Mark Knopfler: A Life in Songs Page #3

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He also enrolled at Leeds University to continue his studies in English.

This would lead to Knopfler accepting a teaching job in Essex.

But the desire to get his songs recorded wouldn't go away.

The songs had been pushing and pushing.

But they pushed harder and harder.

And I suppose I was writing more of them.

So it was just adding to their weight to the door frame.

# Sweet surrender. #

Against the background of a now emerging punk rock scene,

Knopfler, aged 27, along with brother David on guitar,

John Illsley on bass and Pick Withers on drums,

formed the group that would become Dire Straits.

By the time I actually managed to get Dire Straits together, the little line-up we had,

the songs had been pushing so hard

that they actually pushed me out of a job

and at last I had what I could see was the way ahead just to get these songs recorded.

Radio London DJ Charlie Gillett was persuaded by the group to play their demo tape on his radio show.

This led to them being signed by Vertigo Records.

Finally Knopfler had found an outlet for his songs.

On 16th May 1978, Dire Straits made their TV debut playing the song that would become their calling card.

# Get a shiver in the dark

# It's raining in the park but meantime

# South of the river you stop and you hold everything

# A band is blowing Dixie double-four time.

# Feel all right when you hear the music ring... #

Sultans of Swing is like a kind of situation tune I suppose.

I was living in Deptford at the time.

And there was a little pub round the corner, a dingy little place.

# Coming in out of rain I hear the jazz go down... #

There was nobody in, except some lads playing pool in the corner

and a little Dixieland jazz band playing on a little stage at one end.

# Way on down south

# Way on down south, London Town... #

Because nobody was applauding or anything.

The guy announced, "We're the Sultans of Swing, good night."

And they couldn't have been less Sultans of Swing.

# We are the Sultans

# We are the Sultans of Swing. #

Having been a kid reporter, I think, really did help me organise material,

be able to make sense out of what I was looking at.

For some reason, something reverberates with a writer

and they note it, they mark it and it goes into the junk yard

and it may or may not find a home somewhere.

A lot of the things that you improvise in the studio

become part of the furniture of the thing.

Certainly with Sultans, the stuff at the end...

All that stuff. If you don't do that, it's not Sultans of Swing anymore

and people would feel that's not why I spent all that money on the ticket.

Sultans, I think, was a massive hit all over the world

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