not a fan of the band but this song is magical. It has the most hopeful melody in music history. Makes me feel like waking up on a fresh spring day after years of heartbreak.
Dire Straits- One of my fave bands of all time. I was living in London in 1978 when Sultans of Swing was released. I was obsessed. I was surprised that no one I knew in the States had heard of them when I moved back in 1982. Mark Knopfler can do no wrong in my book
They were hardly unknown in the US. Their first album went to the US top ten in 1978, and Sultans of Swing made it to #4 on the singles chart, higher than it got in the UK actually.
@@randallpetersen9164 that’s great. I didn’t really know what was going on in the States apart from the 6 weeks in the summer spent in Texas. They weren’t getting any radio play that I heard. I came back for university - no one in my circle knew of them. Different musical tastes perhaps. I made some converts though!
The song is about a busker, and mentions many of the songs he plays. Bee Bop a Lula - Gene Vincent I Got a Woman - Ray Charles My Sweet Lovin Woman - Robert Nighthawk Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin Walkin' Shoes - Gerry Mulligan Power and the Glory - Johnny Osbourne The Talkin' Blues - Al James I might have missed one or two. :)
The lyric "down in the tunnel tryna make it pay" is referencing said busker as a subway performer. Thanks for that "reference" list, Randall! P.S. - Yup, you forgot "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles
Had a friend in college who actually busked in the Chicago subway tunnels for spending change. My buddy and I did this song for him for his birthday party. My buddy played guitar and I played the synth melody on a recorder. Good times.🧡
When the sound of this pulls together at the beginning, that catchiness is sort of a modified zydeco sound, which is a Cajun music style from down here in the areas around New Orleans. You'll hear another more traditional variation of that sound when you get to That Was Your Mother on Paul Simon's Graceland album.Yeah, this song is a blast. And this whole album is just great. Patreon's doing you right!
My young kids and I rocked out to this album every day in the car on the way to day care. Every song is fantastic. Wait for Your Latest Trick - very atmospheric, with wonderfully poetic lyrics.
For me this song is pure Rock & Roll, it's one of my favorites of Mark and the gang. I remember having really enjoyed the concert that Dire Straits gave in my city, Barcelona, in 1992, the Olympic year. Those were great times!! Thanks Salvo for bringing back those memories!!
This was one of the first compact discs I bought when I purchased my CD player to add to my Kenwood rack system back in the eighties. The others were "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends..." by ELP.
@@SalvoGNot necessarily commenting on the quality of the songs (although I like this album) it's certainly one of the better engineered and recorded albums of this time period. You can use this as one of the sources to set up sound systems.
This song is so great I love it!! You should do A Grand Don't Come For Free by The Streets on your album reaction! I don't do patreon but that album is so so good, such a story, quality songs front to back
Definitely a favorite of mine, too. Check out something from Dire Straits that Nobody is reacting to; ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST from the album Communique' (1979).
Well performed/produced. MK found a riff and built around it, but, it is just a simple pop song(which is why MK initially didn't want it on the album). MK/Dire Straits is capable of much more
Hi 👋 from the UK. I’ve have been watching your channel for sometime and I’ve just subscribed. I love your reactions to the music I grew up with. It gives me great joy to watch you. May I suggest a couple of bands/tracks? Duran Duran- Notorious. Frankie goes to Hollywood - Relax(was originally banned from the radio here in the UK on release!). Keep enjoying the music 👍
Will never understand how anybody who lived through the 80’s could listen to this song even one more time. Wasn’t the first 2 million times enough? 🤦🏼 Let me guess, Money for Nothing is next? So many better songs to expose this poor guy to.
