Special Q & A with Ed Bicknell - THE ANSWERS

[dustyvalentino]

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 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 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.

[dustyvalentino]

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.

[dustyvalentino]

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 

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! 

[dustyvalentino]

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.

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

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. 

[dustyvalentino]

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.

[dustyvalentino]

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.

[dustyvalentino]

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...   

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...   

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 ! .

[dustyvalentino]

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.

[dustyvalentino]

In the ragpicker's dream documentary, he talks about DS's long tours.
around 15 minutes

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   Ed's kung fu is better though, I'll be honest 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

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 .

[dustyvalentino]

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?

[dustyvalentino]

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"? 

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.

[dustyvalentino]

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

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. .

[dustyvalentino]

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!

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!

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.