Dire Straits was a british rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy. Led by guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, the group built their sound upon the laid-back blues-rock of J.J. Cale, but they also had jazz and country inflections, occasionally dipping into the epic song structures of progressive rock. The band's music was offset by Knopfler's lyrics, which approximated the winding, stream-of-conscious narratives of Bob Dylan. As their career progressed, Dire Straits became more refined and their new maturity happened to coincide with the rise of MTV and the compact disc. These two musical revolutions from the mid-'80s helped make Dire Straits' sixth album, Brothers in Arms, an international blockbuster. The band - along with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and
| 1 | Romeo And Juliet (Live) | Alchemy (Disc 1) |
| 2 | Love Over Gold | Alchemy (Disc 1) |
| 3 | Solid Rock (Live) | Alchemy (Disc 2) |
| 4 | So Far Away | Brothers In Arms |
| 5 | Planet Of New Orleans | On Every Street |
| 6 | Hand In Hand | Making Movies |
| 7 | Heavy Fuel | On Every Street |
| 8 | Where Do You Think You're Going | Money For Nothing |
| 9 | Private Investigations | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 10 | Telegraph Road (Live) | Alchemy (Disc 2) |
| 11 | Brothers In Arms | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 12 | Ride Across The River | Brothers In Arms |
| 13 | Money for Nothing | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 14 | Iron Band | On Every Street |
| 15 | How Long | On Every Street |
| 16 | Telegraph Road | Love Over Gold |
| 17 | Twisting by the Pool | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 18 | My Parties | On Every Street |
| 19 | Communique | Communique |
| 20 | Ticket To Heaven | On Every Street |