About the band: Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar)). They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995. They are one of the world's best-selling music artists, with album sales of over 100 million (six studio albums, live albums and compilations). Dire Straits currently have five songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: Dire Straits have been popular since their debut, but their big break-through came when they were chosen by Philips as the symbol of the new CD technology. The 1985 album Brothers in arms shot to twenty-three million-seller status. Artistically it was less consistent than the astonishing Love over gold that preceded it, but commercially it did far better. That was also caused by the videos accompanying the single releases, in particular the cartoon produced for the mega hit Money for nothing and the wistful video for the title song Brothers in arms, where the artists' pictures were skillfully transposed into sketch-type images. Leaving the video artistry aside, it should be noted that this song actually is a beautiful dark ballad, and a further highlight in their career. Run time 6:59.
