doesn’t.
I'm sure Crockford gets them periodically and I'm sure M’s waste bin is full of unread offers.
Anyway health issues …not just him, preclude that.
I can't imagine anything he’d want to do LESS, and he’s stopped touring now and I do believe he HAS stopped.
Hello Ed, another question from a cousin. Do you remember or even know who wrote what parts of What's The Matter Baby? it is the only track credited to both Knopfler brothers, so, that in itself makes it unique, but was it a case of one writing the words the other the music? Also, was a studio version of it recorded?
Your cousin needs to get out more.
No. See 153 below.
Hello Ed.
I was just thinking about you saying that MK used to say during the NA promo of the first tours there than "guitar George" was a coal miner from Leeds, but it wasn't true, but was just a rhyme between George and chords... Do you remember any other story that MK had been telling to the press that it wasn't true, or just partially?
No but I'm sure he did.
It's no one's fault but ALL artists get the same unimaginative questions over and over and start inventing stuff to stay awake. .
Japan is funny..” What is your favourite colour, do you like black, what is your favourite sex position, do you like lotus flowers, do you drink your own urine, what do you think of our country, what is a Dire Straits, are you going to a steam bath tonight and get your privates pummelled by a sumo wrestler in drag, is your urine golden like sake, will you make love to my sister, WHY NOT? “
Now you are laughing at this but I've heard all those and more.
Still, it makes a welcome difference from “ how long were you in the studio? , how many OES shows did you record for OTN, did anybody tape Mark coughing during Railroad Worksong on night three at Ronnie Scotts in 1998 at 9.09 pm, has Hal Lindes learned any new chords since his operation, is David Knopfler planning a boxed set of his own albums packaged in old Newcastle Brown crates, is Ed Bicknell doing a tour of comedy clubs next year backed by The Dire Straits Experience ”, is ART just POP music or is POP music ART, is there a studio recording of “ What’s The Matter Baby?”
Oh Whoops.
SHIT.
Hello Ed, another question from a cousin. Do you remember or even know who wrote what parts of What's The Matter Baby? it is the only track credited to both Knopfler brothers, so, that in itself makes it unique, but was it a case of one writing the words the other the music? Also, was a studio version of it recorded?
Hello, I am posting here a message on behalf of my friend Mimmo Carrata in reply to the James Floyd question.
'If I may: Yes, What's The Matter Baby was actually recorded in studio. Around 15 years ago I found two unreleased acetates recorded in 1979 with the studio version of What's The Matter Baby recorded on side B, a very powerful studio version. The side A has the full alternate version of Solid Rock that was officially released on the soundtrack LP Riding High, but the version on the acetate is longer than that. Both songs were recorded by the original band: MK, DK, JI, PW. One acetate is a 10" and it was cut at the Trident Studios in London, the second acetate is a 7" with the same songs but the label is Audiodisc and it is autographed by Mark.
A big hello to all my friends on Amit and to Ed. He won't remember about me, but we had a long chat at Ronnie Scott's in London in 1998 after a NHB concert, I think it was on 27.Jul, I asked him a lot of questions that he answered with enthusiasm, and for the next couple of years I used to send Damage Management some faxes for Ed with others DS/MK questions that Ed always kindly answered. I still have all your faxes Ed ! So Ed, many thanks for that, great memories for me, it was 25 years ago".
Mimmo Carrata, rhymes with burrata ..I remember him.
Oh Lordy this is almost transcendental…I've come over all queer.
MIMMO. Mwah. 🎸
There is no such thing as a “powerful” studio version of that song.
You can't polish a doo doo …didn't I read that somewhere on this site ?
I know nothing about the recordings you mention and is Riding High about riding horses on heroin?
Of course I remember you. I LOVE burrata.
What you don't know MIMMO is that I secretly taped that conversation because it was the most grovelling fan approach I'd ever had or experienced. Still is.
Even more grovelling than a bloke in Muscle Shoals who asked Bob “ Rambling” Dylan if Bob remembered him at a gig in Kansas 15 years before and “Rambling" said “ yes” and the guy shot his load ( which was really not pleasant) .
When M said to “ Rambling, ”
“ You don't remember him, what are you going on about?” , the great man replied
“ It’s just easier ”.
Classic line and “Rambling” is not known for his humour.
True story.
If you have all my faxes/answers do you fancy doing this?
Just one more day to go.
-
Dear Ed,
Love all the answers so far. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! Here comes the "uncle" one.
How did the band present the new material to you? We know the story about the debut album but how about the rest? Did they invite you to their rehearsals and play you a finished product live once they figured out all arrangements, or did they record demos before going into the studio and played you those? We know that some songs evolved on tours, like TR or fragments of PI during the On Location tour. Did Mark play you the early drafts of the songs (i.e. on his acoustic only as he does these days when he gets the band together)? Did he ask for your feedback on these early versions? Did any song make a particularly strong impression on you when you first heard it? I imagine hearing something like BIA for the first time must have been special.
Hard to remember.
Communique…alot happened on the road starting with second US tour, sound-checks and performances was a common thread throughout. I don't remember demos for that but I might be wrong because I can't imagine Wexler showed up not having heard anything.
Yes I went to rehearsals but that was now and then.
Not a particularly good use of my time.
M came and lived with me in late 79 I think so he’d play stuff, write stuff while I made tea.
Suicide Towers was one because of the high rise I was in ( Barbican in London) which thankfully bit the dust ( the song not the building).
Really it was all the permutations you suggest.
He did play me R and J on an acoustic in my office I think. I have this memory of not knowing what to say!
Yes he was very open to feedback, suggestions.
Sometimes I'd say “ great " and sometimes I'd say “ smelly ” , he was very open like that back then.
Alot of stuff got dropped after try outs.
The crew would write out set lists and if they didn't like something they’d leave it off and the band would just go on to the next on the list.
It's much more random and spontaneous than people realise.
As for strong impressions yes. TOL, R and J, TR, PI, SFA ,MFN, BIA, YLT, LH, YAYF, HF, PONO others I'm sure I’m missing. .
Some made strong negative impressions as well! LB for one.
I hope that helps.
-
You mentioned that we get-a-lifers as a group have little knowledge of how a record deal works. I confess to this. My question is this:
I have read of other artists who were obligated by their contract to deliver a certain number of albums, even when the band was itself imploding. What if DS had had say two records left on their deal (after On the Night)? Could Mark have just said "here's an album of Rarities and B-Sides, and here's an album of half-finished crap" and the record company has to take it? Can he say "There will be no further Dire Straits product" and terminate the contract? Or could he use a solo record to satisfy this? How does this work (or how did it work back in the day)?
Did OTN complete Dire Straits' obligation to the record companies? Were they just going one record at a time by that point?
Also: My brother (JT) wants to know: did you ever get to read Jack's unreleased book? I can imagine it would make a nice counterpoint to John's well-polished account.
My dad (JJ) wants to know: if you could manage one (other) act from modern history, who would it be? Doesn't have to coincide with your career exactly. Elvis, the Beatles, U2, Taylor Swift, anyone.
Thanks again for doing this Q&A, it's been fabulous to read.
Good question.
If you are as successful as DS and have a respected and strong manager eg say Peter Grant, Tony Smith, Roger Forrester, Steve O Rourke RIP, then really you dictate the terms BUT a contract is a contract so you better get the best deal AND the most control you can at the outset.
It's really how you approach it. I negotiated all our deals incl records, publishing, merch, sponsorship, shows, but most acts use lawyers and pay for it.
I would do that now because its become ludicrously complicated eg AI.
Your hypothetical is technically true but in that scenario I would not have put out crap to finish a deal, that's very short sighted ( but people have eg Lou Reed).
If you have leverage and you only get that through commercial success, then things get worked out.
Record companies are pragmatic.
I might not like their business model but it's VERY rare anybody gets into a legal fight, esp in the UK ( the US is more litigious generally).
George Michael did and his lawyer who was my upstairs neighbour kept asking me every evening “ how are we doing?” and I kept saying "you’ll lose, because GM signed a contract on which he had legal advice”.
And he’d sob.
He did lose but It got sorted when Geffen bought his contract off Sony.
Courts enforce facts, not opinions or changes of mind, as they should.
Prince had this whole thing with Warners our US label ( “ slave ” era )
But it got sorted, of course it did.
OTN. No. I don't remember what we “ owed “ at that point but they did accept it as part of the contractual commitment which a live album wouldn’t normally count against, I just forced them to.
I was extremely tough on Phonogram and much less with Warners.
Different corporate personalities, one had great leadership, the other didn't.
Jack. No. He told me he was doing quite early on but no.
He would have had a hugely different take than John’s effort.
Elvis Presley if I could have found him at the Sun records stage.
He would have had a VERY different career but he became very difficult for the Colonel, I don't gamble and they were very different times.
None of the others you mention…geez U2 , are you kidding me?
.
Vangelis. Miles Davis pre electronic phase.
I would love to have had a company handling the great soundtrack composers, they are the classical composers of now. Morricone, Hans Zimmer, Two Steps from Hell ( Thomas Bergersen), Trevor Jones. Check them out
.
And for pure self indulgence, Buddy Rich.
You are welcome. It's been fun and educational for me, and quite exhausting!
Hello Ed, another question from a cousin. Do you remember or even know who wrote what parts of What's The Matter Baby? it is the only track credited to both Knopfler brothers, so, that in itself makes it unique, but was it a case of one writing the words the other the music? Also, was a studio version of it recorded?
Hello, I am posting here a message on behalf of my friend Mimmo Carrata in reply to the James Floyd question.
'If I may: Yes, What's The Matter Baby was actually recorded in studio. Around 15 years ago I found two unreleased acetates recorded in 1979 with the studio version of What's The Matter Baby recorded on side B, a very powerful studio version. The side A has the full alternate version of Solid Rock that was officially released on the soundtrack LP Riding High, but the version on the acetate is longer than that. Both songs were recorded by the original band: MK, DK, JI, PW. One acetate is a 10" and it was cut at the Trident Studios in London, the second acetate is a 7" with the same songs but the label is Audiodisc and it is autographed by Mark.
A big hello to all my friends on Amit and to Ed. He won't remember about me, but we had a long chat at Ronnie Scott's in London in 1998 after a NHB concert, I think it was on 27.Jul, I asked him a lot of questions that he answered with enthusiasm, and for the next couple of years I used to send Damage Management some faxes for Ed with others DS/MK questions that Ed always kindly answered. I still have all your faxes Ed ! So Ed, many thanks for that, great memories for me, it was 25 years ago".
It's a very interesting thing to see, even more so if one day we all get the chance to hear this studio version of Whats The Matter Baby.
About the version of Solid Rock on side A of this recording, I wonder if it could be the Demo they recorded back in 79? On Bootleg 18.11.79 - Tivoli Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark, (recently discovered) we can hear the demo of Solid Rock at the end of the show, the recording coming out of the band's PA, something I found very interesting at the time, because it means they could release it as a Single, who knows, maybe in late 79 or early 80. Hearing this recording is one of my dreams.🤩🙌🏻
I don't have anything to add here except you must have weird dreams.
First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to answer all those questions and for being so open! I may have missed it, but was there a specific moment that Mark told you he wanted to have a solo career and did he then ask you to manage it? Or was he contractually 'bound' to you at the time? If he asked you, did you realize what you were getting yourself into at the time?
'm as open as I want to be.
No. After OES I knew the band was done .
I also knew we had to take a break, sort out our lives.
We did have a contract then ( often we didn’t but commission was/is tax deductible overseas ) and we just sort of extended that. If he had wanted to leave me or vice versa a contract won’t hold you, then it just becomes about a settlement.
Like a divorce really.
Hi Ed
A question from my mum, Lusty Valentino. She says she met you after a gig in the 70s, and because my dad was working nights at the time you kindly took her home and fixed her Soda Stream.
Anyway, she is wondering if you knew the Spiders From Mars from back in your Hull days?
Absolutely I do .
They were The Rats then, a blues trio getting £20 a night in local pubs.
I often put them on as support eg to The Who and became good pals with Mick Ronson and we stayed friends right up to…..
I saw him the day he died which was really sad, but I'm glad I did.
A really good, sweet man, great and underrated musician, fab arranger ( Jack and Diane) no side to him, and he never changed. I would like to have managed him.
I was thinking about him just the other day funnily enough and I’m still in touch with Woody Woodmansey occasionally.
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Dear Ed,
here are two last-minute ones from two friends (who are totally unrelated to the Valentino clan):
Rusty wants to know about the famous red Schecter strat that was stolen. How did that happen, and did anyone ever find out what happened to it (or its parts)?
Crusty would like to know what inspired the decision to record MM in New York rather than in the UK. Was it the feeling of needing a fresh start, MK's love for all things American, money/strategic issues, studio quality or something else?
Once again, thank you very much for all your time and patience with all of us get-a-lifers! :-)
Must have been after me because I know nothing about this.
What a bummer for M.
He had a brand new car stolen for parts as well.
And his gnomes., he loved those gnomes , he applied for a shotgun licence after finding the airgun didn't produce enough “splat” but was turned down.
MM. Once we’d hooked up with Jimmy Iovine in Feb/March 1980 he suggested the Power Station which coincidentally Lourdes was managing.
Then Roy Bittan was drafted in and he lived in New Jersey I think.
So MK and I visited the studio and Lourdes thought I was M and he was me 🤡..I mean HOW could that be?. I'm suave, hip, cool and beautifully dressed and back then M was…well he wasn’t! He looked like he’d been dragged through a car wash backwards 😀.
So perfect alignment all the way (my partner’s words for luck ,) sealed the deal and NY it was.
It turned out great , no monetary thing, just a huge energy which fitted the songs perfectly.
It’s sad to see how shitty, filthy and run down that city has become.
I took Sadie there last year, her first time and it was sad.
Rats and scaffolding is what she’ll remember, and traffic, we actually gave up and went to Rochester to see Keb Mo and dear Bonnie Raitt at the Jazz Fest.
In Rochester the rats wear hats and carry tiny brief cases.
Just a very simple question, but i've always wondered; how tall is Mark? At the On the night show he always appeared really tall to me(over 6 foot something?) but on other occasions/pictures/movies he could also be 5ft10 or 5ft11.
Thanks!
have no idea. Not after all these years because I've only seen him in high heels.
I would say about same as me, about 5ft 10’’ because when we slept together everything lined up perfectly.
Def not 6ft. John is up there, on windy outdoor gigs we had to stick John’s hair on extra tight.
M surrounded himself with tiny people. .
All the crew had to be 5 6” or under.
The caterers 5 4’ or under.
The truck drivers were never allowed out of their cabs ( they were monsters), ditto the bus drivers.
Chris White had to stand in a trench.
That was why Jack didn't wear shoes and Guy’s riser was slightly lower than Alan’s to level them up.
Paul Franklin was fine. He actually fitted UNDER his pedal steel and we had to get him a higher bench to sit on. His bed was the flight case to save money.
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Hi Ed, a couple of easy ones…:
1. OES tour - what would you do differently if it was 1991 now (and you’d decided to stick with whatever the reason might have been), could it have been a happier better tour? More indoor arenas maybe like the 1991 stint?
2. Would you work with MK again?
Cheers!
I wouldn’t do it at all until certain persons ….note plural…had sorted out their lives.
Changing venues, band members, routing etc would have made no difference because that would not have addressed the underlying issues, the ones I can't tell you about and “ running away” is a gross understatement, no disrespect to M, he knows it was way more than that.
Very good question.
Well at this stage he’s winding down and so am I, so no.
In life when it's done, it's done.
Never go backwards, always forwards.
There's some wisdom for you! 🥁
Message from Mimmo with 4 photos in attachment:
Dear Ed,
english is not my language. Hard for me to understand if yours it's just british humour or something different. But I am not neither a dreamer nor a liar, see the 4 attached photos. I was happy to get in touch again with you after so many years, at least just to say hello, but I wish I'd never posted that message. I'll stay with my happy memories of 25 years ago. All the best .
This is where language and humour collide.
It was my humour but apologies if you didn't get it. I don't get it either at 2am. !
I recognised your name straight away.
Your pics haven’t been posted ( Dusty can you send separately? ) and there was nothing wrong with your message AT ALL.
I was very pleased to hear from you, very, and it gave me the opportunity to tell a Rambling Dylan story.
Take care, don't take stuff too seriously.
I can't find if this was asked already, but my distant relative from Uranus, Rusty Valentino, is curious about other "unusual" celebrities you or M met. You've mentioned Pat Boone and Joe Pass, which I never knew, and it made my day. Joe Pass successfully inspired thousands of guitar players to quit guitar, what a legend. M mentioned Ennio Morricone, Chet Baker, and Rüdiger himself, being close friends with Lonnie Donegan and a million obvious examples. It seems he met everybody who wasn't dead. If Elvis lived as long as Colonel Tom Parker, I bet we'd have a duet. So if you have something else to share on this front, that would be great.
No. Not asked.
I don't think you mean “quit” guitar, you mean “take up guitar”.
That was SUCH a thrill for us and so perfect after that amazing MSG gig to bump into HIM!
One of the real perks in our lives was meeting all these people, many teenage or later heroes, and when they turn out to be really nice, not pretentious narcissists , then that's a bonus, the icing on the cake.
“Unusual”…that's subjective …here’s a random list off the top of my head and don't forget I'd been in the business 7 years b4 I met DS.
I won’t mention the hundreds of musos but in no particular order here’s a few ….
Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Oscar Peterson, Clint Eastwood, Dennis Hopper, Shirley Bassey,
Helen Mirren, Jimi Hendrix, Prince Charles , Princess Diana , Leonard Cohen, Ennio Morricone, Sergio Leone, Chet Atkins, The Everly Brothers, Dolly Parton, David Puttnam, alot of UK politicians, a couple of US porn actresses, Noddy Holder, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, ….a few assholes…Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein.
Never met the Colonel but know alot who did…he gets a unfairly bad rap. As previously noted Elvis was NOT easy to manage.
Hi Ed.
I'm a bit late to the party and have not yet been able to read all responses so far, so apologies if some of this has already been covered and if there are too many questions.
1] Dire Straits were recorded live at the Hope & Anchor, London in 1977 and Eastbound Train was released on the “Front Row Festival” LP and as a DS b-side. Do you recall the circumstances around this recording? Was the whole show recorded by the band and that track given to the LP organisers?
2] Do you know if MK ever recorded any home demos of any of his songs (eg on a portastudio or just strumming on an acoustic guitar to a cassette) to present to the band (or management) before LP sessions or would the usual process be for MK to just play the songs live to the band in rehearsal?
3] From a previous answer you seem to have been unaware of the Solid Rock demo being released on the 1981 Riding High soundtrack – I had presumed this may have been given to the soundtrack compilers by the record company by mistake, but the back of the LP sleeve states "Many of the tracks featured on this album were specially composed, recorded or re-arranged for the film.", so looks like a different version of Solid Rock was intended to be used, so surely the band/management would have been aware at the time? (Also, DS are seen recording this version at Basing Street studios in the 1980 Arena BBC special.)
4] Another demo question – the version of Where Do You Think You’re Going on the 1988 Money For Nothing LP was a demo (but not noted as such on the sleeve) – any recollections why this was specifically chosen over the LP version for that release?
5] Were any additional unreleased tracks recorded for Brothers In Arms? Any additional tracks recorded for On Every Street-possibly Think I Love You Too Much or The Long Highway that were played on the tour?
6] Did you accompany MK to his Steely Dan session? If so, any recollections?
7] Were you present in the studio when MK recorded Blanket Roll Blues with Scott Walker? If so, any recollections? Are you aware if MK recorded any other material with Scott for the Climate of Hunter LP?
8] Any recollections from the Knebworth 1990 show where DS appeared augmented by Eric Clapton’s band? Also, were any of the 1988 Hammersmith Mandela shows recorded to your knowledge?
9] Looking back, any thoughts on why the On Every Street LP may not have been more successful in terms of sales/critical attention at the time? May these reasons include the success of Brothers In Arms being too big a yardstick for any band to be measured against and also many other big selling albums being released around the same time that may have taken some attention away from DS?
10] And finally - I previously worked for the BBC and one of the “perks” of the job was access to some of their digital archive including the full unedited recordings of some pre broadcast interviews. I once found an interview of MK with Johnnie Walker from 2015, where at the end, once the main interview was finished and they were preparing to leave, Mr Walker could be heard asking MK “So how is Basher Bicknell these days?” (I can’t remember MK’s exact answer – I think he replied along the lines that you were no longer working together).
My question is - I had never heard you referred to as “Basher” before - was this a music industry nickname for you back in the day and what was the origin?
Many thanks!
Better late than never. Welcome.
1. No. Just before my time. I’m pretty sure not because I've never heard anything other than ET.
2. No. Yes.
3. I have no memory of this AT ALL.
Do not trust generalised sleeve notes.
I just googled the film.
This was a record co fuck up.
They did not get my clearance to put SR in and I would NEVER have allowed a demo to go into a picture or be released in any form commercially.
Are you SURE it's a demo? I don't remember any demos being done for MM. Where? When? Who engineered?
But it was 44 yeas ago and that film tanked completely so no harm done .
4. It was? It's an alternate mix I think, not a demo.
5. No. No. No.
6. Yes. A complete pain in the ass.
They referred to him as “ he, him “ in the third person constantly, never used his name.
I was introduced to Walter RIP when he was asleep.
After getting him to play that solo about 20 times + we took a fag break and M said to me “I'm going to play that thing exactly the same for as long as I'm here” , he was pretty frustrated .
I had toured them In UK in 1974 as agent. .
Tremendous band ( including a 16 year old Pocaro ) but a couple of pretentious wankers who thought being rude was cool.
It's not.
I left at 2 am bored silly, M left at 4am, wiped out.
Very disappointing evening then it didn't come out for what, another year? Ridiculous.
7 No. No. (I was managing Scott, a wonderful man.)
8. No. As Elton said while we were all sitting around “ this feels like one too many ( charity shows).
No.
9. In Mark’s words “ I made a crap album” ( it's not crap but it wasn’t as commercial. It was done for the wrong reasons ).
No hit singles.
Left it too long after BIA .
Yes expectations were way too high, esp idiot record companies and media.
Alot of this I addressed way back in EB thread…check that out.
I don't know what came out around that time. I never cared or thought about it as a competion. I was only interested in MY acts, not the other pop junk swirling about. I LOVED my artists, the rest could go screw themselves ( I don't mean personally I was and am friends with many).
10 By 2015 I was long gone having a nice life. Johnnie W is an ace guy, lovely man , knows his stuff. “Basher”.....no. He was referring to the drumming part of my life, funny. I industry nickname, if there was one, was probably more….” medical ”.
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Dear Ed, I have no words to thank you for your patience and attention in answering my questions. What a privilege I had and so many others had here. Who knows, maybe the more than 100 questions you answered here will inspire you to write a book. You have the fuel to take this journey through your memories and take us together through a fun and exciting reading materialized in a book. This can be an essay, if you want. But if you don't want to, that's not a problem at all. I'm sure that we will ALL be eternally grateful for the opportunity you gave us here at AMIT. :clap Speaking for myself, I never imagined that this would be possible. This is the miracle of the internet, one of its best fruits.
Since we are nearing the end, and the bells are about to ring, I will paraphrase:
"And then the man he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last just as the time bell rings
"Goodnight, now it's time to go home"
Then he makes it fast with one more thing..."🎸🎸🎸
The last questions will be from my uncle, Kingsley Nunes I:🫢😅
What are the moments you miss most when you think of Dire Straits?
There is a benefit show that the Notting Hillbillies did shortly after the OES tour ended, at Swan Hunter 06.07.93, Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, UK, we have the audio of it available for our enjoyment, however, it was filmed as we can see in the following photo from the Swan Hunter show 06.07.93. in the link below to the wonderful website, On Every Bootleg.
http://www.oneverybootleg.nl/swanhunter_04.jpg (http://www.oneverybootleg.nl/swanhunter_04.jpg)
http://www.oneverybootleg.nl/swanhunter_02.jpg
To this day it has never been released, at this show, Alan Clark was in Guy's place for some reason that we do not know. Are you aware of this video recording? What do you remember about that performance?
It's a shame that none of the NHB shows between 97 and 99 were officially recorded by you. It would have been fabulous. Thank goodness some kind people were able to record it on video for our enjoyment.
Finally, a daydream (thinking outside the box, playing with your imagination):😱 If in the 90s a sought-after filmmaker told you that he wanted to make a film about Mark Knopfler, telling his love for music, for instruments, since his childhood, his talent as a guitarist and the paths that led him to Dire Straits... In your opinion, is there any way that something like this could be told on the big screen someday? Even if it was with a pinch of fiction, a bit of drama or comedy (these things happen), but without straying too far from the band's biography? How would you react?👽🖖🏻
Many bands and musicians have had this kind of thing happen to them, Elton John, John Lennon, Queen, in 2025 we will have A Complete Unknown, a film that portrays the life of Bob Dylan. The story of how Jack became the guitarist for Dire Straits at the height of the band's popularity is a surreal story in itself, as he demonstrates in podcasts that I was able to watch, but also the beginning of the band, in the midst of the hurricane of Punk, New Wave in England and Disco Music in the United States, it was absolutely challenging for a band like they were in 77 to gain space and grow exponentially over the years, almost never following the musical trends of their time. A good filmmaker could make a good juice by squeezing this "orange" well, you can't completely underestimate it, I don't know if you agree, dear Ed.
This must have certainly been the worst question asked to you on this forum, without rhyme or reason, I'm almost asleep as I write, it's past midnight here in Brazil.🥱🥱🥱
May God bless you always, Ed, 🙏🏻as has already been written here, you are worth your weight in gold.🙌🏻
Fraternally.👏🏻
Brunno, it's been a trip.
It might. How do you know I haven’t and all this wasn't just audience research?
Those are very kind words.
Actually just about everyone has been kind, polite often funny and suitably grovelling,
Quizzy being the exception.
He has not grovelled nearly enough but he is passionate I’ll give him that . 😂
The music up to and including BIA ( but that's accessible though I rarely listen to it )
The fun up to about 1998, travelling the World, meeting heroes, eating cannelloni as it should be made. .
The camaraderie after David had left and before certain people turned into tossers ( OES time) .
The NHB’s experience.
The success and I'm not afraid to admit it.
When the dream happens, ENJOY IT.
I wish M and the band had enjoyed it more instead of it becoming a burden.
But to be honest, I DON’T miss it.
That was a chapter in my life , there have been many others equally stimulating and enjoyable and I've been blessed with a lovely family, the most amazing friends ( really incredible) and some wonderful romantic partners.
You get out what you put in.
SH. I've heard that but thanks. I can't recall , Guy had something else on I think. The only thing I remember is M wanted to go on first and consequently people missed the show ( our bit ) which was a shame. Can't remember why. Oh, and I was fabulous. But that's a given.
You’re asking the wrong person.
Nearly all music based dramatisations are rubbish although “Elvis “ wasn’t bad
I don't see them eg Elton, Queen, its bad enough knowing the real thing!
Dylan I will not be going to ( his manager Jeff Rosen is a real pal, lovely man)
MK would NEVER go along with that and who on earth could play him? Tom Hardy?
Olivia Coleman?
Maybe my book will come a script. If I ever get round to it that is.
Or John’s could be a B movie.
No. There have been others way sillier.
Hmm. Gold. I'm trying to lose 2 lbs. Maybe I should stop.
You take care Brunno. It's been a thrill having you know me xxx.
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my alter ego MvP just realized no one asked (much) about the dylan connection
how was YOUR experience dealing with BD back in 79 and again in 82/83 as well as down under in 86?
and did Mark behave ANY different when he was around him? seeing as he calls him his main influence since his sis bought that first record of him...
pretty sure being around Dylan should be a source of some amazing stories, pls do not dissapoint.
Thank God they didn't.
Some plonker has written an entire book about “ Infidels” ( imagine waking up one day and thinking , “ I know, I'll write a whole book about the making of one album” )
I don't want to sell a book for him but get that.
It's a good portrait of Rambling and the unique way he goes about things.
I love some of his writing but mostly cover versions eg The Byrds, Julie Driscoll./Brian Auger.
The rest ..couldn't care less. I dont own one BD record.
The worst live performer I have ever seen except for Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Australia 86 with Tom Petty and HB.
Truly atrocious as Mike Campbell guitarist admitted to M and I - “ we rehearsed 8 weeks to play as badly as this”
Sorry but it's too long to get into that.
Chaotic. Boring because it was chaotic, just so silly.
That's for the book if I ever….…..and maybe not even then, not sure I'd waste the paper.
M didn't behave any particular way that I recall .
Rambling is just a ( talented) bloke, nice enough, wouldn’t know me if I sat on his car bonnet and that’s ok, i'm not going to, I doubt I will ever meet/see him again.
His 60 Minutes TV interview is interesting.
It would be a bit like me hanging out with Elvin Jones ( which I did ) and having M string along bored silly.
Really sorry but I can't give you what you’re asking .
My uncle Ignatius is really curious about your thoughts on OES tour, musically speaking and its evolution through its duration.
- What do you think were the show's highlights and downs?
- On its beginning there was much more variety in terms of set list. On the later part, set list was pretty much set in stone with perhaps When It Comes To You or Fade To Black getting in and out. Do you have any insight on this? Was this consequential with the band mood's at that moment?
- Is there any song rendition/version you thought it was a downgrade from previous tours? What do you think about M using the Pensa Suhr for pretty much every classic song?
I’ve covered this ALOT already , not just on this Q and A …..have a listen to the Lefsetz podcasts esp the second and read what I've said elsewhere on AMIT.
It was so painful to ME, maybe no one else ( that's a joke) that I can't express any clear thoughts about it's musical aspects, they are too wrapped up emotionally in other stuff that went down particularly in the run up and at the end.
Right from the rehearsals I thought it was overblown, over rehearsed, no spontaneity, terrible onstage atmosphere, and strangely boring/flat certainly compared to the MM, LOG and especially BIA tours, it had no humour .
Being “perfect” musically for me is a really awful, misguided thing,
It becomes cabaret.
Bands like Springsteen, The Stones, ZZ Top, Skynyrd, Eric C, BB King, all the jazz artists I love were/are driven by the FUN of playing .
I saw Anastasia not long ago. Utterly brilliant. Exciting. One of my best gigs ever.
And she didn't need 900 lights and a fucking orchestra, she sang from her SOUL and it was fun ( amazing audience, one of the loudest I've ever heard ).
OES had no fun.
Chris Whitten has covered that and I completely get what he’s said.
That M spoke maybe 10 words to him over the whole thing says it all.
That's no criticism of the band itself.
They were 100% professional, delivered EVERY night and managed to extract what they could out of, frankly, a very dark situation exacerbated by one of them busily politicking , a singularly pathetic individual I wouldn't piss on if he ran past me on fire.
I think Chris W called the atmosphere “ toxic".
Reading John’s book makes me wonder if he was even there. He doesn’t seem able to recall the itinerary which is on the web and accurately on ON EVERY BOOTLEG, an excellent site.
There were no highlights or downs.
It was flat, at least the gigs I saw, predictable, music should never be predictable. .
Yes, by the standards of 95% of touring acts back then it was tremendous.
The audiences loved it.
The sound and lighting state of the art , thank you Robert and Chas. Crew fantastic. I mean really fantastic, World class, never buckled once.
I have zero idea why songs rotated, that was down to M and sorry, I was a manager and a drummer, I have no thoughts about the guitars he used. Rudy is a good bloke.
Thing is as I've said over and over it's genesis was all wrong.
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Ed, my cousin still won't get out more!!
Dire Straits played a show in the early 80's which also had Mike Oldfield on the bill, did you meet him? Did he and Mark chat? I know Mike is a fan of Mark.
What did you think of Mark's playing the first time you ever saw him play?
What would be written on your head stone?
Thanks for taking the time to answer all our questions.
Mike approached me for management three times I think.
Nice man, underrated guitarist, huge talent, a few personal issues ( don’t we all) and we didn't really “gel” as personalities ( I don't know what he made of me ).
We never discussed M at all.
I was impressed but I was MORE impressed by the red Strat ., an iconic instrument, and that he didn't use a pick because there was another Pick already there.
“ I told you I was ill ”.
Ed, a question from my stinky old uncle, Fusty Valentino.
He was prompted by the mention of Knebworth above.
On the original posters/programme/tv broadcast it was billed as "Mark Knopfler" appearing, but by the time the CD/video came out it had changed to DS, can you remember the reason for the change?
That sounds like opportunistic marketing to me! I guess John and his blue jacket justified calling it DS.
Question from my cousins friend Nark Kobbler.
Hello Ed
What was the deal with the Live At the BBC release? Was this just a contractual thing and were there any other alternatives considered at the time? E.g the Mandela gig, do you think Mandela set will ever be released?
Thanks for all the answers so great to read. A lot of joy.
I think the approach came from the BBC. They had all this archive stuff and had been releasing to and it was our turn. It had been decently recorded, historical piece so why not?
No contractual thing. I don't think Warners put it out in US.
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Hi Ed,
Thank your for you dedication to this Q&A.
These are my sons' questions (one for each of them):
Sound evolution. From your point of view: What was the most unexpected musical approach change during the first five studio albums? Did MK anticipate you where his musical direction was heading to? Did he ask you for advice in that sense anytime?
The "7th" Studio Record. What type of record did you miss from DS career, that one that it should had been done? No need to be the last one, but any opportunity in between the other ones.
Songs and audience. Which song do you think it was never applauded enough (hidden gem) and which one surprised you being a top song to the audience?
Longer DS life. Would DS have kept releasing a few more albums if BIA had a success level Alchemy-like years? Not so burnout mentally and physically, less media exposure, less exhausting fan environment, etc.
Kicking-off. 1977-1979, the band is starting to feel that this time can really work and this is the opportunity of their lives. Were they stepping up to improve themselves as musicians (more hours of practice, music theory study, other professional players help)? Or they didn't have time for that with the early quick success train of promotions, gigs, recording sessions...
Hypothetical future. All planets align and you are back as MK (fit and looking forward to go back on tours) manager with plenty of powers: what would you do with his career?
MK in another band. Was MK tempted anytime to split DS and join any well/long time established band?
Ed is in back in town. How would it be the band that takes you back from your retirement? A band that ignites that fire that DS sparked 46 years ago, that it'll make you say: "this is my last dance". What ingredients would you like too see in a pub band to put you back in action?
...and finally my question:
MK and his approach to harder rock genres: does he like them? Did he listen to these bands? Did he try to walk on that route anytime (heavier sounds around the 79-80&BBC Arena era, also certains moments of the BIA Tour). I'm curious to know a little bit more of his thoughts related to that part of the rock history (interviews and himself mostly focusing 60's classic rock backwards onto blues/country pioneers). Just to mention a few, no need to go one by one, but if you consider to say anything about any of them (maybe they were another planet to Mark and he was not interested at all):
1st heavy metal/hard rock eras: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Budgie, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Kiss, Scorpions, AC/DC, Rainbow...
Until things went to next generations: Motorhead, Randy Rhoads, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Helloween, Guns N' Roses, virtuosos like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai...
Anything from the prog-rock band Camel leaded by Andy Latimer? MK and AL share very deep emotional tones sometimes.
And the cherry on the top: could you tell us the name of any band we wouldn't imagine MK loves?
Thanks again.
Ah. A new face. Welcome to you and your “son".
Good questions, in order.
Addition of keyboards ( though not really “ unexpected ”.) I instinctively knew where he was heading. In that period he and I had a kind of mutual ESP. we didn't need to talk about it, so no need for advice from me, we kind of “floated” together. Quite an experience., like getting your drains done.
Never thought about it. One with a Symphony Orchestra ( real strings) might have been nice combining his songs with his soundtrack ethos. He loves the Nelson Riddle/Sinatra kind of orchestrations as I do.
Can't answer that. It varied by territory a bit but everything was a top song, even on the OES tour. The audience was unaware of the stresses of that and wouldn’t have cared anyway.
Oh and nothing in music ever surprises me, not since I first heard “ Hound Dog” aged 13 and “ Drum Boogie'’ ( Krupa) a year later.
Maybe. I’d be speculating. Don't know. It was what it was, although if you plotted it on a graph with the exception of Communique it went in a straight upwards trajectory from DS to BIA. .
You’ve answered your own question..no time. The roller coaster picked up speed very quickly.
You mean now? I would do what I always did, rely on his instincts and mine, I did that with all my acts ( ha! not always successfully. But M had a purpose and so did I and it was the SAME purpose.)
Trust your gut and not what the Biz thinks you should do. The rest is mechanics. No stadiums though and a much more careful selection of musicians to weed out a few plonkers ( I would certainly choose several from the BIA lineup if they could still stand up).
Excellent question. Your “son" is a little older than 15 I think.
No. Nobody would have him!
There is nobody who could do that. I’m 75 for goodness sake! I have a good life, the same ups and downs as most people , and I do not go to pubs. Ever.
Well he liked Guns and Roses back when …Appetite etc. .
Listen …hmmmm, not that I know of, doubtful.
I don't know what he listens to except the obvious.
I worked with BS, LZ not them but Peter Grant was a best friend/loved him, DP, WA, and Mark and I never discussed Metal or Hard Rock that I can recall. .
But then we never discussed big bands, Miles, Coltrane, Motown, Stax, ambient or other guitar players much. Hendrix, Scotty Moore, Chet, Eric of course…..
He LOVES UK pop 1957-1963 ( as I do )and is a master at quizzes on that period.
Did alot of those on the bus.
We both love Elvis, early rock artists and blues.
Prog. No but he loves Tull as I do, Moodies maybe?
Camel…fuck. Used to see them at the Marquee and Audience, Rare Bird, Family ( he liked them) Fairports ( same), Mott The Hoople, The Nice, Spooky Tooth, Free , Quo and the mighty Slade, all that era .
Maybe he likes AC DC now. Ha!
No. No idea. I’d be guessing.
Ed, please more info on the funny wierd Assad boy
He’s working for Robert Plant now, same job description but he’s paid less.
Hi Ed
Thank you for taking your time to look at my question.
You’ve touched upon certain things in other peoples answers along the way, whether Alchemy was a mix of nights, also the filming of the Paris '83 gigs and Universal Studio Fire. It’s nice to be hearing this new info. The production logo for Alchemy says it was a PolyGram Music Video International production, who then presumably hired Limelight Films as the actual “film crew” to produce the footage. Polygram Filmed Entertainment then seems to have been sold on or taken over by several companies along it’s way such as Universal Pictures - then possibly onto a company called Vivendi - or Universal Studios - all according to Wikipedia. It's confusing to read but makes me wonder how any archives are dealt with during these changes. I do hope that any archived film footage wasn’t part of the 2008 Universal Studio fire that destroyed many original master tapes of artists. It had crossed my mind before whether DS lost anything in that fire.
So my question, can you recall if the original footage/negative of the “other” night of Alchemy (Hammersmith) was kept in it’s entirety and if so, was that kept in archive conditions somewhere? Or that same question more specifically from your managerial perspective maybe, was the “other” night also agreed to be supplied and archived or was the agreement with the film team at the time more something like - to simply “supply 1x DS concert movie”. Would there have been an effort to archive and store things like any unused footage and negatives back in 1983, even if deemed not “required” after completion?
As for any future releases, I’m not pursuing that question and I’m aware that it’s not your area now, just whether you recall if the “other” night was archived properly at the time and exists? Hopefully not lost in somewhere like the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Thank you
Ingrained
<- ->
-> <-
PMV had literally just opened as a new division of Polygram
We might have been its first production, can't remember.
Yes, they hired Limelight, top vid promo co at the time to produce the program.
.
You are listing a sequence of buyouts ( you have it correct I think) and I can't answer your question, I simply don't know nor anything re archives, nor do I know if any DS material was lost in that fire.
Footage….No. No idea.
That was not part of my remit or responsibility, that would have been a PMV matter.
I remember fighting over the contract with PMV as late as two hours before showtime.
They were trying to charge back to the deal/split THEIR interest costs.
I very nearly cancelled the whole thing there and then but they gave in.
When these companies are sold the buyers do “due diligence” to make sure that WHAT they are buying actually exists. So presumably in the bowels of some building it does.
We would have committed to providing a “finished performance of X minutes” or something like that …along the lines of what you say.
I have no idea if they kept the first night or why the second was chosen, probably because there were fewer technical blips ( the first was really a run through).
I had to fight tooth and nail to even get it released as a video in most countries and get them to promote it.
The album sold extremely well, the video did not.
The market for concert videos then was only just starting.
Lesson? Dont be somebody else’s experiment.
Hi Ed,
My youngest son learnt to speak between my last post and this one. This is his question:
Can you tell us your dreamed DS line-up with musicians that weren't in the band?
Only three conditions:
1) Avoid players that participated in charities, obvious options or unrealistic chances -i.e: Clapton as the DS rhythm guitarist for years-).
2) They don't have to be the best ones, but they would match MK musically and they would blend tastefully with DS songs' spirit or adding a singular touch.
3) You can pick them from any moment in music history, not only active musicians during 77-92.
And my final question:
Can we know your opinion as a drummer yourself about Brian Downey?
Thank you!
No.
Sorry but I never dreamed about anything like that, and when you’re a manager you work with what you have and what they give you.
It would be easier to say who wouldn’t fit but I need to finish up , been at this all day.
Brian Downey is a great and strangely underrated drummer, no idea why.
Thin Lizzy were a band who NEARLY became huge but Phil just sort of collapsed inwards. I went to the "Kings Call" session and he was in a terrible state, tragic to see.
Chris Morrison Lizzy’s long suffering manager is one of my best friends. Great band.
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Hi AMITS,
Since sadly the Q and A’s have ceased it's now ( trumpets blare and church bells ring)
TOUR BONUS TIME
I'm going to go thru the entire discussion thread that this project has produced and if necessary comment or clarify.
If I don't it's because it's not needed.
I’m following the numbering of each post
Thanks Ed for all these answers. Very informative and funny at the same time. It would make a great book as many others stated in the forum, guess it would be difficult to speak about certain things but hey, that's why editors are in the business!
But then the editors would see what they’d need to edit.
Thanks again to Ed for answering our questions, a few thoughts I have had after reading them. After saying he saw dozens of songs in Mark's little black and and about 20 song for Love Over Gold, Mark must be even more prolific than we thought!! I wonder how many songs are recorded and sitting in an archive somewhere?
I love the fact that Ed sent Private Dancer to Prince, a very bold move on his part ;D It would be have been amazing to hear what Prince could/would have done with it, maybe he did do something with it, Prince has a huge unreleased archive.
Mark playing on Michael Jackson's Bad :o wow, that would have been something, I wonder if Mark would have had been willing to do it? if not for the reasons Ed said. Jackson must have really liked guitar music and players, asking Mark, and using Slash and Eddie Van Halen and Jennifer Batton, he even called Mike Oldfield in the mid 80's.
Answered elsewhere.
Prince..no idea, I doubt he even listened to it…finished track, guide vocal, mixed like GH.
“ Bad ". Would it?
When I mentioned to M it got no reaction, none ( but then he had just crashed his car in Canberra).
He would have decided on the basis of the song as he always did, the fact it was MJ was no
big deal to either of us. ( I’d met him which is a tale in itself ).
Can someone please elaborate on this sentence?
A part of one of Ed´s answers.
"The DSE are almost as good as the real thing, really tremendous and MK gets the bloody PRS!"
Does he mean DSL (Dire Straits Legends) and that it annoys MK so much he has sort of bleeding ;)
The Dire Straits Experience, Chris White’s fab unit.
I have nothing to say about any of the others. …not seen.
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Can someone please elaborate on this sentence?
A part of one of Ed´s answers.
"The DSE are almost as good as the real thing, really tremendous and MK gets the bloody PRS!"
Does he mean DSL (Dire Straits Legends) and that it annoys MK so much he has sort of bleeding ;)
PRS:
https://www.prsformusic.com/
ie MK makes money every time they play.
And they used to be called DSE. I think. It’s difficult to keep up, Alan kept falling out with people.
See 4.
Only if the local collection society identifies, collects and sends to PRS UK.
That's not always a given
Many many thanks Ed !
and yes I confirm : Tommy Mandel is credited on the LP/CD/Cassette booklets but NOT on the video. A bit weird isn't it ?
Then that was a mistake which we all missed by the vid company production people who were supplied with the same credits as appear on the sleeve .
Belated apologies to Tommy who also missed it 🕺
Hi,
I can't find a correct translation for Ed's line about EC : "Lives down the street for me but never has any sugar in, cheap sod."
Can someone turn this sentence into simple english ?
Means they live close from each other but they don't visit the other.
Just a Brit saying about borrowing sugar off your neighbour.
It's really Eric's London place.
He lives near Guildford and isn’t in town that much.
No. We don't visit each other, not that close personally but I see him in the local Italian from time to time, he has a daytime cleaning job there.
Reading Ed's answers the parting of the ways with Mark was the right thing for both of them. If Ed doesn't listen to Mark's new stuff, he can't understand how Mark has grown as a lyricist and songwriter. Mark as a big fan of Bob always wanted to be an aartist. It is his calling. I think Mark lost his way slightly with the brothers in armd and on every street records. He needed a fresh start.
Very perceptive. We had reached our sell by date some time before but like a marriage you hang on hoping whatever has gone can be recovered.
Not sure he “ lost his way ” , that's an odd comment, I'd say he found it from MM to BIA including LH, C, Alchemy .
After OES yes, he needed to dump the overblown, over rehearsed, almost choreographed approach ( my view) and "get down” like James Brown ( I don't literally mean musically).
But somehow that wasn’t quite what happened.
I'm going to move on with just one comment.
He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist, father and husband and friend to many and dickhead to a few.
It’s not art. It is disposable pop music, entertainment, show business and it gives huge enjoyment to vast numbers of people and creates a lot of employment but it’s called “pop” music for a reason.
Because it’s popular.
That's the point of it.
And you will never persuade me that the EVERYTHING you say makes it more than that.
Obviously nothing personal, you just flipped one of my switches.
Seems like we live on completely different planets with Ed because I can't agree with this at all if I understood his words correctly.
From my experience in life, from all art, including sculpture, painting, poetry, theatre, architecture, whatever it is, music is probably the most important one. Even cinema and photography (as art, not iPhone shots) are not as accessible, ubiquitous, abundant, approachable and built into humanity as music.
People from any background can sing the pentatonic scale as famously demonstrated by Bobby McFerrin at the World Science Festival. Music is built right in us, one of the first things children do in life is either sing or dance to music, and the most viewed video of all time on YouTube is the kid's song with 15 billion views.
Pop music, as Ed said in the answer to my question, builds entire generations in which Ed Bicknells and Mark Knopflers of this world grow. Iconic pop songs, like, say, Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" literally save people's lives. Mark's "ditties" as he calls them, have the same effect—one of his favourite stories is one of a guy, who approached him saying he wanted to commit suicide but decided to go on because of his music.
That's also the reason music is truly the most accessible commodity today after air and water and is so easy to get. So I truly don't know. Getting popular is not the point of popular music. Music is popular because it's important for people and offers them something way more than simple enjoyment. It provides a soundtrack to their life.
I’m going to get personal and maybe a bit “strong” because it's unavoidable.
So apologies in advance ….nothingb personal ( which means it is).
Yes you understood me.
It’s YOU who are on a completely different planet and the suicide reference is irrelevant to any debate re POP and ART
Do you really think that a single song will save the life of someone so depressed or desperate they are be prepared to take their own lives and if so, FOR HOW LONG ?
Don't follow that AT ALL, it almost smacks of desperation to win a facile argument.
My son was a suicide counsellor until he just couldn’t do it anymore.
His comment was “ he has no idea what he’s talking about ”.
"Getting popular is not the point of popular music” .
Well on one level, maybe not to you, but I doubt you’d find many struggling artists who'd agree with that, and none who have “ made it ”.
Do you really think that folks go into this to fail (commercially) , which in turn would mean that even if they wanted to they could never achieve the ”soundtrack” goals you set out, they would have disappeared without trace like 99.999 % of the 100,000 songs uploaded to Spotify etc EVERY DAY..
They go into it to be popular ( although apparently David Knopfler did not, uniquely he wanted to be less popular) and for whatever they think the rewards will be.
I worked in music for over 40 years with hundreds of singers, musicians, bands in every genre and NOT ONE person, EVER, expressed your hopelessly naive and pretentious notion that they were doing it to become the “ soundtrack to people’s lives.”
They would have thought that notion laughable.
Only a complete narcissist could come up with that one and I've met plenty of those believe me.
IF that happens it's for how long? One generation? Two? You’d be stretched to get to three and none after four. My grandkids ( so third ) have no idea who Elvis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson or Weird Al were and zero interest and their house is full of music all the time.
Oh and by the way, I do realise you are coming at this from a completely different perspective to me ( because I have been tainted by the music biz).
I’ll return to this later when I respond to more of your POP v ART fantasy.
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I'm going to move on with just one comment.
He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist, father and husband and friend to many and dickhead to a few.
It’s not art. It is disposable pop music, entertainment, show business and it gives huge enjoyment to vast numbers of people and creates a lot of employment but it’s called “pop” music for a reason.
Because it’s popular.
That's the point of it.
And you will never persuade me that the EVERYTHING you say makes it more than that.
Obviously nothing personal, you just flipped one of my switches.
Seems like we live on completely different planets with Ed because I can't agree with this at all if I understood his words correctly.
From my experience in life, from all art, including sculpture, painting, poetry, theatre, architecture, whatever it is, music is probably the most important one. Even cinema and photography (as art, not iPhone shots) are not as accessible, ubiquitous, abundant, approachable and built into humanity as music.
People from any background can sing the pentatonic scale as famously demonstrated by Bobby McFerrin at the World Science Festival. Music is built right in us, one of the first things children do in life is either sing or dance to music, and the most viewed video of all time on YouTube is the kid's song with 15 billion views.
Pop music, as Ed said in the answer to my question, builds entire generations in which Ed Bicknells and Mark Knopflers of this world grow. Iconic pop songs, like, say, Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" literally save people's lives. Mark's "ditties" as he calls them, have the same effect—one of his favourite stories is one of a guy, who approached him saying he wanted to commit suicide but decided to go on because of his music.
That's also the reason music is truly the most accessible commodity today after air and water and is so easy to get. So I truly don't know. Getting popular is not the point of popular music. Music is popular because it's important for people and offers them something way more than simple enjoyment. It provides a soundtrack to their life.
I agree :thumbsup
I think Ed has connected music and the music industry too much, and that's why we get this impression of this statement.
Maybe I have.
It's how I’m programmed.
There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.
Wow, this was such a highlight. The guy definitely doesn't look amicable at all, I can't totally imagine the bad vibes.
Who are you referring to?
I agree with Ed that pop music can never be art. Important, relevant, yes. But even Mark himself would probably laugh about calling his music art.
LE
Thank you.
The voice of common sense.
I agree with Ed that pop music can never be art. Important, relevant, yes. But even Mark himself would probably laugh about calling his music art.
LE
What gives? Art is creating something out of nothing, whether it's a poem, a painting, a movie script, shooting a movie, designing a video game, writing a song, building a piece of furniture, designing a building, or designing a font. Music is probably not as celebrated as other arts, but it even has its own Oscar, for Mark's sake. Grammy.
How can a sensible human put a "≠" sign between music and art is beyond me. There is some music I wouldn't call art, but you know to which music it can be applied and you can say that about any questionable creation in any category of "art". There are bad movies, bad poems, bad paintings and pretty much everything.
What you're saying is true if the question is "Does Mark Knopfler consider himself an artist?". Of course, that's funny. Nobody in their right mind will think about themselves as "maestros" and creators of art, but it doesn't mean what they are doing is not art. Centuries ago, art was just what people did, and a piano was at every home.
Oscars, Grammy’s , Brits, BAFTA’s, Soaps etc …..ALL “awards" are shameless marketing tools to sell whatever to a gullible public.
Ask yourself who votes for these things and on what basis?
How much money they’ve generated?
You?
The public?
No. Vested interests or, NOBODY AT ALL.
DS were asked to accept an award in Monte Carlo years ago on TV and when I asked who’d voted I was told “ no one, you'll get it if you just turn up”.
Which the great Boney M did who didn't even sing on most of their ( great ) records.
Wake up!
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There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.
Wow, this was such a highlight. The guy definitely doesn't look amicable at all, I can't totally imagine the bad vibes.
Yes, this statement also struck me. :think
That's so awesome though. Talent is the ultimate gauge of everything, as was previously discussed in other threads. Even if you're an asshole, talent can save you, what an important lesson in life ;D
Please…..
Talent cannot save you from not being kind.
Talent cannot save you from being dishonest.
Talent cannot save you from breaking your word.
Talent cannot save you from your own arrogance and stupidity.
Talent cannot save you from being a complete shit to your friends and colleagues.
Talent cannot save you from being disloyal
Karma will always win out, as it does with all of us.
Really, pop music can't be art? And, for example, progressive music can be art? Who decides that? For me, pop music can be and is art. Brothers In Arms album from the 1980s was pop music. And for me, the BIA album is art.
The key is here..” Who decides?”
Answer…...YOU do.
About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?
It was way more complicated than that.
About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?
Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!
Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.
Yes. Speculate. You will NEVER come close.
About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?
Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!
Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.
It is all pretty obvious. They were all always in it for the money. Ed had always assumed Mark had to come up with money for his divorce, but in Australia Mark revealed to Ed that his ex wife wanted no money at all and that Mark was doing the whole album and tour purely for artistic reasons. Two albums later Mark said in their final meeting that he really wanted to stay on the artistic path. He also revealed to Ed that this time he wanted to properly compensate the musicians involved. This was of course deeply insulting to Ed (we know from his answers that he doesn't have any consideration for people and only wants money).
But this is hardly a conspiracy theory as I'm obviously stating the obvious
Not sure if you are being serious or not?
We know from Ed's answers and the podcast that he didn't take commission for organising tours, which would have been a huge sum no doubt.
He also negotiated industry leading deals with the record company for the band where possible.
Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory Of course I'm not serious.
To elaborate a bit, from the answers Ed has given it is my impression that he is very considerate person. I understand it is his point of view, but it seems Mark (and John) have not always been very considerate with their 'staff', as is apparent from the treatment that Terry Williams, Jack Sonni and others got for example. Now, you could argue that they were only hired for the tour, so basically Mark and John didn't have to explain why they didn't hire them again, but I guess the decent thing to do would be to at least give that explanation. Then again, it is Ed's point of view, I was not there, so for all I know Mark and John did give that explanation and Ed is just not aware, but from all of the different situations with different ex-dire straits members I do get the impression that this sensitivity has not always been a priority. The only thing that does surprise me is that it seems it was very difficult to just say 'hey Mark, your being a dick!' given that people also tolerated some of these situations to exists in the first place.
I try, some might not agree ……
I dealt with alot of this in the Answers thread, not repeating here.
It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it that matters..the “decent” thing you refer
And before I'm accused of being a hypocrite, I have not always done the decent thing in my life.
Have you?
Very grateful to Ed for my answer. Very interesting the Wembley 85 and Final Oz 86 shows were band / management initiated. Leaves me with hope that they were multitrack recorded and one day we may have some kind of official release. Then again I might be kidding myself ! Great stuff thanks Dusty for facilitating all of this and Ed for his generous participation.
Don't know. Yes, you are kidding yourself ..the TV companies don't give a shit (see also 28 above) …it is DEFINITELY just ( ancient ) pop music to them that's not worth the cost of transmitting anymore., maybe not even storing, you’d be amazed how much has been wiped over the years so tape could be reused or space saved.
Now of course it's digital.
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There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.
Wow, this was such a highlight. The guy definitely doesn't look amicable at all, I can't totally imagine the bad vibes.
I'd go for Alan if I would be asked to give a wild guess.
LE
Alan seems like the same kind of megalomaniac, but at the same time, talented asswipe that Jon Carin seems to be (dayum that one is bonkers btw,...)
Judging by Ed's comment of "a dickhead to a few", it might even refer to MK himself during that particular tour. But I don't think that's very likely.
My ref to “dickhead” had nothing to do with professional stuff, I was simply saying that like ALL of us M can be a dickhead, not some perfect person carried aloft by virtue of his strumming to POP heaven where Gordon Sting poses in his Dune codpiece surrounded by All Saints .
"MK’s solo career has been sustained by the fan base. I doubt he’s expanded his audience at all and without DS he wouldn’t have had a career, probably not even a record deal.
Yes. Harsh but pragmatic and I could be completely wrong."
Interesting one this one. I think I completely agree. I'm a Dire Straits fan but if I'm really honest with myself I'm not sure I'm that much of an MK solo career fan. I know there is a lot of love for his solo work here (slightly the point of the whole forum) so I won't go further into it but that's my personal perspective.
Thanks.
Ask yourselves where M would be IF he had not had the DS years at the start and the propulsion that gave his solo career, and put that in the context of the time GH came out.
Would he be playing arenas or theatres? Clubs maybe?
Would he have a major record co deal playing GH type music onwards ?
And would that even matter?
Because one thing is for sure, he would be writing songs and recording/performing in some way.
He did not choose his talent , it chose HIM.
"MK’s solo career has been sustained by the fan base. I doubt he’s expanded his audience at all and without DS he wouldn’t have had a career, probably not even a record deal.
Yes. Harsh but pragmatic and I could be completely wrong."
Interesting one this one. I think I completely agree. I'm a Dire Straits fan but if I'm really honest with myself I'm not sure I'm that much of an MK solo career fan. I know there is a lot of love for his solo work here (slightly the point of the whole forum) so I won't go further into it but that's my personal perspective.
I'm reading a bit more between the lines here. I guess this remark, together with Ed's remark about Mark being a two hit wonder, hints at the end of their relationship where Mark probably totally deminished Ed's role in the success of DS. If I'm in the right direction here I would say about this that Mark probably had enough talent to build a career without DS, but DS and also Ed made it so that he could record it all in his own studio. Then again, this theory could be as much crap as my questions to Ed were :-[
You are wrong ( first part) and you are right see 46 , and your questions have been some of the best. You would make a good manager!
"MK’s solo career has been sustained by the fan base. I doubt he’s expanded his audience at all and without DS he wouldn’t have had a career, probably not even a record deal.
Yes. Harsh but pragmatic and I could be completely wrong."
Interesting one this one. I think I completely agree. I'm a Dire Straits fan but if I'm really honest with myself I'm not sure I'm that much of an MK solo career fan. I know there is a lot of love for his solo work here (slightly the point of the whole forum) so I won't go further into it but that's my personal perspective.
Pragmatic ? it's a joke I hope Ed, yes completely wrong
(Praise mode on) Ed is my favourite type of people because I can't say I agree with almost every single one of his taste calls (like this take above), but he makes up for it with humour, stories and attention to detail.
Like yes, no joke, Mark's solo career is sustained by the fan base, as it wasn't his songs, his guitar playing and his voice that have built it in the first place. To me, there are no DS or solo career, just MK in progress.
Happy to be completely wrong.
Definitely not a joke.
Thing is, it doesn’t matter.
You like his stuff, that’s enough.
Mary, Joseph and the little baby Jesus have mercy ...
The BEST response EVER …made me shake from laughing and then listen to “ Mercy Mercy Mercy" by Cannonball Adderley. Try it.
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I regret that only one question because I have a second one that I like more than the first one. ;)
You can play the family/friends card question, lol
Yes, I know, but I'd rather ask it myself. Because it's mine. :)
Then you can't, lol
Too bad. Maybe Ed will be ready for another round someday.
You think I could do this AGAIN?
I’d rather listen to Gordon Sting do stand up comedy.
Reading Ed's answers the parting of the ways with Mark was the right thing for both of them. If Ed doesn't listen to Mark's new stuff, he can't understand how Mark has grown as a lyricist and songwriter. Mark as a big fan of Bob always wanted to be an aartist. It is his calling. I think Mark lost his way slightly with the brothers in armd and on every street records. He needed a fresh start.
I think that Ed is the kind of person that is motivated by music. Not too much about the lyrics.
A good lyric have much more effect inside a great music.
I agree that Mark wanted a fresh start. However, the musical direction didn't captivated Ed.
Ed is wild fire and MK turned himself a grill. Now, he is a matchstick.
There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.
I agree with LE. Must be Alan.
I agree with Ed that pop music can never be art. Important, relevant, yes. But even Mark himself would probably laugh about calling his music art.
Hahaha... partially agreed.
I we have the proof.
It's on the Guy Pratt's podcast.
MK said something like: - ... I made the music... err... music (laughs), i made the songwriting.
"MK’s solo career has been sustained by the fan base. I doubt he’s expanded his audience at all and without DS he wouldn’t have had a career, probably not even a record deal.
Yes. Harsh but pragmatic and I could be completely wrong."
Interesting one this one. I think I completely agree. I'm a Dire Straits fan but if I'm really honest with myself I'm not sure I'm that much of an MK solo career fan. I know there is a lot of love for his solo work here (slightly the point of the whole forum) so I won't go further into it but that's my personal perspective.
Yes.
However, before this sentence, is carved on stone that DS was Mark's band. So.. DS was 100% Mark (I had my doubts about it praising Alan's work and, maybe, his inputs)
And, after Mark started do "do what he wants", only his fanbase (DS) can sustain his solo career.
I often said: - We learn to like Mark's solo stuff because his impact with DS.
Like yes, no joke, Mark's solo career is sustained by the fan base, as it wasn't his songs, his guitar playing and his voice that have built it in the first place. To me, there are no DS or solo career, just MK in progress.
Yep. I am on this path now.
Possibly, hmmmmmm,
Hadn’t thought of it , maybe because I love ( alot of ) classical, ( alot of ) soundtracks, ( some) ambient and especially jazz.
You know jazz. ART. Improvised. Created on the spot, sometimes by those who can't play their instruments.
But on the other hand …
“ and she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China” ( L Cohen)
or “ I saw Jesus come down, dressed like a soldier” ( Moby)
or “ through these fields of destruction , baptisms of fire “ ( Nobby )
or “ shake your head down with your pony tail, takes me right back, when we were young” ( Bryan Ferry)
or “ teardrops of water, meeting under my chin, you can look at me and tell the bag I’m in ” ( Isaac Hayes), always move me.
But then so does “you ain't never caught a rabbit, you ain't no friend of mine” and absolutely the sheer fun of “ Lucille, you won’t do your sister’s will. ”
Depends on my mood or the mood I want to get into.
That you see M as going from "grill to matchstick" is one of the funniest things I've ever read
Classic .
And I know 90% of the AMITS will disagree.
Great. That's why you're on here and why it's a DISCUSSION forum.
So go and discuss.
One thing that doesn't give me pause. From Ed's answers we have a picture of MK, which is not easy to work with. 16 years DS many lineups, many goodbyes. MK solo - 28 years and the lineup can be said to be constant. Of course, more musicians but few goodbyes. People do not change only times are different (?) But maybe Mark after Dire Straits is a different man. Or maybe other musicians were not saints either. But we'll never know that from MK.
Mk after DS…hmmm….
Not just after DS. People DO change , it’s called maturing.
We ALL got older, had kids or more kids, more responsibilities, bigger houses, smaller houses, more stuff, less stuff, divorces, new loves, different aspirations and so on.
What I want out of my life now is light years from what I thought I wanted at 27.
So we all changed and hopefully got a bit wiser and sadly some had to come to terms that their dreams were not panning out.
I don't know M now but I'm guessing he’s more than content with Kitty and his kids.
She was really good for him and he loves his family that’s for sure.
He’s had a great career, lived his dream, got a microwave and played with The Shadows and Bob “ Rambling’' Dylan ( but not together ).
It doesn’t matter what I think or any of you lot.
I can't imagine he’s ever looked on this site, for what?
For all of us now in our 70’s we think about the Grim Reaper….the last email I got from him was about that ( after `Brendan died, big loss to us both ), it was unusually philosophical.
I lost 7 friends to Covid including David Stewart RIP.
2 more this week (heart attacks) .
Jack died at just 68.
We are in the departure lounge .
To me, it's been a pleasure to ask my bullshits to Ed.
There are maaaaany cool things and I did a LOT of loud laughs.
I really like Ed's personality. It's a guy full of passion.
And, using a very poor comparison, he sells what he enjoys to sell.
If he don't believe in the products that he sells, he cannot sell it properly.
The main thing about Ed's management is that the music drives him to believe in the product. And that is huge.
- Things like why MK is so restrictive about "fans" are well explained.
- Mark making his maximum to avoid conflicts, and been bossy, creates a number of unfriendships along the times.
- That Alan's inputs (that i believe that was the main thing about 80's DS, expecially LOG, LH and Alchemy) was waaaay less than i tought.
- My guess about OES was planned to be a 2nd NHB album was way wrong. (and I laughed about his comments about the songs)
- The RRHOF thing and his vision about the band/fans
- The almost 20 songs that are RECORDED for LOG that will never see the light.
- Every show is the same show since the beggining. The only who can play new things is Mark.
- Mainly of the 96ers are too flat, almost horizontal. (LOL)
- Ed's tender LOVE for DK
and the most revealing of all answers.
- He doesn't sleep with a pillow in a shape of a strat. DAMN!
Thank you, Ed!
It’s been a pleasure to read your BS.
You are right. I could never sell what I didn't believe in.
That's why I didn't have an empire.
I loved all the artists I had even the twats because I loved their POP music.
The only true ARTist I managed was Scott Walker.
He was IT.
M sleeps on a pillow full of coal so he can remember his roots and where he came from.
-
One thing that doesn't give me pause. From Ed's answers we have a picture of MK, which is not easy to work with. 16 years DS many lineups, many goodbyes. MK solo - 28 years and the lineup can be said to be constant. Of course, more musicians but few goodbyes. People do not change only times are different (?) But maybe Mark after Dire Straits is a different man. Or maybe other musicians were not saints either. But we'll never know that from MK.
That's something I've been wondering about as well.
The solo line-up has been constant except for the drummers, god knows why ;-)
My impression is that there was a major change after DS, maybe not a different man, but a very different setup.
Firstly, the situation in the solo band is different, with a handful of highly sought-after specialist musicians, and no-one having to prove anything, no-one playing for the money, which makes it all much more relaxed, I suppose. Then there's maybe another factor, which is that half the band are Americans - I'm not sure if that would make a major difference, but maybe a bit.
Generally, I got the impression that MK has been much more relaxed than in DS, and I was quite shocked to learn what level of stress they were exposed to during BIA and especially OES tours. Having your garden gnomes stolen is one thing, but receiving death threats and stuff like that is another level! I never thought it was that bad. But now it's all crystal clear, and it makes total sense to me that he walked away from it all.
Drummers..I don't know why either and I was one of them!
As per 63, different man, different set up in that the musicians were more mature in their outlook ( I def include Guy in that and all the Americans ) and his music and psyche needed a certain maturity and stability.
And he did not want the grief of fame and celebrity and certain people politicking eg trying to get colleagues removed to replace them with their mates.
It's VERY wearing to have that going on, having a moronic muso snapping his fingers at waiters ( I very nearly fired someone over that mid tour, as it was he got the bollocking of all bollockings ) , women being treated appallingly by one shithead, the same shithead lighting a joint in the first class cabin ( not even loo) on a flight to Auckland in 86…….I mean what kind of pea brain even THINKS of that... putting everyone and the biggest show we ever did in jeopardy ( another massive bollocking ) , folks drinking way too much before shows, arguments right before Live Aid about who got to wear red and who got to wear blue ( to Freddy Mercury’s vast amusement ) !
"Like a class full of badly behaved children" was how someone who saw alot of this put it to me.
Spinal Tap made real .
The solo band did none of that, they are the best people, all of them.
Glenn. Richard. Jim. Guy. Chad. Ian. ( I don't know the others).
They are PROFESSIONAL and proud to be in his band and play that music.
That it doesn’t appeal to me is irrelevant.
I'm so pleased he got to where he’s been since STP.
Plus he got his personal stuff together and found peace of mind in that part of his life.
One thing that doesn't give me pause. From Ed's answers we have a picture of MK, which is not easy to work with. 16 years DS many lineups, many goodbyes. MK solo - 28 years and the lineup can be said to be constant. Of course, more musicians but few goodbyes. People do not change only times are different (?) But maybe Mark after Dire Straits is a different man. Or maybe other musicians were not saints either. But we'll never know that from MK.
That's something I've been wondering about as well.
The solo line-up has been constant except for the drummers, god knows why ;-)
My impression is that there was a major change after DS, maybe not a different man, but a very different setup.
Firstly, the situation in the solo band is different, with a handful of highly sought-after specialist musicians, and no-one having to prove anything, no-one playing for the money, which makes it all much more relaxed, I suppose. Then there's maybe another factor, which is that half the band are Americans - I'm not sure if that would make a major difference, but maybe a bit.
Generally, I got the impression that MK has been much more relaxed than in DS, and I was quite shocked to learn what level of stress they were exposed to during BIA and especially OES tours. Having your garden gnomes stolen is one thing, but receiving death threats and stuff like that is another level! I never thought it was that bad. But now it's all crystal clear, and it makes total sense to me that he walked away from it all.
Exactly, people don't change but the times and environment (and your reaction to it) are different. You can't change or pick the first two, but the latter — hell yes! You need to be blind or born yesterday not to notice the obvious path of Mark's songwriting and the changes the songs demanded, and his career and the changes it demanded. Good luck playing Border Reiver, Kingdom Of Gold or Sailing To Philadelphia with the original 4-piece or Wild West End with the current Nashville/Folk orchestra, good luck trying to get Mark resurrect Dire Straits, put Ed back behind the wheel and organise a 3-stages 2-year-long tour. As we say in Russia, let's drink to our opportunities always matching our desires.
Finally the ART master almost hits the nail on the head, except people DO change as per 63 , you are not the same person you were a year ago or even yesterday.
I could never organise another go round like that again and he could never do one.
Health for both M and J excluded that ages ago.
And for what?
Money?
Ego?
David Gilmour has exactly the right approach and Roger Waters doesn't.
Not sure if I should worry more about the Stalker thing or the fact that MK had garden gnomes... :lol
LE
The Gnomes were 1/3 high replicas of DS members, some with missing heads or feet where he had shot at them with an airgun.
One was completely demolished.
One had both hands missing.
Good shot, our Mark.
Not sure if I should worry more about the Stalker thing or the fact that MK had garden gnomes... :lol
LE
Haha!
Garden gnomes (or rather their owners) have a very negative image in Germany, as they convey the idea of a strait-laced, lower-middle-class person with very fixed views, but I don't think it's that bad in the UK.
I wanted to merchandise them but I was not allowed to, they looked too much like the real thing.
Tommy Mandel was here and I remember him saying that he composed the Romeo and Juliet ambient orchestration on keys during the outro, in the LoG tour.
I love that piece of music that leads to the classical guitar solo and I'll always be thankful to him.
This arrangement is pure gold, I love every second of that unique atmosphere.
He once wrote me a huge text telling me all his memories during his time on the LOG tour 82/83, at the time I posted it on my blog Universo Dire Straits, it's very similar to what he posted here, maybe there are some other details. Great guy, without a doubt.
Tommy was a great guy. Completely bonkers in a lovely way, no politicking, no “ side to him ”, professional , easy ( v like Terry ) a real pleasure to deal with and he NEVER spent a penny, he SAVED his per diems ! .
-
A couple of thoughts I had on the original topic:
1) No wonder EB doesn't want to write a book. How can you even name such a book when the man can jump from garden gnomes and death threats to colonic and shrinking balls in a few sentences? Ed's fisheye lens perspective and boundless humour are something I can't imagine in the book scenario, to be honest. That's why I prefer having a YouTube channel, which grows and evolves through time.
2) I'm still a little bit confused about how MK can be described as a guy who avoids conflicts, stress, confrontation at all cost, etc., and at the same time described as this tyrannical leader who fires people left and right, insults his bro, scolds musicians and ignores his mates. Something's wrong here as if we are talking about two different Marks. Maybe, there are two Marks after all.
Or maybe it's just like music vs. music business, music vs. sport, pop music vs. art debates, etc., and duality in this world is inevitable.
Maybe I will.This has been fun and I'm sorry there’s stuff I can't tell you here
Two Mark’s? Only two?
Your words not mine.
Are YOU just one person?
Incidentally no one was “fired” like The Apprentice.
Nobody said “ You’re fired” ( I've covered this in Answers. )
More that they just disappeared never to be spoken of again, like “Wag the Dog" and “Metroland” then and “Suicide Towers” . Now that was a GEM.
2) I'm still a little bit confused about how MK can be described as a guy who avoids conflicts, stress, confrontation at all cost, etc., and at the same time described as this tyrannical leader who fires people left and right, insults his bro, scolds musicians and ignores his mates. Something's wrong here as if we are talking about two different Marks. Maybe, there are two Marks after all.
Maybe I can explain my thoughts since was I am who writes this sentence.
Seems to me that the only band member that was fired directly by MK as David.
All the others choosed to quit or were "fired" by Ed.
Well, my thoughts are that Mark waves to Ed saying that he didn't want to work with a DS musician, and Ed had the "job" to fire those ones without Mark having to crosspath with this musician ever again.
The ones who choose 'to quit' or wont had their contract renewed never got a 'thanks, mate' from Mark.
Been bossy when you are the boss it's easy. Putting pressure on the band, been on bad mood and transfer his 'bad energy' to the others it's selfish. However, after live almost 2 years with a couple of band mates, sharing food (sausages), rooms, personal problem... after all, at the end, even been bossy and bad moody, the right thing to do is to say:
- Hey, pal. I am sorry for some issues and, sometimes, not been so friendly. I don't know how will be my direction for the future, however, if we wont play again, thanks for everything. Please, talk to Ed and your always be welcome.
Seems that MK never sayed anything even closer to this.
No.
Not even David
That was “ I'm not working with him anymore” and it was during David’s conversation with John in NY when he decided to leave. It was inevitable anyway.
I repeat. I didn't “ fire “ anybody ( except one roadie only at the request of the crew ).
I explained in Answers how this worked.
Their deals were not renewed …that might sound disingenuous but that's the life of the pro musician.
WHY they weren’t is a different matter.
The second part of your comment is pretty much correct.
2) I'm still a little bit confused about how MK can be described as a guy who avoids conflicts, stress, confrontation at all cost, etc., and at the same time described as this tyrannical leader who fires people left and right, insults his bro, scolds musicians and ignores his mates. Something's wrong here as if we are talking about two different Marks. Maybe, there are two Marks after all.
Well, ignoring his mates is absolutely avoiding conflict.
And likewise, "firing" seems to have involved simply not picking up the phone, leaving Jack and Terry baffled.
I have nothing to add.
The main reason I asked that was because of the Arena documentary, when Mark is asked what extent is Dire Straits just a vehicle for his songs (I am paraphrasing) and he says "To no extent" and that was very early in his career.
One thing I am picking up from Ed is his dislike for Alan Clark and David Knopfler!!
I have a feeling Mark is a different person now from the one Ed knew, maybe he has been for many years as it is almost a quarter of a century since they had a working relationship. People can and do change, unless your Roger Waters of course!! I just don't think the likes of Guy Fletcher, who everyone say is a really nice "Guy" would have stayed around and worked with Mark for so long if he was so bad.
Different? We are BOTH different.
Ed's revelations about the 79 tour are fascinating.
We've been banging on about OES for years, but it seems DS really could have folded after 79.
Making Movies was absolutely crucial. To be fair to Holly Beth Vincent, if she hadn't dumped Mark and thus R&J was born, DS might have been dropped by the label.
There was no danger of Phonogram dumping them R and J or not.
But yes, MM was important for sure.
I've just caught up with the answers, and I absolutely love Ed's responses and humor. Though I would love to know more about the whole OES/OTN story (I have always been fascinated by that part of the band), I really appreciate that he keeps things private — stuff that's none of our business — and he is not opening unhealed wounds. He is a real gentleman, if you ask me.
That's very kind and much appreciated. Makes a change from “ that bastard Bicknell says we can't release the three minute edit of Telegraph Road ”
Ed's revelations about the 79 tour are fascinating.
We've been banging on about OES for years, but it seems DS really could have folded after 79.
Making Movies was absolutely crucial. To be fair to Holly Beth Vincent, if she hadn't dumped Mark and thus R&J was born, DS might have been dropped by the label.
I had this feeling when, back on my fervorous fan days of DS, i saw the Arena doc with the recording sessions for what could be the MM.
I felt that tha band was kind of lost because it have to move on and the band was still trapped on his original sounds.
Mark was trying hard to bring new stuff to the band so, i think that, if the band wont decided to chance his direction, maybe MK went solo in 1980.
However, i don't know if he could grow without calling himself as Dire Straits.
I think you need to stop smoking your lawn cuttings.
The last DS tour could have been one big escape for MK.
It was and it wasn’t. That's for the book IF I ever ….
He says that he had a good relationship with the same "girl" (Kitty) for 15 years and that she had a very stabilizing effect on him and that he often wondered if before he hadn't used touring as an excuse to run away. So this statement was not excactly related to his divorce but was more generally speaking.
LE
I think we can safely deduce he was referring to the OES tour.
He was.
-
In the ragpicker's dream documentary, he talks about DS's long tours.
around 15 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfbVTczudZ8
They weren’t so long and alot of the “runs” were made up of multiple shows in the same place.
Metallica, Iron Maiden, Lynyrd Skynyrd, those kind of bands, THEY are long.
In the jazz world nobody tours.
They WORK.
I felt that Ed was bit beyond sarcastic on my recent questions.
Oh, boy.
Pity that text messages didn't have 'body language' and my english sucks. Because of that, i cannot know if i am 'too literal' or is his understandment of my questions were 'too literal'.
His answers really made me think that Ed really believes that I made voting pool to ensure which guitar part was played by MK and which part was played by the others (DK or HL).
My points were:
DK is a fine player? Definetly NO.
He was capable to do the job as a ryhtm player for those early days of DS?
To a audience perspective: Yes!
From a musician point of view: NO! And, to me, the pressure to be a good player was one of the reasons that DK quitted.
There a podcast with Pick that he mentions that, at the beggining, was a hell to play with John and David.
David only could play live.
He had the 'red light' syndrom for sure.
The story of Hal during his period on DS is strangely curious.
He went into the band with no audiction. I missed who made Hal's propaganda, but he got the job. And he played on a band call 'Darling'
In Ed's opinion, seems that Hal are this close to be such a bad player as David.
When I called Hal a pro-session player, Ed went mad LOL.
Well, Steve Lukather is a pro-session player. In comparison to Luke, Hal is nobody. (it's not a competition)
If Hal is so bad as a player, so why work with him? It's all business after all.
My tought was that Hal could do things tht David couldn't do. So, in my opinion, at the recording of LOG, Hal could add his guitars in a way that DK could not deliver. Bringing more knowledge to the band and sparing time on the recording sessions.
The only that could and still can impress Mark as player and also got big parts thru the records is, since the begging, Richard.
Phil is great too, but his inputs on OES album are, to my ears, close to none.
However, Hal has a good number of film composing and a lot of recordings along his career. Of course, been on Dire Straits still is, by far, his higuest point. But he made a living playing guitar after DS.
Another good thing about Hal is that he made a living playing stuff way far from DS. I think that we will never see Hal playing on DS Tribute concerts. Alan, Phil, Chris White, Jack, Danny, John and even Pick played at tribute concerts.
I don't care Hal was a pain in the ass, too much inflated or Alan was sush a megalomaniac. I am interested on the musical side. Unreleased songs, Studio recordings, inputs from musicians, producers, concerts dynamics... Because I made a living as a musician for more than 15 years.
However, it seems to be irrelevant to Ed. To him, seems that the only band that these subjects are interestings are The Shadows.
That 'Brega' thing is very interesting to my view.
How a rock band can have a very strong, an totally organic, influence on a poor region of Brazil. Stronger than The Beatles. An entire musical segment is based on the early DS songs. It's real amazing.
The power of music and his transformations.
At the end, what matters is the gossip.
What really sells is the famous triad: Exoterism, Violence and Gossip.
I didn't read John's book and i wont read it because it's only questionable gossip.
Beyond sarcartic or not, Ed's answers are pure gold.
He is very bold, that's for sure.
That's the way. Uhun Uhun
I Like It.
I made an exception and covered this under Answers thread.
No complaints! Awesome questions, with even better questions yet to come especially since dropping the hint about THE obvious question missing, kudos to everybody who registered to ask a single question instead of relying on relatives and the likes of Busty Valentino. Kudos and laughs to Rolo for trying to use Ed's own weapon against him :lol Ed's kung fu is better though, I'll be honest :lol I lost it at Ed's take on poor Brunno Ninny Nonny, peak trolling right there. I'm just crying it's all going to end in a few days.
This "missing obvious question" thing drives me crazy to be honest. What could it be?
I was thinking about his top 5 live shows which he mentioned but that's not too obvious. Plus too private questions about money and relationship were forbidden so I really have no clue...
LE
Maybe it was related to selling the percentage of the DS catalogue? It's not about money per se, cause it's known and... well, obvious. In the podcast, EB even stated the company name he sold it to and at the time of listening to the podcast, you could buy the rights from them, assuming you had cash and belief in 40-year-old songs :lol
You’re overthinking and it's not about why we parted or selling what I and my kids owned That's for the book IF I ever….
I was shocked to read about Van Morrison's attitude. I mean we knew he's notoriously a tough guy to work with and I remember Chuck Ainlay's funny interview where he was being extremely sarcastic about him, but damn... A percentage for a collaboration track? Does he know what the word "collaboration" means? Unbelievable.
You misunderstood. Van wanted to own the copyright in a song M had written, not get paid or get a percentage. When his lawyer told me that I literally didn't believe him. Insane. The lawyer was gibbering because HE knew it was insane. But it got sorted. Van had been at the Mars Bars again, sugar rush. I LIKE Van and Im not being sarcastic.
About Hal 'passing the audition' and being the only one tried out: This makes me wonder how they knew or met Dany Lademacher, who didn't want to join the band.
I completely get his reluctance to join and Hal owes him more than a drink!
Re the obvious question, has anyone actually asked why Ed and MK stopped working together?
He mentioned the last meeting they had, where MK was hard with him, and I guess that was the final reason for that, I guess it was a sum of things and this was the final drop, but maybe someone could ask for a more detailed explanation
Yes and it was covered in the podcast so maybe that is why no one has asked, but it probably is the most obvious question.
Apologies, I am miles behind the curve here. Which podcast was this?
Bob Lefsetz, essential listening!
Thanks. It’s the one from May this year I take it? There’s another that was recorded in 2021.
They are both beyond fabulous. You need to run a nice hot bath, put some salts in, add candles, roll a big fat joint and listen to a master at work.
Bob Lefsetz knows exactly how to make his subjects speak about things they don't want to speak about, he exploits silence.
They are both essential listening!
Not sucking up to Ed here because he has been a friend of AMIT, they are genuinely fascinating.
I don't mind sucking up or down if it's done properly, with commitment .
-
Cue Quizzy for more of his intellectual babbling which is great.
I love a person who knows his/her own opinions and isn’t afraid to express them even when they’re wrong .
I have a question for him and I'm genuinely curious…….
Is Wet Ass Pussy ( WAP) by Cardi B, art?
Is BIA art?
Is Tales of Topographic Oceans art?
Is Dark Side of The Moon, art ?
Is What’s Going On, art?
Is Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2 art ?
Is Kill the Foetus ( by Esham) art?
Is MC Hammer art?
Is Kind of Blue art?
Is A Love Supreme art?
Is Mahler’s 5th Symphony art?
Is Adagio for Strings art?
Is Wonderful Land art?
Is Like A Virgin art?
Who decides?
On what basis?
Thank you for this amazing question. To answer it properly, I need to provide a little background and I'm truly sorry for the "War and Peace" wall of text I wrote below. If anyone makes it to the end—thanks for reading. And good luck!
I'm happy I was raised the way I was raised, my parents gave me an extremely broad education and upbringing, which later on I expanded tenfold myself. So when it came to music, I consumed everything from The Beatles to Slipknot, from obscure jazz records to heavily explicit hip-hop and avant-garde records both in Russian and in English, many of which I enjoyed, weirdly enough.
As a typical millennial, I played a lot of games too. When it came to video games, I chose games based on soundtracks and enjoyed my early days with music in nearly every music genre imaginable in dozens of great video games, many of which are considered the best games ever created.
It was all happening in Russia, where copyright and punishment for illegal downloading do not exist even to this day, so I could download any art in any quality and quantity, so I pushed this "privilege" to its limit. I even got to read a few of the unpublished stories of J. D. Salinger that he asked to never release and that got leaked on What.CD tracker, funny times. I feel very bad about it, but if you were born in a place like this, why not enjoy at least a few things that ARE good about it?
But anyway, where I get with all this—while I failed to properly pay for all the popular art I've consumed—I developed this deep admiration towards creativity as a whole and that's why the art question is so sensitive to me. To me, everything is art, especially everything you've mentioned (thanks for recommending these, I had to look something new up and enjoyed it!). And so Artist's Shit (Merda d'Artista) is art. Malevich's Black Square is art, and a very good one.
That's one of the joys of life to me. Anybody can [try to] put their poop in a can on display, and anybody can draw a black square, but of course, if you do it without any skill and out of context whatsoever, chances are you won't be getting a Wikipedia article about your creation. It's easy to pick up a basketball, but only a few grow up to be proper athletes.
Tribute bands are creating art by playing live music... "Weird Al" Yankovic creates art by doing comedy songs. I create art in the form of my YouTube videos. Ed Bicknell creates art if he decides to write a book. Humour, making people laugh is art. And this is a good question on its own. Are fart jokes humour? Well, hell yeah, and often very damn good humour if executed properly. And a perfect snobs and hypocrites detector!
So my definition of art is—it's a creation that gives you something genuinely new that you never had previously. Whether it's a line in a song, a chord sequence, a stroke in a painting, a good joke, a new emotion, the knowledge that somebody put their shit on display in a can, a remarkably bad song, whatever it is. One of my favourite things in life is when something is "so bad, it's good". That means art defines logic, is undefinable and works in mysterious ways.
Is Taylor Swift art? Yes, she is. For girls and boys who don't know better, whose parents can't explain to them why "Boots Of Spanish Leather" is better than ANY Taylor Swift's song. Maybe it's impossible to explain and we're all doomed, who knows? But it's still art, just not the one I would enjoy. It gives me NOTHING new to that I wouldn't already have, except the knowlege she truly may be more popular than Jesus.
POP v ART
The Quizzy Memorandum part 2.....a Dissertation on Shit.
Let's have some fun and be serious at the same time., warning - this is long and pointless .
Firstly I cannot imagine what it's like to be born and grow up in Russia.
Good that you had a positive education and upbringing but that seems to have resulted in a view of life I have never encountered before, not even in Black Sabbath.
So this is a real education for me and many others reading this I imagine.
Let me see if I’ve got this right ( and you’re going to need to respond or I’ll stamp my foot, I will.)
I’ll go slowly, not for your benefit, for mine.
“ To me everything created from nothing is ART ” is the nub of your position…yes?
So what we are really talking about is your definition, and on that basis there cannot be a debate about POP v ART because IF something is “created", then by your definition it IS ART whatever it is.
Automatically.
Creation = ART. …yes?
No dispute, no need for it to last, no need for others to accept it as such, no need for a consensus that X is “good” or Y is "bad ", its creation alone is sufficient…...yes?
Am I correct so far…yes?
On that basis/definition, then the so-called " Big Bang” , the ultimate act of Creation as science currently conceives it, is ART ?
If “yes” that’s HEAVEEEEEEE SHIT QUIZZY, HEAVY SHIT.
The Universe is ART and YOU, no one else, came up with this notion…..but maybe you're on to something, let’s see.
You have mentioned Artist’s Shit and poop in a can.
Let me extrapolate that.
Every morning I create shit, well nearly every morning .
Our cat creates shit and lays them in a pattern ( but he doesn’t care about ART so he carefully covers them up).
Everyone I know, even the Golden God that is Gordon Sting and the perfect person that is Sir Cliff Richard , creates shit.
So the creation of shit = ART , EVEN if it is immediately flushed away.
Yes?
And that remains ART as it swirls round the bowl and disappears to end up wherever shit ends up
Yes?
But since it was CREATED from the raw materials of a chicken vindaloo and POPadoms ( careful Ed, careful…that's half a forbidden word ) is it still ART when it disintegrates or is it ALWAYS ART?
We are ending the Q and A’s now but I'd love you to answer that, anytime.
I’ll check in, “yes” or "no” will suffice, actually preferable.
I do ask one thing
IF I write a book please don't categorise it as ART because I certainly won’t be claiming that.
My position is that for a brief mark in time my book will be a POP culture phenomenon.
And IF I put on the cover “ THIS IS NOT ART ” what then?
Am I lying?
Misleading?
Can I be sued?
Will you sue me?
Because it will be new, It won’t have existed before and some of the tales in it will definitely defy logic.
But it will completely fit with your definition of ART even though I, as it's creator, am denying it is and thereby abusing your self created definition.
Now you and others will think I'm being sarcastic, maybe sending you up but actually I am trying to make a serious point , because under your definition I don't even get to choose that Cardi B is POP and disposable rubbish and Vide Cor Meum by Patrick Cassidy is ART and will live for generations.
I just have to accept that it's all one massive bucket of shit identical to my shit which according to you is ART.
Yes?
Intellectually I kind of get your position, but as a point of principle you will never get me to accept that most , no, all POP music is generational and disposable and will eventually end up in the rubbish bin that is POP culture, and the only ART is what YOU or I or ANYBODY CHOOSES to call ART.
Yes?
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More amazing stories from Ed.
Auckland, 102,000 punters, BIA tour, the biggest show we ever did, magical night
My God I think I forgot about this.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Australian BIA especially Sydney, maybe that last one that was televised
I'm glad Ed mentioned this concert because I have a special fondness for it. I still dream that one day it will appear on an official album.
Carry on dreaming. If it was recorded at all it's a bootleg.
The size of the audience does not necessarily equate to a great show, though that one was.
From the Q thread:
I know you'll think she has no taste in music, but Golden Heart is my wife's favorite of all the DS/MK albums.
I seem to recall that you had a whole tour lined up behind the release of GH, and then Mark decided he needed to record more songs, so you had to scrap the whole tour and start over. Did you have any input into Mark deciding he needed more material for that album? as in, "Mark, this album as currently constructed really doesn't cut it", or similar, or was that all Mark's doing?
And I imagine the PITA it was to start all over with the tour - was the original tour going to be more extensive than the one that ultimately was done?
Did you suggest the album be titled "Blade of Love"? ;D
Man, I had a careful relisten to GH after a long time, and that album simply isn't a good album. Too many fillers, too many similar songs, too long, and musically all over the map. If Mark felt he had to record MORE songs, someone should be held accountable for not stopping him LOL And by the way, the way his voice is completely and deeply buried in the mix is very strange. It's almost impossible to understand what he is "singing".
Yep.
I love this “ held accountable ” bit, ( how? At gunpoint ? ) so let's paint a picture.
ME.
Been there done that on OES album (tried unsuccessfully with two other band members to get TTH removed ) so a repeat might go like this…….
“ Mark, this album isn’t good enough, the songs are too similar, there are too many fillers, it's musically all over the place, the mix is fucked, I can't tell what you’re singing, you need to stop recording, go with x y and z, and dump the rest because years from now some get a lifers on AMIT are going to say just what I’m saying and you will cry and blame ME for not holding you to account even though I'm dead “
HIM
Leaves room.
Yes, MK composed the music. I completely forgot about it. "Irish Road" in the background. Beautiful. Thanks wayaman:)
Chad Cromwell – drums
Ed:
I agree “Irish Road “ is beautiful
I could have asked a second question because it wasn't a question it was a statement and Ed agreed. :)
But note exactly what I said.
Awesome question about album covers. Also, I think M is not a fan of having faces on album covers, and this made it even worse from the get-go. So many iconic album covers, like 90% of them, have faces or at least pictures of faces on them... Or other approximations of living beings.
It rarely happens when an album with an amazing album cover (which can be considered true ART) has equally amazing music. You need to pick your poison, either a great cover with music that sucks or vice versa. Nearly all my favourite album art is simply someone else's work (a photo, a collage or a painting) and not an original creation.
BIA album cover is a perfect happy accident as it captures the vibes of Montserrat so well you feel like you visited the place. I can imagine the magnitude of the "aha" moment when this picture was taken, it's impossible to come up with anything better than this.
I can think of several labels where the artwork and content were almost perfectly and consistently matched
Blue Note for sure
Island absolutely
Charisma
ECM for sure
Atlantic
It was almost that if you saw a release by any of those you KNEW that you could buy that record without listening to it and not be disappointed.
There was a creative theme running through them in both the packaging and the content.
In 23 years M and I never discussed the “philosophy” of album covers so I can't answer re photos etc.
It was always a scramble in terms of lead times to get anything and in my view we did not spend enough time and thought on them.
OES is what? I mean WHAT is that supposed to represent? The content? A boot sale?
STP…..?
Same with most of the videos …for instance PI is dreadful, a director who was a friend of M’s for 5 minutes and had NO experience churned that out.
Rarely seen thankfully.
The three for MM are utterly soulless.
Made by a commercials director and looks like it ( though they worked back then).
Really dated now but everything in POP eventually dates.
Calling Elvis is a mess, it cost more than the album though we didn't pay for it.
Big arguments over that one and on that occassion we BOTH walked out of the room.
Heavy Fuel was OK.
Both WOL’s.
MFN in its time ..dated now.
Trouble is none of us were very interested in that element , it was a tedious necessity usually jammed in between other stuff.
Peter Gabriel, ZZ Top, Kate Bush, Motorhead ( watch “Heroes” ), Robbie Williams, …..their directors had the right idea.
Some of the music may stand but the presentation IN MY VIEW was disappointing at best and shameful at worst and I bear some of the responsibility for that, I will be held to account.
BIA..the “a ha" was not when the shot was taken it was when we SAW it for the first time.
Ron Eve just wanted a pic of that guitar, I'm not sure anybody else was around.
Debby stuck it in with with the press shot slides and the rest is POP
Going true some answers from Ed
Reading some of his replay on why he and MK broke up. (page 2 Q&A thread)
What he said at that last professional meeting was grossly insulting, patronising, bewildering and deeply hurtful.
What the hell happend??
Someone has some more info on this??
Only M and I know and for now it's going to stay like that.
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Ed's answers are hilarious, I'm so glad he's indulged us! I'll be glum when it's all wrapped up.
Seriously, he needs to write a book. It'll balance out the universe after the JI autobiography.
Oh don't be glum, don't worry, be happy.
That's v funny. You know I really have no idea why John’s book turned out the way it did. He’s a great guy, can be very funny, erudite, well organised and he was THERE yet it's so dull, humourless, huge factual errors, poorly written, appalling front cover, didn't he care?
Really disappointing ( I've not discussed it with him. )
Just me be qurious. Perhaps dusty or Julio can help me out?
They can't help you
They had a design team for the early album artwork!! What for Making Movies too? a team for that cover? really? I have to say I like the On Every Street cover, it matches the Blues nature of some of the songs.
Yes. Strange as it seems, they did, all major RC's do.
Illsley’s book covers that first sleeve.
I've said my bit re artwork.
Yes Quizzy ARTwork.
MM I think was dreamed up by someone in our set up but I don't recall who, looks to me like weed might have played a role.
Well if you like OES you like OES.
ART ….I llke "Smell the Glove" in Spinal Tap , the title is hilarious butI don't know WHY it's hilarious. .
Message from Mimmo with 4 photos in attachment:
Dear Ed,
english is not my language. Hard for me to understand if yours it's just british humour or something different. But I am not neither a dreamer nor a liar, see the 4 attached photos. I was happy to get in touch again with you after so many years, at least just to say hello, but I wish I'd never posted that message. I'll stay with my happy memories of 25 years ago. All the best .
Lol. Funny how Ed's style of answering hasn't changed over 25 years.
Langugae barrier at play again here I would suggest, Ed once more "taking the piss" rather than calling anyone a dreamer or a liar...
I was genuinely pleased to hear from Mimmo, I don't understand why he wishes he hadn’t posted …language issue perhaps, must be ? Dusty thanks for sending the photos. Yes. I remember him well and I see my handwriting hasn't improved.
They had a design team for the early album artwork!! What for Making Movies too? a team for that cover? really? I have to say I like the On Every Street cover, it matches the Blues nature of some of the songs.
Design teams are normal for most labels, especially big ones. It's not just the cover, it's the back artwork, lyric sheet, spine, typefaces, supporting multiple formats etc. And they're designing multiple releases for different artists in parallel.
100% correct.
The deadline came faster than I expected :'( :lol
As was stated in the recently deleted message, the rules kept changing, and people ended up sending long questions. To quote Quentin Tarantino, "Because it's so much fun, Jan!"
I wasn't able to come up with decent questions, but damn, I enjoyed a lot of questions from members and their numerous lusty/busty siblings.
Ed demonstrated the true art of communication, which deserves books, videos, Q&As, and what have you. Hope to see more!
Thank you for your support, I will always wear it.
Seems there's quite some lore around Alan Clark that probably we will never know about:
They were 100% professional, delivered EVERY night and managed to extract what they could out of, frankly, a very dark situation exacerbated by one of them busily politicking , a singularly pathetic individual I wouldn't piss on if he ran past me on fire.
I don't remember mentioning anybody by name , not even the crew member who, upon returning from Australia in 91 sadly told me..”I got home and found someone else was delivering the coal”.
Really enjoyable reading all Ed's replies. Much appreciated.
Loads of insights and much more information that it seems, one only has to read between the lines and put together the pieces of the puzzle.
Definitely some recommendations of bands I didn't know and I'll check them!
Regarding the "DS Dream Team" question: I didn't put it with the right words. Not undermining members of DS or rejecting them, but it was just an excuse to get some of Ed's favourite players on each instrument (with the filter of DS, so he couldn't say any musician, but not too far from what DS was). Just like a game.
Thanks for the all the funny stories and your wisdom, you are a walking music (and life) encyclopedia... Some of the stories were heartbreaking too.
All of you ..I have no idea what your musical tastes run to but this is what I regularly listen to -
Hot Buttered Soul Isaac Hayes EPIC soul
Moby Reprise album ( I sent a track off that to M today…The Lonely Night )
Anything by The Waterboys ( A Pagan Place, This Is The Sea, )
Empire of the Sun Thomas Bergersen ( film composer) who plays live as Two Steps From Hell) 5 BILLION streams
Flaer Smin Alone In The Dark (Russian ambient )
No Regrets ( album) Tom Rush
Du Hast Rammstein ( or anything by them )
What’s Going On. Marvin Gaye ( CLASSIC soul )
Sensual, Sensual B Tribe ( a great take on flamenco …several albums)
Scott 1 2 3 4 albums by Scott Walker …absolute masterpieces especially the songs written by him.
Truth Jeff Beck. Not recent, one of the greatest hard rock records ever.
The Good the Bad the Ugly Ennio Morricone ( literally anything by him )
Antartica Vangelis ( anything by him )
PLUS all the ones on that Desert Island list esp Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson and the classical stuff.
Re Dream Team…you are right, I didn't get what you were asking but I’d put Bernard Purdie and Steve Gadd in on drums ( yes, two drummers) , Larry Graham on bass, King Curtis on sax, Ray Charles and Isaac Hayes on keyboards/backing vocals, Perla Batalla and Diana Krall backing vocals, Billy Gibbons rhythm guitar and I suppose it would need a lead guitars/vocalist …..
Google the ones you don't know.
Now THAT would be some fucking band!!! Larry Graham …YES! ( Sly and The Family Stone).
I am pretty sure that his replies will cause ripples of wild stories, as is customary. It is not his fault of course. It is just a side effect of language. People understand different things, weight words differently, some don't recognize sarcasm and irony and also have a fantasy that carries the narrative to uncharted territories. Mat I say that what I liked most was his humour. It has been quite sometime since I laughed so much. Thank you so much Mr. Bicknell
Agreed. Very difficult to convey British humour via another language ..it would be the same with US or Australian..they may be “English” but we are light years apart.
So thanks for indulging me and glad you enjoyed it. No humour, no life. .
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A huge THANK YOU to the legend and all round good guy that is Ed Bicknell.
Not only has this been great fun, I genuinely believe that the answers thread has become one of THE most important resources of FACTS about DS available anywhere.
This has been a huge effort by Ed and we are all massively grateful.
some get-a-life lunatic should start working on getting it all together, in one big long q&a, sorted by topic or era...
someone like...lustyval? quizman? Julia?
Great idea and there are plenty of you! Do it by topic.
A huge THANK YOU to the legend and all round good guy that is Ed Bicknell.
Not only has this been great fun, I genuinely believe that the answers thread has become one of THE most important resources of FACTS about DS available anywhere.
This has been a huge effort by Ed and we are all massively grateful.
some get-a-life lunatic should start working on getting it all together, in one big long q&a, sorted by topic or era...
someone like...lustyval? quizman? Julia?
I could do it, of course, as I have the cast iron butt, I even transcribed Mark's entire radio show (try to do that! 3 hours of talking and no AI help!). Ed's little Q&A is nothing compared to that. The Google Docs would be nice, though I can't do it now and I want somebody else to shine and do the honours anyway.
I think it's just easier to write a book at this point! :lol
Your idea would be faster!
A huge THANK YOU to the legend and all round good guy that is Ed Bicknell.
Not only has this been great fun, I genuinely believe that the answers thread has become one of THE most important resources of FACTS about DS available anywhere.
This has been a huge effort by Ed and we are all massively grateful.
some get-a-life lunatic should start working on getting it all together, in one big long q&a, sorted by topic or era...
someone like...lustyval? quizman? Julia?
I could do it, of course, as I have the cast iron butt, I even transcribed Mark's entire radio show (try to do that! 3 hours of talking and no AI help!). Ed's little Q&A is nothing compared to that. The Google Docs would be nice, though I can't do it now and I want somebody else to shine and do the honours anyway.
I think it's just easier to write a book at this point! :lol
Maybe it's a group job. If all the Lusties, Fusties, Busties, Rusties, Crusties and Uncle Kingsley and the guy from Uranus work together, it might be easier to do. I can certainly help!
I must tell you, Kingsley and Winnie were two of the nicest, most supportive, genuine people I’ve ever met. M was very fortunate to have had them in his life. Absolute sweethearts.
So, that's it folks.
I've greatly enjoyed this exercise, it's been educational, fun, sometimes frustrating, and occasionally really challenging for me.
I'm sorry I couldn’t answer some of it, that's for the book if I ever get around to it. .
Dusty has done a remarkable job, I'm very grateful to him as you should be.
I’ll look in from time to time but for now, it's goodbye from him.
Take care, be safe, keep the faith, remember, it's easy to be nice.
The Colonel.
No. Not that one.