Your Dream Box Set in 2025?

[quizzaciously]

I always wondered why Mark decided to leave real professional producers out of his work and let Guy do more and more in a most amateurish way. All this tape and BG praise and talk is just nonsense, there are WAY better produced albums (yes and vinyl) out there. I often wondered how their financial deal is.. is Guy paid a fixed sum per album or is he paid like the band session wise or on a daily base...   however. The best sounding albums are all Dire Straits ones and the first thee solo albums from my point of view.

LE

I could be wrong but I think I read somewhere once that he said he was very often there, also often working there without Mr. Knopfler so maybe he has a more or less fulltime job there.

’m told that BG contains Britain’s largest collection of old 70’s copies of Playboy, Penthouse, Mayfair, Men Only and Milk Filled Jugs ( British Milk Marketing Publication). So Guy is there pretty much 24/ 7 when he’s not being a grandfather , reading the letter’s pages, doing the crosswords, wondering why he didn't pursue a career as Alan Clark’s drum machine programmer.

HAHAHA! Originally, Dusty posted this answer without any context, and I thought something wasn't right. We'd figure it out anyway, but it was Ed's work.

Glad to see LE getting some treatment from EB, I agree with 99% of what LE writes, so I take it almost personally. Guy is officially the happiest guy in the world, indeed, and could tolerate some criticism, I guess. It would be genuinely interesting to see how other producers would deal with Mark's material, but all we have to do is dreeeeeeeam, dream, dream, dream...

[dustyvalentino]

to the one and only mr. B
when people on here talk about the uniondale it is because there is a semi ok sounding bootleg for that show, a show that sounded great perfomance wise and which has the longest version of Tunnel of love ever (25min or so)
that is all :-)

Exactly! I was also thinking about Tunnel Of Love 

If I remember correctly, David Sanborn played the saxophone at this concert.

Uniondale. I have zero idea which shows across the entire DS lifetime were recorded/bootlegged other than a few I’ve come across, plus NHB’s ( THANK WHOEVER!)
.
Unlike most mangers and especially idiot record co’s, I ENCOURAGED taping, photos, filming, shagging since I recognised that real fans are also collectors ( and shaggers). .
I was at that show and I'm 99% David Sanborn RIP ONLY played Madison Square Garden ( could be wrong and since I have never heard the tape I cant say ( his playing was pretty recognisable versus Chris White’s ). Thanks to Pottel for setting me straight. ( 25 mins…geeez…..I probably went for a jog round the building . Three times ).

Thanks to Ed for the answers.  Well the DS Bonfire is well and truly out (as we probably knew ready). 

I guess for the MK solo fans there is some hope and probably where the next box set release will turn up. Alas not where my focus really lies.

BIA 40th anniversary quarter speed press with inverted colour sleeve here we come.

Bonfire. Sadly not the ones in LA which re a long way from being out. I have over 30 friends who have lost their homes but not their lives thankfully.
Yes… I do not think the material exists for whatever reason …solo stuff I don't know.

Thanks again Ed for you answers 

about the Communique demos, Jerry Wexler said in Nassau something like "the album has already been recorded, we have to record it again" talking about demos recorded in London in fall 78, before the band gone to Nassau in december.
We know at least "where do you think you're going" from these sessions, on the MFN comp, there must be some other songs on tapes ?
The song Cmmuniqué itself seems to have been composed by Mark in Nassau, so of course it can't be featruing on these sessions from London, but the other songs from the album maybe...

that said, I understood what you said about demos in general, and that noboby knows where they are.
It's a shame
All other bands/artists publish demos and unreleased tracks at some point on deluxe versions of their albums. why Dire Straits didn't do that ?

He did indeed say that between spitting. Which songs I just cant recall. Tapes…I have explained the dilemma re tapes. No idea where they went..it was 35 years + ago!
Communique…you are correct.
DS didn’t issue because no one expressed any interest at the time let alone locate the tapes.
I can tell you categorically the idea NEVER arose. Not from the band, labels and def not from management. Where possible I tried not to rip people off.
Incidentally not ALL acts do that and many don’t do demos AT ALL.
 Including demos etc is a marketing exercise really…suddenly stuff that wasn’t good enough to be released first time around miraculously makes the grade. I really must curb my cynicism.

Ok, time to say sorry I guess, sorry to Guy for the way I chose my words. Although contentwise about the producer thing it's my opinion still. I must confess I am still trying to work out or detect the exact level of sarcsam in Ed's answers (language barrier and stuff). Thanks again for taking your time for this. Many dreams shattered indeed!

LE

That’s gracious of you and actually I wasn’t being sarcastic and try to avoid that ( I guess some slips thru. As you say, language).

One thing I just want to add which is a comment, NOT a criticism. After writing, rehearsing, recording, tour rehearsing, playing the shows on LONG tours, would you want to have to listen to it all again ? Just saying…..

[Rolleyway Man]

Many thanks Ed for taking the time to respond to all of this. Much appreciated. A big expanded edition of Brothers complete with live material, perhaps akin to the Police’s excellent Synchronicity box set that came out last year, would be lovely but if the material isn’t there, there’s not a lot that can be done. Thankfully there are some pretty decent bootlegs from that period out there. I assume something will be done to mark the 40th anniversary of such an historically significant album, but time will tell.

I’d really love to have a solo live box set though. Probably more than one volume if the appetite is there to put the work into getting the thing together and releasing it. My feeling is that it will eventually happen but I think one thing we fans often overlook is the commercial factor - is there enough commercial demand to actually warrant producing and releasing things like this?

[Brunno Nunes]

1- Video of the Rainbow Theatre 79 show in full
2- Video of Alchemy in full and Paris 83 (but, the latter, at best, was only recorded in audio and not filmed)
4- Wembley Arena 85 in full.
5- Full video of the shows that were used to record OTN, Nimes and Rotterdam 92. (There must be many videos of full shows that were filmed between May and October 1992 for the big screens at stadium shows)

(All these releases without Guy's involvement, due to the great risk of him messing things up a lot, in my opinion, he is the king of archive mutilation, Alchmey could have been released in a much better way, Rainbow 79 has the low voices of JI and DK, however, OTN and live at the BBC are ok for me.)

Anyway, I'm more interested in videos, I really value the audiovisual experience that it can offer, it has always impacted me more, I would love to see Setting me Up, Sounthbound Again, Portobello Belle... live in the context of 1979, as well as Portobello Belle live in 1983, since there is no recorded video of the audience from 82 83. even seeing RATR and Wild West End at Wembley 85 and I think I love you too much, Fade to black, When it comes to you, TOL in 1992...

6- Of course, if there is audio of the band's rehearsals from 77-92, especially a live recording from 77, it would be very welcome.

7- Audio of Paris 83 and Alchemy's first night

But, all this is mere utopia, possible only in our imagination, if one of these were released, it would be a miracle.

Ah. Brunno. I can't really comment …memory loss brought on by too much weed OR sheer boredom. You choose. Fuck knows where all that stuff is.
We MUST have delivered to the labels in order to put out but as we now know filing, storage, security back then was horrendous. Really appalling and DS were one of many acts where stuff just disappeared ( the police investigated in UK but no prosecutions ).

Rehearsals 77. Never happened. We couldn’t afford sausages then so def not film!

Stop dreaming, get real….it’s going to remain utopia I’m afraid.


Thank you very much for your comment, dear Ed, it's great to have you here again sharing your knowledge with all of us. It's a privilege and a unique opportunity to clarify many things.

Judging by the release of the complete show at Rainbow Theatre 79 (the last show that ended the Communiqué tour), featured on the Live 78/92 box set, that was something surprising, a truly wonderful surprise for all of us. How many of us knew that this material existed and that one day it would be released? But, it became real. Thinking about it, I can imagine that it's possible that there are (perhaps where the Rainbow Theatre 79 recording was found), other recordings, perhaps the complete audio or video of the Wembley 85 show, among other things.

At least one completely unreleased show has emerged, Rainbow 79 and some tracks from Hammersmith Odeon 22/07/1983 (Portobello Belle and Twisting by the Pool, if I'm not mistaken). In addition to the addition of recordings of songs that have only now been used for On The Night, taken from some shows in Nimes and Rotterdam 92.

There is certainly new material out there, even more than previously assumed, if only the right people were interested in investigating and releasing what is commercially viable, anything that has never been released is always welcome to the entire DS and MK solo fan base.

But as for us, as that wonderful song by The Everly Brothers begins, "All I have to do is dream"

Dream, dream, dream, dream Dream, dream, dream
, dream...

Hope is the last to die! 😇

A wonderful 2025 to you Ed, fraternally.

[Robson]

"I’d really love to have a solo live box set though. Probably more than one volume if the appetite is there to put the work into getting the thing together and releasing it. My feeling is that it will eventually happen but I think one thing we fans often overlook is the commercial factor - is there enough commercial demand to actually warrant producing and releasing things like this?

I don't believe in a solo MK live box. I can believe that something could have been created from the first four routes. But then we had official concerts on USB.

ps. Shangri-La tour also had a few official shows, which makes my faith even weaker.

[ds1984]

Thank you Ed.

You are a fantastic grandpa telling us about the marvelous time of Dire Straits.

And it is obvious that you do not inted to do more than telling stories from the past. You resigned so long ago.

The great thing is you are putting things back in context.

But...

Yes there is a but(t) - I let your  typical britishness humour to strike back to me.

Regarding the tapes thar are known to have existed there is a faith that one day some could be released.
But, again,  you must have two things : the willing to put your hands on, and money.

And unfortunately I think you are right on the fact that these "surviving" tapes will remains undiscovered because no company will invest money in research for a project with no financial return to cover the expense.

Still I keep dreaming that one or two good surprises could happen before I got totaly deaf or cakey  .

[peterromer]

What I’d love to see is a solo live box set that mirrors the Dire Straits Live set, perhaps with a selection of concert recordings including the unreleased 2001 Madrid show, one of the 2002 charity shows, or a show from the 2008 Kill to Get Crimson tour as there were never any official live downloads available from that tour. And if something like that were to happen, I’d love Guy to mix it too. I think he’s done a fabulous job of mixing Mark and Dire Straits work over the years. Constructive criticism is fair enough - we all have different tastes and opinions but I find some of the criticism of him on here unfathomable, unwarranted and frankly hurtful.

After my time. I agree with your comments re Guy.

What I’d love to see is a solo live box set that mirrors the Dire Straits Live set, perhaps with a selection of concert recordings including the unreleased 2001 Madrid show, one of the 2002 charity shows, or a show from the 2008 Kill to Get Crimson tour as there were never any official live downloads available from that tour. And if something like that were to happen, I’d love Guy to mix it too. I think he’s done a fabulous job of mixing Mark and Dire Straits work over the years. Constructive criticism is fair enough - we all have different tastes and opinions but I find some of the criticism of him on here unfathomable, unwarranted and frankly hurtful.

I would also love to have a show from the KTGC tour.

Personally I’d settle for a Girls Aloud Boxed Set.

love millionaires blues, and kingdome come, and long highway, and....
would love a mega box including all demo's that are worth it, assuming they exist. then wembley 85 in full, audio and video, Paris 83 in full, 22 and 23 hammersmith as well, vid and audio (all 3 83 shows)
budapest 85 (mfn video live parts were from there no?) jerusalem 1985, last BIa show in audio and video, in full,basel 92 in full, audio and video, wobburn abbey 92, in full, audio and video, Oslo 92 same thing. and all other bits and pieces that were ever recorded live either by the band or some tv/radio station, knebworth full version audio and video, same for Mandela, live aid,...
is that really too much to ask?
the live box was a step in the right direction. let them continue down that road

Oh yes, love millionaires blues, and kingdome come in Atmos, and BIA as well.
Plus the digital recording Live Copenhagen from 1996 with the complete show, including MK playing alone in the break.

Peter…straight to the point as always.

I always wondered why Mark decided to leave real professional producers out of his work and let Guy do more and more in a most amateurish way. All this tape and BG praise and talk is just nonsense, there are WAY better produced albums (yes and vinyl) out there. I often wondered how their financial deal is.. is Guy paid a fixed sum per album or is he paid like the band session wise or on a daily base...   however. The best sounding albums are all Dire Straits ones and the first thee solo albums from my point of view.

LE

I could be wrong but I think I read somewhere once that he said he was very often there, also often working there without Mr. Knopfler so maybe he has a more or less fulltime job there.

’m told that BG contains Britain’s largest collection of old 70’s copies of Playboy, Penthouse, Mayfair, Men Only and Milk Filled Jugs ( British Milk Marketing Publication). So Guy is there pretty much 24/ 7 when he’s not being a grandfather , reading the letter’s pages, doing the crosswords, wondering why he didn't pursue a career as Alan Clark’s drum machine programmer.

-------------------------------
I had to read that answer twice and THEN laughed    . Thanks Mr. Ed, appreciated.
The reason behind Copenhagen 92, is not only because I was there. MK came out alone during the break and played "Singing In The Rain" (Gene Kelly) because it rained so much and probably wanted to cheer us up a bit. And after that Olé Olé Olé as Denmark had just won the championship in football back then. Those two tracks were unfortunately not part of the radio broadcast. The "Singing In The Rain" is a lovely memory because as I learned later, he never really stepped out of the planned setlist during a concert.     

[border_reiver]

Peter,

Are you sure that 'Singing in the rain' wasn't at Gentofte outdoors in 1992?

1992 was also the year when Denmark won the Euro.

1996 was indoors at the Forum. And I can't recall any breaks other than the usual ones at the end. To my memory MK did play Wonderful Copenhagen during the instrumental parts in Calling Elvis and the famous version of Ole Ole. Also, I'm pretty sure the roof at the Forum was intact.

[peterromer]

Peter,

Are you sure that 'Singing in the rain' wasn't at Gentofte outdoors in 1992?

1992 was also the year when Denmark won the Euro.

1996 was indoors at the Forum. And I can't recall any breaks other than the usual ones at the end. To my memory MK did play Wonderful Copenhagen during the instrumental parts in Calling Elvis and the famous version of Ole Ole. Also, I'm pretty sure the roof at the Forum was intact.

Yes Sorry, you are totally correct. It was 1992    Thanks