

13 SEPTEMBER 2023 (TORONTO, ON) — On November 3, 2023 UMC/Mercury will release Dire Straits – Live 1978-1992, an 12 LP/8 CD box set of live performances by Dire Straits, a band that straddled the globe in the eighties and nineties with their sophisticated rootsy guitar rock wedded to literate story-telling lyrics.
Emerging on the club and pub circuit in 1977, Dire Straits were led by charismatic Geordie singer-songwriter, record producer and composer Mark Knopfler, one of the most successful musicians the UK has ever produced, who is often cited as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Dire Straits’ sound defined the late 70s/early 80s with huge hits such as “Sultans Of Swing”, “Romeo And Juliet”, “Money For Nothing” and “Walk Of Life”. Dire Straits’ 1985 album Brothers In Arms, a global No 1 and double Grammy Award winner, is one of the world’s best selling albums. After releasing their final album ‘On Every Street’ in ’91 and touring in ‘92, Knopfler called time on Dire Straits in 1995 and set off on a new path as a solo artist.
Dire Straits Live 1978-1992 features newly remastered versions of the classic Dire Straits’ live albums Alchemy (‘84) and On The Night (‘93), ‘93’s Encores EP, ‘95’s Live At The BBC, and the previously unreleased Live From The Rainbow Theatre show from ’79, and captures the band’s thrilling heartland rock played with breath taking virtuosity from their first live recordings at the BBC in ’78, through to their final shows in ‘92 in On The Night.
The expanded version of the original double album Alchemy will include unreleased songs from the performance – “Industrial Disease” and “Twisting By The Pool” – as well as “Love Over Gold”, and the extended versions of “Telegraph Road”, “Solid Rock”, “Going Home” and “Portobello Belle”.
An expanded version of the original On The Night will include tracks performed during the tour which have never been released, taken from multitrack recordings of shows in Nimes, Rotterdam and Paris: “Tunnel Of Love,” “Telegraph Road,” “Sultans Of Swing,” “Two Young Lovers,” “When it Comes To You,” and “I Think I Love You Too Much.”
Says Mark Knopfler: ‘People will always want you to play songs from the songbook; that’s part of what you’re doing playing live. You’ve got to please yourself but at the same time it’s a celebration. You’re all there to have a good time together. I enjoyed writing the songs, I enjoyed recording them, so I’m going to enjoy playing them. I don’t play anything I don’t want to play, so if I get up there and play ‘Romeo And Juliet’ or ‘Brothers In Arms’, it’s because I want to play them. It’s important to me that it’s important to people, that you’ve created milestones in people’s lives.” [Mark was speaking to journalist and broadcaster Paul Sexton, author of the box set sleeve notes.]
TRACKLISTINGS
LP
ALCHEMY
SIDE ONE
SIDE TWO
SIDE THREE
SIDE FOUR
SIDE FIVE
SIDE SIX
ON THE NIGHT
SIDE ONE
SIDE TWO
SIDE THREE
SIDE FOUR
SIDE FIVE
SIDE SIX
SIDE SEVEN
SIDE EIGHT
ENCORES
SIDE ONE
SIDE TWO
LIVE AT THE BBC
SIDE ONE
SIDE TWO
LIVE AT THE RAINBOW
SIDE ONE
SIDE TWO
SIDE THREE
SIDE FOUR
SIDE FIVE
SIDE SIX
* WITH PHIL LYNOTT AND TONY DE MEUR
CD
ALCHEMY
DISC1
DISC2
ON THE NIGHT
DISC1
DISC2
ENCORES
LIVE AT THE BBC
LIVE AT THE RAINBOW
DISC1
DISC2
* WITH PHIL LYNOTT AND TONY DE MEUR
DIGITAL
ALCHEMY
ON THE NIGHT
ENCORES
LIVE AT THE BBC
LIVE AT THE RAINBOW
* WITH PHIL LYNOTT AND TONY DE MEUR
The 12 LP/ 8 CD box set is available for pre-order here: LINK???
DIRE STRAITS LIVE 1978-1992
RELEASE DATE 3rd Nov ‘23