44. Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kha75ibIArk&list=OLAK5uy_lWk-tS8mZDN4M-sQceNwATCNSplMMAjOw
During my first month in Östersund, Sweden, my missionary gig included weekly discussions with Birgitta Sjölund, who was one of the nicest ladies I ever met in Sweden. She was a pretty woman in her 40s. She was so friendly and kind to me--a much welcome change from how many Swedes treated me on the street--and her home was a much-needed haven from the psychological storm that was raging around my culture-shocked head. Her teenage son, on the other hand, did not like us missionaries very much at all. And to show his distain for us during our visits, he would retreat into his room and play Brothers in Arms as loud as he could, thinking that playing rock music at high volume would drive us away. In fact, it made us stay longer. Instead of ending our session and leaving our apartment, we'd keep the conversation going just so we could stick around for as long as the album was playing. That's because listening to the album in our apartment would have been considered a serious violation of mission rules. But hearing it playing in an investigator's home was a totally guilt-free indulgence that could be enjoyed even more, because forbidden fruit always tastes much sweeter. Such are the conversational tactics of entertainment-starved missionaries.
In the last six months of my mission, I had a work-over in Östersund and decided to knock on Birgitta's door just to say high and say thanks. I couldn't speak much Swedish when she knew me, so I wanted to have an actual conversation with her in which I could understand what she was saying back to me. When she opened the door and saw me, she screamed in delight and gave me a big hug--again, something that was forbidden for missionaries to do, but felt REALLY good when pretty Swedish women gave them anyway. We had a great talk, and I was able to tell her how much I appreciated her kindness towards me. I also told her that I actually liked hearing her son's Dire Straits album, which made her laugh. Anyway, this album is tied to that especially fond memory of my mission.
"Money for Nothing" was, of course, the monster hit off this album. I think that's mostly because of the cowbell at the very end of the song. (Why they didn't use more cowbell throughout the entire song is a complete mystery to me.) But the success of the single may also be due in part to its video, which got super heavy rotation on the MTV. The MTV programming folks treated the song like it was a commercial for the channel, when in fact the song is highly critical of the type of videos played on MTV at the time--you know, back when it actually played videos instead of inane reality shows. "Money for Nothing" was one of the first videos to feature computer animation, which seemed like an incredible technological feat at the time, but it now looks like something created by a five-year-old playing Minecraft. The video was played so much on MTV that it was impossible to not see it during that summer of 1985 even though we were forbidden to watch TV in our apartment and we usually avoided watching TV in investigator's homes. I think I saw the video for the first time on the television inside a burger joint in downtown Östersund, which would explain why I get a strong urge to eat fries whenever I hear Sting sing "I want my MTV."
The single version of "Money for Nothing" won a 1985 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. (Nice convoluted category title. THANKS!) Dire Straits also won another Grammy off the album in 1986 for Best Music Video, Short Form. But it wasn't for the groundbreaking "Money for Nothing" computer animated video. It was the video for "Brothers in Arms," which I think had to have been made by the same people that did the "Take On Me" video for A-ha.
The version of "Money for Nothing" heard on the radio back in the '80s was about 4 and 1/2 minutes long. But the version we hear now on some classic rock radio stations is significantly shorter because they've cut out the verse about the "little faggot with the earring and the makeup." Being the father of a gay son, I certainly understand the reasons why this verse is now excised from the song. Also, Mark Knopfler doesn't sing that verse anymore during live performances of the song, so it's an edit that is approved by the artist that wrote the song. However, I will say that in my mind, what "faggot" means today is not what "faggot" meant in the '80s, and I don't think that the intended meaning of the word in the '85 song would be as hurtful as the meaning that would be given to that word in a song released today.
Anyway, there are two different versions of "Money for Nothing" that have been played on the radio, but my favorite version is the full-length album version which stretches to almost 8 and 1/2 minutes with an extended ending that features over 3 minutes of glorious cowbell bonks!
"So Far Away" and "Walk of Life" also charted as singles, but they didn't sell nearly as many as "Money for Nothing." I think that's because so many people bought the entire album that they didn't bother buying anymore singles from it. Even though the other songs on the album didn't get much air-play, I think they are all very good. I especially like "Why Worry" and the songs that feature the trumpet. You'd think that Dire Straits would avoid the trumpet, what with that line from "Sultans of Swing" about that crowd of young boys that don't "give a damn about any trumpet-playin' band" because "it ain't what they call Rock and Roll." I believe a big reason why the other songs didn't get airplay is their length. Three of them top 6 minutes and another tops 8 minutes. As Billy Joel says, they were beautiful songs but they ran too long. Still, they all feature top-notch guitar work, and the album is engineered so well that if you listen to the songs in surround sound, your ears will melt.
By the way, Mark Knopfler not only has one of the most fun last names to say in all of rock and roll, he's also one of the most talented guitarists in all of rock and roll. His guitar solo on "Sultans of Swing" is iconic. (Of course, John's replacement lyrics for "Sultans of Swat" are always fun to sing.)
But apart from the "Sultans of Swing" solo, I think Mark is at his pinnacle of his guitar-playing prowess in Brothers in Arms. Unfortunately for Dire Straits fans, the band broke up in 1988, got back together in 1991, but then broke up again for good in 1995. Mark just didn't like the toll it took on the band members and their families to keep touring and putting out the albums. Nevertheless, Mark has made lots of other beautiful music outside of the band, including the soundtrack to one of the most beloved movies of all time--The Princess Bride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEN1CxYdQGE&list=OLAK5uy_kfoj7Ns80Xfep4l9kXPes7FNOFrepaWTM
When I returned from Sweden in 1987, my brother-in-law had the Brothers in Arms album in his record collection, so I made a copy on tape and played it a lot over the next year whenever I drove the black step-side Chevy pickup during the summer of '87. It is also part of the soundtrack in my head whenever I remember dating Julie during the summer of '88. That means it's also part of the soundtrack to the few months I lived with HondoJoe (before I left him for a younger woman). Finally, it was a regularly played album when I was fiddling around before and after class at Irving Jr. High during the six years I taught there.
While memories of this album extend well over a decade, I would say for the purposes of this list that Brothers in Arms stands out as the best rock album that I heard come out in 1985. Yes, I have other 1985 albums that will rank higher on this list. But the fact is that thanks to Birgitta's son, it is the ONLY new rock album I heard played in its entirety from beginning to end that year.
