Interesting " Money for Nothin' " dive

[JohnW63]

 

[kitniyatran]

It wasn't what I expected it to be and I listened intently to the end

 

[chazmo]

I love Dire Straits, and I had no idea this song was such a wild ride.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Still remember the day I brought home Brothers In Arms. If I remember correctly, it was the first true DDD cd I had purchased and at the time, digital technology was being heavily touted by the industry as being practically limitless in the studio. Suffice to say, in hindsight, most recordings from this time period are heavily dated in their sound due to too many factors not having been hashed out between analog-midi-digital. At the time what were considered the best and most expensive A/D converters have today been surpassed in quality by low budget basement podcast gear. A lot of people look back at the 80's as a bad decade for music in general, but I honestly find that if you get past the digital sterilization of it and it's overall "lifeless"sound quality, and focus just on the songwriting and performing, some incredible work came out of that decade. Brothers In Arms, from start to finish is one of those works, and is IMO one of the few albums from that era that has stood the test of time. It still sounds really great....and fresh!

 

[Rocky]

Suffice to say, in hindsight, most recordings from this time period are heavily dated in their sound due to too many factors not having been hashed out between analog-midi-digital. At the time what were considered the best and most expensive A/D converters have today been surpassed in quality by low budget basement podcast gear. A lot of people look back at the 80's as a bad decade for music in general, but I honestly find that if you get past the digital sterilization of it and it's overall "lifeless"sound quality, and focus just on the songwriting and performing, some incredible work came out of that decade. Brothers In Arms, from start to finish is one of those works, and is IMO one of the few albums from that era that has stood the test of time. It still sounds really great....and fresh!

Yes, there was a lot of great stuff that was written and performed in that decade, but most of it was below the radar of commercial radio. DS, TP, Talking Heads and Smithereens being the exceptions.

Most of the bad sound of the 80's can be simply chalked up to poor taste. Cannon snares, SPX90s, DynoMyPiano. Who thought that stuff sounded good? Especially when you already had the AMT plate right there in the studio. Linn drums made even David Bowie backed by SRV sound bad.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Yes, there was a lot of great stuff that was written and performed in that decade, but most of it was below the radar of commercial radio. DS, TP, Talking Heads and Smithereens being the exceptions.

Most of the bad sound of the 80's can be simply chalked up to poor taste. Cannon snares, SPX90s, DynoMyPiano. Who thought that stuff sounded good? Especially when you already had the AMT plate right there in the studio. Linn drums made even David Bowie backed by SRV sound bad.

True. (Add the King Crimson trio of Discipline/Beat/Three Of A Perfect Pair that got me through the decade! )

But, it was also just a sign of the times. Few knew any better. They have these huge "80's Festivals" in the U.K. where all the popular artists of the time perform, and quite honestly, the songs sound SOOO much better on modern synths and electronic drums than the crap they were playing through back then. Too bad they can't rerecord their 80's records! Lol

Sadly, even artists who played nothing but traditional instruments in the 80's came out with albums that still have that lifeless "80's sound". It was more than just instrument choices. The transition to digital had yet to be perfected. The studio gear itself had a timestamped sound.

 

[Rocky]

True. (Add the King Crimson trio of Discipline/Beat/Three Of A Perfect Pair that got me through the decade! )

Sure, but that falls outside the 'commercial radio' disclaimer. As does Replacements, RHCP, REM, dBs, etc. Outside of a handful of bands, and a handful of radio stations (WHFS, WQBK, etc.), commercial radio was a vast wasteland in the 1980's.

 

[twocorgis]

Brothers In Arms, from start to finish is one of those works, and is IMO one of the few albums from that era that has stood the test of time. It still sounds really great....and fresh!

I feel that everything Dire straits did, and Mark Knopfler's solo work, is the same way. Recently acquired at 24/192 5.1 remix of the 20th anniversary release of Brothers in Arms, and if you have the right equipment to play it on, it's truly amazing.

 

[davidbeinct]

“…so just a Les Paul Jr. with a fixed wah into a Marshall turned all the way up?”
“Probably, I mean, what else do you do with a Marshall?”
Favorite interchange in the video.

 

[Walter Broes]

Yes, there was a lot of great stuff that was written and performed in that decade, but most of it was below the radar of commercial radio. DS, TP, Talking Heads and Smithereens being the exceptions.

Most of the bad sound of the 80's can be simply chalked up to poor taste. Cannon snares, SPX90s, DynoMyPiano. Who thought that stuff sounded good? Especially when you already had the AMT plate right there in the studio. Linn drums made even David Bowie backed by SRV sound bad.

So true. The 80's were a fantastic decade musically if you look outside the top 40 and radio hits.

And I vividly remember thinking the pop drum, synth, guitar and reverb sounds were awful back then - certainly not just in hindsight.

 

[Rocky]

And I vividly remember thinking the pop drum, synth, guitar and reverb sounds were awful back then - certainly not just in hindsight.

And it's not just the sounds. The drum machines of the day removed any sort of swing from the music.

I suppose it's possible to fix that with modern programmed drum sounds, but you'd never know it, if you go by popular music. Just because you can quantize, doesn't mean you should.

And while I'm on my old man rant, blatant autotune became a thing nearly 24 years ago with the 10/19/98 release of Believe. How on earth is that still popular?

Knopfler is one of those guys who would find reasonable success no matter what time he lived in, because he's just so damn musical.

 

[matsickma]

Very cool...the use of fingers in lieu of a pick has been a constant work in progress for me. Came to the realization of the tone and articulation benefits very late in my playing lifetime. Jeff Beck was probably the guy that got me into it and Knopfler sealed the deal. However where I first got to really appreciate the method was when I took some lessons from a older guy who did a lot of county music in gigs. That finger touch in lieu of a pick blew me away. Starting late my fingers aren't well developed with the subtle muscle dexterity but I have noticed incremental improvements over the last 15 years. Sure wish I started the technique when I was young. The method will never feel natural to me but I do love the effect on string tone and the fullness of the playing style.
M

 

[Walter Broes]

And it's not just the sounds. The drum machines of the day removed any sort of swing from the music.

Ánd they sort of set the "standard" we're still having to live with today, that on an uptempo dance-ey or rock track, the snare has to be as loud as the lead vocal

 

[jp]

I remember goin to see Dire Straits at Blossom Music Center near Akron, Ohio. There was hardly anyone there. They were at the start of their Brothers in Arms Tour. Although the album was released in June, the Money for Nothing video didn't air on MTV in the U.S. until the first day of the tour. About five days later just after seeing them, the tune and the album exploded in popularity.

That was an enlightening discussion vid. Thanks for posting, John. Those guys on that channel do just what me and my friends loved to do--sit around and talk about music for hours. I saw another video about how Knopfler got his tone with a fixed wah before, but I never knew about the banjo flail to get that riff. Pretty cool! He was the first guitarist I saw hybrid picking, which was always a mystery to me.

Thanks for posting that, John.

Yes, there was a lot of great stuff that was written and performed in that decade, but most of it was below the radar of commercial radio. DS, TP, Talking Heads and Smithereens being the exceptions.

The 80s and 90s were my favorite era in underground music. Since pop radio was so horrible, I think the amazing volume and variety of underground music was put forth as a reaction to it, as well as the political happenings of the time.