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UNBELIEVABLE: Dire straits | History Defined

‘Dolby Atmos has a curious ability to reveal not just the details within a recording, but also the memories embedded within it’: Dire Straits’ producer says that mixing spatial audio rescues lost elements that were ‘sacrificed’ for stereo

Dire Straits' Guy Fletcher says that Atmos can deliver more emotion from the music you love

TechRadar

“Playing with your fingers has something to do with immediacy and soul. You’re absolutely in touch with what’s going on”: How Mark Knopfler combined sublime fingerpicking and Shakespearean tragedy in a Dire Straits classic

The early ’80s hit featured his iconic National Style O resonator guitar

MusicRadar

“Believe you me, I think the offers that have been turned down are literally eye-watering”: They might be Gen-Z's new favourite band, but the chances of a Dire Straits reunion are "unfortunately, nil” says keyboard player Guy Fletcher

One of their biggest hits is currently going gangbusters on TikTok

MusicRadar

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“I said, ‘You’ve got to be joking! You can’t put out a record about a trad band playing in a pub and expect it to sell!’": the story of the classic Dire Straits song that's often imitated, but rarely mastered

"It’s not to do with gear, it’s all to do with the way the brain sends signals to his fingers – that’s what makes Mark so special"

MusicRadar

"He thought that the band should be a democracy, and it was more like a brutal dictatorship": The tangled story of Dire Straits, the million-selling band who quit at the height of their fame

How Dire Straits went from the pubs of London to become one of the biggest bands of the 1980s

Louder

‘Our rivalry with Take That was always tongue in cheek’: Tony Mortimer’s honest playlist

The East 17 man knows his 90s bangers but once inadvertently cleared a dancefloor. And what song gets him on the exercise bike in a morning?

The Guardian - UK

“Mark Knopfler, he's soloing kind of all through the record. And that's what I did, too”: Bruce Hornsby explains why a classic Dire Straits song is a “kindred spirit” to his biggest hit

He also reveals which hip-hop interpolation of The Way It Is he likes the best

MusicRadar

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This album was the 1980s poster-boy for CD – but I massively prefer it on vinyl

A digital masterpiece intended to be heard on compact disc; but how does Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms compare to vinyl forty years on?

What Hi-Fi?

Dire Straits: This ETF Is a Must-Watch As Rare Earths Become the Real Boondoggle of the Iran War

All eyes have been on the energy and defense sectors amid the Iran war, but rare earths should be investors' focus. Here's why.

Barchart

Starmer mocked for ‘copying Trump’ with dramatic TikTok on Britain’s response to war in Iran

The prime minister posted a clip showing Britain’s military response to the war in the Middle East, accompanied by the song ‘Money for Nothing’ by Dire Straits

The Independent UK

Keir Starmer accused of ‘mimicking Trump’ with Middle East crisis TikTok post

PM justifies position on US-Israel war on Iran in social media post using the Dire Straits song Money for Nothing

The Guardian - UK

I tested the Edifier M60 — they’re teeny-tiny but have major big-speaker energy

Edifier M60 are super-compact bookshelf speakers ideal for small spaces. The M60 pack a major sonic punch without sacrificing the most important thing: size.

Tom’s Guide

"Sprawling. Atmospheric. Cinematic. Enthralling": Chris Rea finds friends among fans of Mark Knopfler and J.J. Cale on The Road To Hell

The Road To Hell fuses Chris Rea's weather-beaten blues instincts with serious songwriting smarts and a sharp-eyed sense of social unease

Louder

Key London bus routes to be cut as passenger numbers fall

38, 259, 279 and 349 routes all at risk - as well as the 19 bus immortalised in classic Dire Straits song

Evening Standard

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Louder

“He thought that the band should be a democracy, and it was more like a brutal dictatorship”: The tangled story of Dire Straits, the million-selling band who quit at the height of their fame

How Dire Straits went from the pubs of London to become one of the biggest bands of the 1980s

Louder

“I argued very strongly that we shouldn’t play Another Brick In The Wall at the school fête, as it was disrespectful. Oh God! That was me”: Slow Horses showrunner Will Smith’s record collection

Stand-up, actor, novelist and producer on how much Marillion means to him, the four lines of Jon Anderson lyrics that bring him to tears, his favourite Vangelis soundtrack and his claim that Dire Straits are a prog band

Guitar World

“What Dire Straits would sound like if Mark Knopfler grew up in the deserts of Algeria rather than the streets of Newcastle”: October 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks

Liven up your Halloween with six-string (and five-string) sorcery from Alter Bridge, Mei Semones, Whitney, Karma Sheen, Jacob Collier, Unprocessed, and many more

Guitar World

“I pushed him towards the Les Paul. I can see him now, holding those notes. I don’t think he could have played those parts on any other guitar”: Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits’ inner circle look back on Brothers in Arms – their world conquering “fluke”

Brothers In Arms reinvented Knopfler and gave him more fame than he could handle. 40 years on, in a rare interview, the band look back on thebiggest rock album of the '80s

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Guitar World

“I confess I pushed him more towards the Les Paul sound. I felt a resistance early on. But I persevered”: Why Mark Knopfler’s guitar tech convinced him to play Les Pauls – and how they impacted his tone and playing

Knopfler is forever linked to the Fender Strat – however, to successfully convey the emotional weight required on Brothers in Arms, his tech pushed him towards Gibsons

Guitar World

A rare 12-string guitar that Mark Knopfler “borrowed” for 50 years is now up for auction

The guitar was originally owned by his friend, Lindisfarne's Jeff Sadler – and was played on the Dire Straits' sophomore album, Communiqué

Louder

"The fallout was much bigger than anything we could ever have foreseen": Dire Straits and the adventure of Brothers In Arms

Everything changed for Dire Straits when they made Brothers In Arms: Mark Knopfler, John Illsley and Guy Fletcher look back

Guitar World

“People have bought tickets and you can see them thinking, ‘That’s not ‘Brothers in Arms’”: Mark Knopfler on why one of the Dire Straits’ most iconic tracks hinges on this four-note guitar intro

The Dire Straits guitarist reflects on the songwriting process of some of the band’s classic tracks

MusicRadar

"Once I’ve played those four notes, then I can start to improvise”: Mark Knopfler on the Dire Straits song he's come to accept that he has to start in the same way every time

"People have bought tickets," he says

Guitar World

“Being called a guitar hero was just awkward. Whether I’ve written a good song or not, that’s what counts to me”: Mark Knopfler on 40 years of Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms – the guitars, the riffs… the pressure of learning to play in time

From his lucky ’83 Les Paul and Fleetwood Mac-inspired soloing to “getting away with murder” at the sessions, the Dire Straits legend opens up in his most revealing interview in years

Guitar World

“He reached under the sofa and pulled out this dusty old case. And he says, ‘Mark, I want you to have this guitar. I don’t play it anymore’”: Mark Knopfler on the treasured Gibson he received as a gift from a rock hero – which became his studio go-to

Last year, Knopfler parted ways with 120 of his prized instruments for charity, including much of the Brothers in Arms gear

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