Mark Knopfler on Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing: ‘I wrote it in the window display of a New York appliance store’

Mark Knopfler, guitar/vocals/creator

I used to be in an equipment store in New York and there was once a large bonehead in there turning in equipment. All the TVs had been tuned to MTV and I overheard this man sounding off in regards to the rock stars at the displays. He had an target audience of 1 – the junior on the retailer – and a few of his traces had been simply too excellent to be true.

Things like: “That little motherfucker’s got his own jet airplane!” And: “He’s banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee!” And: “That ain’t working!” That was once simply the way in which he spoke – and in that New York accessory too. The bells had been going off in my head however I didn’t have a pen with me, so I borrowed one, were given a little bit of paper and I in fact sat down within the window show house of the shop and began writing out the traces to Money for Nothing as he stated them.

The guitar lick is only a stomp, a two-fingered boogie. It comes from the clawhammer taste and it’s were given its personal rhythm. It was once simply a laugh to do. But there have been an entire bunch of lucky incidents that collided with each and every different to create the music. For example, I’d observed the Police at the MTV channel pronouncing the word: “I want my MTV.” But in addition they had a music referred to as Don’t Stand So Close to Me, so I put “I want my MTV” to that melody and incorporated it at the beginning.

While we had been recording the Brothers in Arms album at Air Studios on Montserrat, I be mindful considering: “Wouldn’t it be great if I could ask Sting to sing that line?” We had been in this tiny speck in the midst of the sea however abruptly anyone stated: “Sting’s here on holiday! He’s on the beach!” So he got here as much as the studio and when he walked in, the very first thing he stated was once: “What’s wrong?” I stated: “What do you mean?” And he stated: “Nobody’s fighting …” [unlike in the Police].

Brothers in Arms was once massive. So many of us sought after to peer the band are living. After we performed Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, we ran around the automobile park to Wembley Arena the place we had been enjoying that night time. In reality, one of the crucial the reason why it felt like I needed to scale issues again was once going into catering and now not recognising the group. That’s after I realised the dimensions of it.

John Illsley, bass

We’d already had 4 a hit albums, so the expectancies for Brothers in Arms had been beautiful prime. Thankfully Mark’s writing was once sharp as a tack. At that time, we’d convene in a mews space in west London, simply with guitars, an acoustic bass and a keyboard, and run via subject material Mark have been operating on.

The Money for Nothing chords and lyrics had been already there – and clearly there was once Mark’s riff, which was once beautiful unusual. It’s humorous: when different guitarists check out that riff, they play the entire proper notes however don’t get the texture. We took our time, and it went from being a Mark Knopfler music to a Dire Straits music. I performed the bass in a easy approach, thankfully sitting at the chords, striking down that engine room.

Its name is ironic, as a result of we’d been operating solidly for years to get to that time. But everyone seen us from the out of doors. Like: “Oh, look at them, that ain’t working, that’s just money for nothing – and they get the chicks thrown in for free.” But it was once a little bit like Picasso, when he’d do a handy guide a rough drawing for anyone and other folks would say: “That only took you 10 seconds.” And he’d say: “No, it took me 40 years.”

Brothers in Arms was once the primary document we’d made with Guy Fletcher, who was once an excessively technical musician. He knew the way to paintings those trendy keyboards, whilst Alan Clark was once a good looking piano participant. The two of them created that Money for Nothing intro, and Terry Williams performed probably the most explosive drum solo I’ve ever heard. Then the riff is available in. The guitar tone you listen at the document came about unintentionally: a microphone were given knocked to the ground in entrance of the speaker and it modified the sound utterly.

Money for Nothing was once No 1 in America whilst Brothers in Arms was once No 1 on the United States album chart on the identical time. We actually loved that luck, however the status … now not such a lot. After the excursion, there was once a undeniable feeling we needed to put this to mattress. We reconvened for On Every Street in 1991 and that excursion was once bodily and mentally arduous. Mark had indubitably had sufficient. For everyone’s sanity – however most commonly his – we referred to as it an afternoon. But I in truth nonetheless experience enjoying Money for Nothing as a lot now as I did then. A excellent music is sort of a excellent image – it by no means fades.