100 Greatest Songs of the 70’s #4 Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing

Released: 1978

Speaking to Ian Birch of the Melody Maker in 1978, Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler was unrepentant about how the band’s music was going to be perceived. ‘When people use words like laid-back, it’s really interesting. There’s a big difference between good laid-back music and music that drags after you like a giant turd. You gotta find that balance.’

The quartet after all were flying erm..straight into the headwinds of punk and showcasing qualities which were entirely at odds with the era’s noisy precepts; songwriting, technical proficiency, virtuosity even. Signed to Phonogram on the strength of a five track demo, the label almost seemed embarrassed to have them on the roster. This was until largely via word of mouth their eponymous debut album began to shift copies in countries where the English disease hadn’t yet spread to like Holland and Germany. With echoes of Ry Cooder, JJ Cale and Bob Dylan it was also a sound tailor made for American FM radio and within 12 months Dire Straits was one of the most broadcast albums on both sides of the Atlantic.

Radio 1 and the music press saw to it that their street cred wasn’t tarnished by effectively burying Sultans of Swing when it was first appeared as a single. But a tour supporting Talking Heads helped and once reissued, the story of accidentally catching a faceless south London jazz outfit became a massive hit. Spurred on by an effortless dig from veteran drummer Pick Withers, Knopfler’s incredibly fluid guitar mechanics appeared to come from the ether, whilst his growling voice perfectly matched the earthy tale of doomed players weekend gigging to no one. This was more than simply good laid back music: giant turds were another band’s problem.