Dire Straits Legacy?

[dustyvalentino]

Can't believe I'm defending Alan Clark but it seems that's where we are!

In his defence, I don't think he ever claimed to have written any of the songs.

Jack had a good career outwith music to be fair, the Line 6 Pod was a huge success. And Hal has a successful tv soundtrack career.

[Jules]

Apparently any musician that was in DS was nobody before joining and was nobody after leaving.

The world is DS centered.

LOL

[quizzaciously]

Apparently any musician that was in DS was nobody before joining and was nobody after leaving.

The world is DS centered.

LOL

Wrong. The world is Ukraine-centered LOL. But jokes aside, I don't get why you need to "defend" Alan and defend from what exactly. I praise his work for DS, he's overall great, but his DS tribute work is questionable. And I actually love his latest solo album, this is what you would call a proper tribute — solo piano playing, doing what you do best.

[Jules]

Apparently any musician that was in DS was nobody before joining and was nobody after leaving.

The world is DS centered.

LOL

Wrong. The world is Ukraine-centered LOL. But jokes aside, I don't get why you need to "defend" Alan and defend from what exactly. I praise his work for DS, he's overall great, but his DS tribute work is questionable. And I actually love his latest solo album, this is what you would call a proper tribute — solo piano playing, doing what you do best.

Actually Alan had a career before DS and after DS, maybe not big names, except Clapton, but he kept working as a musician after DS and already was working as a musician before DS, he played with Brian Johnson in Geordie!

[dustyvalentino]

I think the general point stands though, that for just about every musician who was involved in DS, being in DS was the peak of their career.

Tommy Mandel would be a notable exception, having a long and successful career in Bryan Adams' band when he was one of the biggest acts in the world.

[quizzaciously]

I think the general point stands though, that for just about every musician who was involved in DS, being in DS was the peak of their career.

Tommy Mandel would be a notable exception, having a long and successful career in Bryan Adams' band when he was one of the biggest acts in the world.

Mark also had a career after DS and a very successful one. If he won't succeed, DS would still be playing and releasing albums, no doubt about it.

Being a professional musician is a hard job to do, so I can't possibly critique anybody. It's truly hard to make a living in this profession, make a name for oneself and acquire some reputation, putting in decades and decades of work, with little to no recognition except from a very narrow circle of professionals. Or, like in Alan's case, effectively making half (or 25%) of the work, and getting no credits at all except liner notes. It hurts! I'd hate to be a professional musician.

But if you look at it from the other side, you're making history and recordings that will be heard for hundreds, if not thousands of years into the future. Certainly, Mark's music will be around as long as Earth is still around, so not bad. Eric Clapton and AC/DC are also household names, can't complain here either.

Sometimes, like Guy, or Sting's guitar player Dominic Miller, you get extremely lucky while enjoying the greatest job and no excessive fame at the same time.

[dustyvalentino]

I personally think it's extremely unlikely that people will be listening to DS or in fact any other 20th century music in hundreds of years. I won't be around to find out either, but generally even the biggest phenomenons get forgotten about within two or three generations.

Bing Crosby was a global superstar for a couple of decades but is more or less forgotten now. Young people will know White Christmas but they couldn't tell you who sang it.

[Jules]

I think the general point stands though, that for just about every musician who was involved in DS, being in DS was the peak of their career.

Tommy Mandel would be a notable exception, having a long and successful career in Bryan Adams' band when he was one of the biggest acts in the world.

Both Alan and Phil say their peak was playing with Eric Clapton, in fact they both had second thoughts leaving Eric's band to go to DS but Alan had not option as it was his band at the time and Phil was told that because of Eric's son death, he won't be playing and he should take any job offered.

Actually Phil continued playing for big names, like George Michael, Seal, everyone in Italy...

[dustyvalentino]

I think the general point stands though, that for just about every musician who was involved in DS, being in DS was the peak of their career.

Tommy Mandel would be a notable exception, having a long and successful career in Bryan Adams' band when he was one of the biggest acts in the world.

Both Alan and Phil say their peak was playing with Eric Clapton, in fact they both had second thoughts leaving Eric's band to go to DS but Alan had not option as it was his band at the time and Phil was told that because of Eric's son death, he won't be playing and he should take any job offered.

Actually Phil continued playing for big names, like George Michael, Seal, everyone in Italy...

Good point, forgot about Phil. Chris Whitten as well, McCartney was surely his peak.

Alan might say that in terms of enjoyment but any logical assessment would show that a 10 year run with Dire Straits at their commercial peak is a bigger achievement than a couple of tours with Clapton.

[Jules]

Yeah, but in rock and roll terms, Clapton was bigger than DS, he's a legend know by everyone, he's in the same league of legends like Dylan for example. Dire Straits was a band who was successful in their time but I don't think they were in the super league of rock.

Playing with Clapton and Dylan during the BIA tour was for sure one of the best moments for any of the DS musicians, MK included

[dmg]

Yeah, but in rock and roll terms, Clapton was bigger than DS, he's a legend know by everyone, he's in the same league of legends like Dylan for example. Dire Straits was a band who was successful in their time but I don't think they were in the super league of rock.

Playing with Clapton and Dylan during the BIA tour was for sure one of the best moments for any of the DS musicians, MK included

Playing with EC you're really just doing a load of covers and songs written by somebody else.

[ds1984]

Yeah, but in rock and roll terms, Clapton was bigger than DS, he's a legend know by everyone, he's in the same league of legends like Dylan for example. Dire Straits was a band who was successful in their time but I don't think they were in the super league of rock.

Playing with Clapton and Dylan during the BIA tour was for sure one of the best moments for any of the DS musicians, MK included

Playing with EC you're really just doing a load of covers and songs written by somebody else.

As Tina Turner or Joe Cocker, and a bunch of other great performers.

[Jules]

Yeah, but in rock and roll terms, Clapton was bigger than DS, he's a legend know by everyone, he's in the same league of legends like Dylan for example. Dire Straits was a band who was successful in their time but I don't think they were in the super league of rock.

Playing with Clapton and Dylan during the BIA tour was for sure one of the best moments for any of the DS musicians, MK included

Playing with EC you're really just doing a load of covers and songs written by somebody else.

And?

You are playing with a legend!

[quizzaciously]

Yeah, but in rock and roll terms, Clapton was bigger than DS, he's a legend know by everyone, he's in the same league of legends like Dylan for example. Dire Straits was a band who was successful in their time but I don't think they were in the super league of rock.

Playing with Clapton and Dylan during the BIA tour was for sure one of the best moments for any of the DS musicians, MK included

Playing with EC you're really just doing a load of covers and songs written by somebody else.

And?

You are playing with a legend!

We're not saying that playing with DS is the highlight of their careers because we are a bunch of dumb fanboys, but because each time you realistically try to compare the careers you come to this conclusion. George Michael, Seal, and Eric Clapton are all great legends, but obviously, Mark is more prolific as a songwriter, more consistent as a songwriter, and more unique as a guitar player even. It's not as bluesy as Eric, it's not as pop as George or Seal. It's a completely different League of Legends on its own. I would kill to play Mark's songs live with him, to be honest, but Eric? I won't even think about it.

[dustyvalentino]

Yeah, but in rock and roll terms, Clapton was bigger than DS, he's a legend know by everyone, he's in the same league of legends like Dylan for example. Dire Straits was a band who was successful in their time but I don't think they were in the super league of rock.

Playing with Clapton and Dylan during the BIA tour was for sure one of the best moments for any of the DS musicians, MK included

All true, but I don't think playing a handful of gigs with Dylan or a couple of tours with Clapton could be considered Alan's career peak compared to a decade at the top with DS, including when they were the biggest band in the world, Live Aid, Mandela, US number one single etc.