Sultan Of Swing

The Sultan of Swing: Mark Knopfler.

Published: March 6th, 2005/ Vijay Times; Life Edition.

It is said that no matter what you pursue in love, life and career… what your heart wants the most will come back to you. Mark Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) showed flair for English as a student and went on to pursue a degree in journalism at the Leeds University. It was later in life after completing his degree in journalism that music came back to haunt him. As a late bloomer, he started his music career in the late 1970’s. At daytime he would work as a rock critic and a journalist while in the nighttime he would jam up with Steve Philips, a local blues guitarist. Both, Mark and Steve formed a band, ‘The Duolian String Pickers’, and they played on and off for five years before Dire Straits happened. Steve compared Knopflers guitar picking skill to the likes of B.B. KING. Steve, who has had a profound effect on Mark’s guitar picking skills, introduced him to various forms of country blues music. It was through this that Mark webbed his own style of guitar picking. Later in the year 1996, Steve released an album “Just Pickin’” in which he released several of their works together.


Mark Knopfler


Mark, and his brother David worked towards creating songs that rocked the world on its release. This probably laid the foundation for the band Dire Straits and the start of some of the best years in music. On the 27th of July 1977 Dire Straits recorded the now famous demo tapes of five songs - Wild West End, Sultans of Swing, Down To The Waterline, Sacred Loving and Water of Love. Dire Straits debuted with a self titled album ‘Dire straits in the year 1978, which was followed by, Communiqué, Making Movies (1980), Love over Gold, Twisting by the Pool, ALCHEMY (LIVE 1984), Brothers in Arms (1985), Money for Nothing and others before recording its last in late 1990’s. Dire Straits, was a band that deviated from the normal punk rock of the 1970’s now have something to show off with. The 1970’s were an era of the likes of the mighty Sex-Pistols who made statements with their music, and here was a band that was offbeat and distinct in its approach to music. Would they last? Yes they will, while the most faded into oblivion, Dire Straits consistency has paid off.

In 1996, Mark launched his Solo career with the golden heart album. As a soloist he released, Sailing to Philadelphia in 2000, while 2002 saw the release of his third album ‘Ragpickers Dream’. He is now on tour to promote his latest album, Shangri-La that was released in 2004.

What makes Mark Knopfler a classic? Mark Knopflers’ music is a combination of well-written lyrics, excellent riff, and a smoky voice. If you listen to … ‘Brothers in Arms’, ‘Boom, like that’, ‘Sultans of Swing’, or ‘Romeo and Juliet’ you will be exposed to a laid-back slurry voice that has a freshness of the morning air, with down to earth lyrics taking you through memory. Mark, as a person is shy, observant, reserved and consistent, which is reflected in his choice of subjects. He is not preppy, exciting, and upbeat, but has a melancholic touch to his music. So why do we love him? We love him because that melancholy music takes us to into a world void of clamor and chaos. The music is mellow and the style, intimate, as if it were for your ears only.

You can catch Mark Knopfler performing in Bangalore at Palace Grounds on the 7th of March 2005, after performing in Mumbai. For tickets contact DNA Networks.

…There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
and we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun's gone to hell,
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms.

- From Brothers in Arms

Copyright 2005 Puja Goyal