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Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations

April 2006

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dire Straits was popular in New Zealand with the general music-listening population as with hi-fi enthusiasts. Even their least successful album, On Every Street, reached #1 on the New Zealand album charts.

Confusingly, a recent album compiling both Dire Straits and solo Mark Knopfler material was released as both a one and two-disc version. AudioEnz music writers look at the music and sound of both.

Private Investigations, the single disc version

Having discarded all vinyl some years ago of the great band that had me trudging to Athletic Park twice in the eighties, it was like a “should I go to the school reunion” moment when I thought about requesting this CD. Over the years the odd Alchemy track has been heard in the wee hours, the soundtrack work has been enjoyed and the side projects like Notting Hillbillies much played but what would going face to face with the tracks that formed so much of my eighties listening bring and just how would the production stand up on the now much improved toys. (Actually those Tamon speakers with two twelve inch drivers weren’t that bad, were they?)

If you are thinking about plunging into this CD or the more comprehensive double CD then don’t read further, just do it, for I am about to describe the experience for me.

Whoever chose to put Sultan’s Of Swing as the first track should be instantly dismissed. What a pathetic track. Well it certainly rocks more than I remember but will be skipped as much now as it used to be. Things greatly improve as we move on through Love Over Gold, Romeo and Juliet, Tunnel of Love, and the quintessential Private Investigations. What I’d forgotten is the sheer architecture of these tracks. Just as you’re about to reach for the remote before you retch, there is a change in tempo, a guitar burst, a fade, a percussion detail or a huge drum cluster. Orch that was good, so pleased I didn’t skip.

The production is excellent, reassuring given the hours spent using Private Investigations as a hi-fi test track in the eighties – must get those footsteps just right. Sure Knopfler can’t sing, and at times provides some solos that out-Ottmar Liebert, but the overall impact is a sort of gleeful curtain pulled sonic indulgence. At times Knopfler’s vocals seem more recessed than I can remember – but that could be purely a matter of taste from the remastering team.

The Knopfler solo tracks are perhaps not as well known but will spark an interest in the post-Dire Straits period. Boom Like That from the album Shangri La is quite a standout.

And, just when I said he can’t sing, Knopfler duets with Emmylou Harris. Well this is like putting sardines on weetbix to me, it just shouldn’t happen. Wrong again. I love the teaser track All The Roadrunning slipped on to this compilation. Looking forward to more. Allan McFarlane

Private Investigations, the double-disc version

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; “best of” albums are a great way for record companies to generate some extra money for their Christmas parties. Naturally they are giving the consumer what they want, repackaged copies of songs they already have and plenty of Christmas present options. The fact that your loved one already has all of the Dire Straits albums is not a problem because this one is different. It is Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler. What an interesting and clever marketing ploy to give the huge legions of Dire Straits fans a new collection complete with a selection from Mark Knopfler’s solo albums. Package it all up together and advertise it has been remastered. Then let it loose on the unsuspecting public just before the holiday season. Fantastic!

Christmas is over and if you didn’t receive the Private Investigations in your Christmas stocking do not fear the New Year sales are on. Of course you might not have all the Dire Straits albums or like me you have them on dusty old vinyl or have long since thrown out the turntable. Or perhaps you want a CD of Dire Straits music for your car. Whatever the reason if you are looking for a best of collection of Dire Straits then this one has the goods… mostly.

The two-disc version has a whopping 137 minutes of music including 13 Dire Straits songs and eight Mark Knopfler songs. It has all the usual suspects, Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet, Tunnel of Love and Money for Nothing. But what makes this compilation superior to the two previous ones, is that it has the full length versions of Telegraph Road, and Private Investigations. It also has the anthem Going Home that most Kiwis will remember from the Quantas ads of the nineties.

The icing on the cake is the selections from Knopfler’s solo albums. It includes the duet with James Taylor Sailing to Philadelphia from the album of the same name. It’s a great song that tells the story about the two men who surveyed the longest strait line on the planet, at the time. For those who have not dabbled in Knopfler’s solo work you will find the same great storytelling as Dire Straits but not the same propulsive beats. Knopfler’s solo work moves away from mainstream pop and has more blues and folk elements.

When most albums are remastered the engineers use it as a chance to “fix” any small problems. Most often the changes are not noticeable but sometimes it is obvious that levels and equalisation have been tweaked. Comparing the Private Investigations compilation to original vinyl I consider that the re-mastering is generally pretty good apart from a couple of small points.

It is most noticeable on the tracks from the album Love Over Gold, most clearly on Private Investigations. This was a very good analogue recording that used the full dynamic range of the media available at the time. Audible on the quiet passages was tape hiss and it is clear that the filter used to eliminate tape hiss has also removed some of the albums wonderful ambient acoustics.

Also the levels of the quiet passages have been raised and this detracts from the musical climax. As my editor noted when he sent me the CD, “It starts out loud and has nowhere to go”. Quite right, Michael. I also noticed the left and right channels on this track had been swapped around!

The album Brothers in Arms was recorded digitally and has not been manipulated so much. This new release and the SACD of the album actually sound much better than my old vinyl. The treble sounds much smoother and voices less grainy on this HDCD copy.

Small problems aside, this is a great sampler and will have your thoughts travelling back in time to the early eighties when life was simpler and hair was bigger. Buy this album but don’t throw out those vinyl copies of Love Over Gold. Instead send them to me as mine is worn out. Richard Nelson