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 | Sultans Of Swing | Dire Straits |
| 2 | Single Handed Sailor | Communique |
| 3 | Sultans Of swing (Live) | Alchemy (Disc 1) |
| 4 | Walk of Life | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 5 | Wild West End | Dire Straits |
| 6 | Lions | Dire Straits |
| 7 | Solid Rock | Making Movies |
| 8 | Six Blade Knife | Dire Straits |
| 9 | Private Investigations | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 10 | Going Home - Theme From 'Local Hero' (Live) | Alchemy (Disc 2) |
| 11 | Fade To Black | On Every Street |
| 12 | Two Young Lovers (Intro: The Carousel Waltz) (Live | Alchemy (Disc 2) |
| 13 | One World | Brothers In Arms |
| 14 | How Long | On Every Street |
| 15 | Money For Nothing | Money For Nothing |
| 16 | So Far Away | Brothers In Arms |
| 17 | Money for Nothing | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 18 | Love over Gold (Live) | Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits |
| 19 | Calling Elvis | On Every Street |
| 20 | Expresso Love | Making Movies |