“Sultans Of Swing” was the beginning of Dire Straits’ dizzying career. “The Song That Started It All”

July 13, 1985 DireStraits reached the culmination of their career – they appeared on the big stage of Wembley Stadium, in the frame LiveAid. They performed in front of audiences from all over the world, and the event was broadcast on television. The concert was stunning to watch 1.9 billion people. They started with “Money For Nothing” in a duet with Stingand then presented fans with an epic version of the song that made them superstars – “Sultans Of Swing”. What is the history of this composition?

A cheesy jazz band inspired Mark Knopfler’s song “Sultans Of Swing”

By the time they performed at Live Aid, the band was already one of the world’s rock icons. This completely contradicted their humble beginnings, when the group’s debut single was created. Vocalist and guitarist of Dire Straits, Mark Knopflerhe wrote “Sultans Of Swing” in 1977, right after he stopped one evening at a pub where a poor jazz band, forgotten by everyone, was playing a concert. Undeterred by his lack of talent and the pub’s patrons who listened to him, the group’s lead singer then shouted goodbye the words that inspired Knopfler.

“I met them in a tiny pub – it was a jazz, Dixieland band playing in Deptford or Greenwich. There was almost no one in the pub except for a couple of boys playing pool in hanging trousers and platform shoes. I went there to have a few beers. At the end of the evening, the trumpeter, or whoever was the emcee, said: ‘Well that’s it, time to go home. We are the Sultans of Swing. If you played in that band, that evening, in that pub, you couldn’t be the sultan of anything,” the Dire Straits leader recalls this adventure.

They had no money to pay the bills. The beginnings of Dire Straits were difficult

The singer left the pub with an idea for a new song. He returned to the flat in Deptford he shared with his younger brother David and Illsley. A moment earlier, they founded a new band together, for which the first song was to be written.

“We were living on a shoestring and couldn’t even pay the gas bill,” Illsley recalls living with the other band members. “The first time I heard Mark play a version of ‘Sultans Of Swing’ was in this apartment, but the song sounded completely different” – confessed the musician.

The song gained new life when Mark Knopfler bought his dream guitar

The initial version of the song lacked some edge – even Knopfler himself said so. He finally saved enough money to buy his dream guitar – a 1961 Stratocaster. When he played “Sultans Of Swing” on it, the song took shape blues character and finally it sounded as the author had imagined it from the beginning.

“One day Mark said, ‘Remember that song I was tinkering with recently? I completely redid the chords of it.’ He played it and it sounded pretty good. It was all incredibly simple, but the way he played it was what made it intriguing. He’s the dragging one.” there’s a rhythm on the guitar and a very simple approach to the bass and drums. Of course, that’s also a story – let’s be honest. all good songs have a story” – Illsley recalled years later.

Dire Straits didn’t have a record deal yet, but they knew they wanted to make music and play it for crowds. In July 1977, they booked a small studio where they decided to put together a demo consisting of five songs. One of them was “Sultans Of Swing”.

The song “Sultans Of Swing” became a hit thanks to one person. Her path to the top was slow and bumpy

Immediately after recording, the song was delivered to the hands of a renowned Radio London DJ, Charlie Gillettwho went crazy about the song. He continued to play it on the air, and more and more major record labels began to take notice of Dire Straits. Within two months they managed to sign a contract with Phonogram. They were then moved to Basing Street Studios to record their debut album.

The single “Sultans of Swing” was re-recorded for the upcoming debut album. Sales were very slow and the song was not well received in the UK. Outside the band’s homeland, it did quite well – it achieved gold record status in the Netherlands. It didn’t take long for the single to reach the US, where it slowly began to gain popularity. “Because America picked it up, it came back to the UK and was re-released, which was really weird. It started spreading like wildfire,” Illsley said.

This was just the beginning! Dire Straits quickly began to climb to the heights of popularity. They finally became one of the most famous British bands of the 1980s. “I guess you could say ‘Sultans Of Swing’ was the song that started it all,” Illsley mused. “She had a huge impact on our path. These are the kind of catalysts that push you forward in life. People say we were lucky, but I say: ‘Well, what does happiness mean?'” – said the musician.