A Walk Down Memory Lane with Trollheart

[Trollheart]

From the album

Title: "Don't Know Much"
Artist: Linda Ronstadt with Aaron Neville
Year: 1989
Writer(s): Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Tom Snow
Genre: Pop ballad
Highest chart position (if applicable) 2 (UK and US)
Album: Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind
Did I own it? Yes
Album, single, both or neither? Album
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: I imagine it's largely forgotten

While this was the only hit off her album, it is in fact the track I rate the lowest. It's a basic ballad, and I see it got great reviews, but for my money there are far better ballads on the album. "Adios", "I Keep it Hid", "Shattered", the title track and the closer "Goodbye My Friend" are all superior tracks, and in fact just about any other track on the album blows this out of the water. I am, never was and probably never will be a fan of Linda Ronstadt - I only knew of her vaguely as some sort of country singer before this - but this album floored me. I chose it for the incredibly evocative and poetic title, and to be perfectly honest I was not expecting much. What I got really amazed me.

But to the single. It's, as I say, a contemporary ballad, a duet between her and Aaron Neville, of whom I knew nothing at the time and about whom I still know nothing, and want to know less. I have nothing against the guy, but I think Ronstadt could have sung this with anyone and made it a hit, as it's her voice that makes the song. It's actually the third cover version of the song, having been a minor hit before for Bill Medley, Bette Midler and then Linda Ronstadt. But for me, the song isn't as important as the album it drew me towards.

[Trollheart]

Title: "It Must Be Love"
Artist: Madness
Year: 1981
Writer(s): Labi Siffre
Genre: Ska/ Pop ballad
Highest chart position (if applicable) 4 (UK) 33 (US)
Album: n/a
Did I own it? No
Album, single, both or neither? Neither
Opinion then: Negative
Opinion now: Negative
These days: Still used in ads; I saw it in one for I think NatWest Bank? Probably one of their most enduring songs

Again, no fan of Madness. Never was, still am not. I never got the whole ska thing, and I did believe that coming from "the islands" as it were, it was more a black thing, but Madness was mostly made up of white dudes, in suits, so what was the deal? Well, a debate for another time perhaps. I have to admit, mostly it was the lyric I took issue with - "Nothing more, nothing less, love is the best" - I mean, come on! But now I learn it wasn't them that wrote it, but South African Labi Siffre, whose "(Something Inside) So Strong" is a wonderful anthem to human endurance and perseverance. Nevertheless, I don't give him a pass because of that. I really thought this was an awful, cheap, lazy song and I have not changed my mind about that.

I'm prepared to admit a few Madness songs were okay (NOT "Baggy fucking Trousers", nor "House of Fun", but "Our House" is decent I suppose, and I can stand "The Sun and the Rain" without vomiting blood) but I will never be a fan. I don't like them, and it's just that simple. This song was not, for me, their finest hour. But what do I know?

[Trollheart]

From the album


Title: "Brass in Pocket"
Artist: Pretenders
Year: 1979
Writer(s): Chrissie Hynde/John Honeyman-Scott
Genre: Pop/New-Wave
Highest chart position (if applicable) 1 (UK) 14 (US)
Album: Pretenders
Did I own it? No
Album, single, both or neither? Neither
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: Other songs such as "2000 miles", "Don't Get Me Wrong" and the ballad "I'll Stand By You" have overtaken its popularity, and though it's probably remembered I doubt it's played much on air.

In ways I guess you could compare Chrissie Hynde favourably to seventies legendary leather queen Suzi Quatro, with the one a more laconic, laid-back, perhaps sleazier version of the other. Suzi always seemed like she wore her sex appeal with a smile and a wink and a swing of the hips, like she knew she was teasing us, whereas Chrissie went all-out, in a kind of moody, almost sulky way; a smouldering sexuality that came very much through in her husky and drawling style of singing. The music here is kind of sparse, the song mostly built around a repeating guitar riff, from which it was born, and to me the backing vocals on "Special" don't work, but other than that it's a masterclass in musical sass. You can feel the sexual tension rising from her voice, see the swagger of her hips, the pout, the dark eyes looking at you insolently as if to say "you know I'm special".

Although the third single from their debut album, this was at the time Pretenders' biggest hit, taking them right to the top, and though they would have number ones on the far side of the water after this, where their popularity was clearly more than it was at home, they would never hit the top again in their native country, despite having songs which, as mentioned above, are better known. Even a Christmas song, believe it or not. I can't say I was a fan, but it was hard not to be moved in a certain way when you heard that smouldering, sultry voice for the first time.

[Trollheart]

From the album

Title: "Danger Zone"
Artist: Kenny Loggins
Year: 1987
Writer(s): Giorgio Moroder/Tom Whitlock
Genre: Rock
Highest chart position (if applicable) 45 (UK) 2 (US)
Album: Top Gun OST
Did I own it? Yes
Album, single, both or neither? Album
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: Crops up all the time, especially now that the movie has been remade. Must have made Kenny Loggins a rich man. Oh no wait: he didn't write it. Oh well, it's always associated with him. At least he doesnt' have to play that damned sax any more. Ah, no. That's Kenny G, innit?

Not all that surprising that a song from a movie about American F-14 fighter pilots would score higher on the Billboard chart than here at home, and though the movie was of course a hit everywhere, leading to a number 1 for Berlin with the ballad "Take My Breath Away", here we only heard "Danger Zone" if we went to see the movie or if, like me, we bought the soundtrack album. It's not a terrible album, as I reviewed it years ago in my journal, though of course it's hardly the best ever. This is one of the better tracks though, and it bounces and rocks and punches its way along with a real sense of "hell yeah!" American gung-ho and USA! USA! USA! blasting from the speakers.

It's the perfect soundtrack to flying a Tomcat 30,000 miles up or whatever, sighting a Mig and letting the missiles fly. I mean, it's total imperialist nonsense, as much as was Independence Day, but it's harmless, enjoyable, exciting imperialist nonsense, and the song really gets the blood pumping. That of course has mostly to be credited to Giorgio Moroder, more known for his electronic dance tunes, and Tom Whitlock, who wrote the lyric, and about whom I know nothing. Oh wait: I see he also wrote Berlin's hit. But Loggins does well with what he's given, although I suppose any good ol' American boy could have done the same. In fact, many were approached, including Toto, REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship and Corey Hart. All turned it down for different reasons, Whatever your view on American defence and foreign policy though, or your stance on warmongering and glorifying combat and aggression, it stands as one hell of a tune.

[Trollheart]

From the album

Title: "Young Turks"
Artist: Rod Stewart
Year: 1981
Writer(s): Carmine Appice/Duane Hitchings/Kevin Savigar/Rod Stewart
Genre: Pop
Highest chart position (if applicable) 11 (UK) 5 (US)
Album: Tonight I'm Yours
Did I own it? No
Album, single, both or neither? Neither; I have it on his greatest hits album, The Story So Far
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: Probably still played, and still mistitled.

After his chart-topping 1978 album Blondes Have More Fun, which gave him one of his biggest ever hit singles, the number one hit "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", Rod's next album was met with collective yawns, yielding no hits. Tonight I'm Yours began a mini-comeback for him that would last right into the mid-eighties and cover four albums, giving him two more number one hits. I always found it odd how he titled this "Young Turks" and yet the word is never used in the lyric. When he sings the chorus it's "Young hearts be free tonight", so why he didn't just call it "Young Hearts" I don't know, unless he wanted to avoid confusion with Candi Statton's hit "Young Hearts Run Free". Either way, it's a thumping synthpop tune with, as was normal with Stewart, a story in the lyric, about two people in love running away, Romeo and Juliet style.

I note that the main keyboard riff was, if not stolen for, then very closely mirrored in INXS's chart-busting 1987 album Kick, on the closer, "Tiny Daggers". Yeah, I notice these things. I have no life. "Young Turks" was perhaps the sort of antidote to "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", which turned him into something of a laughing-stock, despite being a number one (I'm sure he was crying all the way to the bank) and had him lampooned by various comedians. This song, maybe, showed he was more than an egotistical clown, though people should have known that already, with songs like "The Killing of Georgie" and "Sailing", but throw a baying crowd a bone, you only got yourself to blame if they clamour for more and start tearing you apart. It's significant, I feel, that Stewart "settled down" after this, with songs like "Baby Jane", the Celtic-infused "Every Beat of My Heart" and a cover of Robert Palmer's "Some Guys Have All the Luck" showing the world he was a proper musician. If they didn't know that already.

[Trollheart]

(Look, I KNOW it's white against fucking yellow, but it's the only one I could get! You would not believe the amount of images of bottles of port I got when I searched: I'm actually suprised I got even this one, so deal with it).

Anyway, as it says, port complete. Everything else from now on will be new.
I really love doing this. I'm going to concentrate on it for a while.
What? 1001 what you must hear before you die? Ah, fuck it!

[Lisnaholic]

Warning! Major Trollheart diatribe ahead! Continue at your own risk! Trollheart Enterprises and its subsidiaries and affiliates accept no responsibility for any boredom or frustration you may encounter. Your statutory rights are not effective, or something.



I understand how, in a traditionally male-dominated genre - notwithstanding the legendary Carter Family of course - it must have been extremely difficult for women to break into country music. Not many made it in the early days. You have Crystal and Emmylou, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, and of course Dolly, but here's the thing: they weren't exactly using their music to empower women were they? Gayle's song here - written by a man - puts her in the unenviable position of a woman who is ready to forgive her philandering man for anything, and take the blame upon herself: "I didn't mean to treat you bad/ Didn't know just what I had". It's basically an admission that no matter what he's done, it's her fault for not being a good wife/girlfriend, and it is, I'm sorry to say, typical of the songs women in country were singing around this time.

Look at the other one I mentioned. "Talking in Your Sleep", written a full six years after this, has her fretting over what her man is dreaming about. Is it her? Is it another woman? What has she done to turn him to another? How can she know for sure? Jesus ****ing Christ! And again written by a man, or in this case, two men. Emmylou, meanwhile, was recording a Bob Dylan song for her first single, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," while in 1975 she was pining "If I Could Only Win Your Love" - another song written by men - and even as far on as 1982 it was "I Lost His Love (On the Last Date)" - can't confirm who wrote that, but well into the 1990s she was still whining "Never Be Anyone But You", yet another male-penned song.

As for Tammy, well, what can you say about "Stand By Your Man"? A classic it may be, but doesn't it carry the message that no matter what he does a woman should be faithful, true and support her man, even if he is far from faithful or true? Okay, in fairness, she wrote this herself, or co-wrote it anyway, but it's hardly girl power now is it? For that, you have to look to the rebel, Loretta Lynn, with song titles such as "Don't Come Home a-Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" and "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man from Me)". Go, Loretta! And she wrote those herself! But she's very much a lone voice for a long time: even Dolly is singing "Dumb Blonde", "I'm Not Worth the Tears" and of course "Jolene", followed by her aching ballad "I WIll Always Love You", which I'm not entirely sure if it's a song dismissing a lover or crying about having to leave. Either way, it's a while before we get "Nine to Five", isn't it?

Look, there are definitely problems with early country music for women. As I noted, other than the Carter Family, the only real women in country at the start are your Bessie Smiths and your Ida Coxes, who all went more the blues road, even if they contributed to country music: they are not considered country artists. So women come late to country, and kind of understandably, when they do, they're not exactly ready to kick over the tables and dance on them, but it's sad that one of the biggest icons of country music at the time had to choose such wimpy songs whose lyrics unilaterally and unequivocally excused every man for everything he had ever done if he would only stay with her. You have to say, with some justification, shame on you, Crystal.

Well, I continued at my own risk, Trollheart, and thoroughly enjoyed your rant about the songs female country singers so often sang. You are absolutely right about so many songs being about "my man," and how the women are validated or not according to their ability to find and keep a good man.

One woman in country music who was making modest progress in giving women a more independent voice was Bobbie Gentry. Not obvious at first glance, but she was a pioneer in both her songs and in how she took control of her art:

Bobbie Gentry: "...I am a woman working for herself in a man's field. After all, I am a successful woman record-producer. Did you know that I took 'Ode to Billy Jo' to Capitol, sold it, and produced the album myself? It wasn't easy."

 Part of Gentry's story is that she didn't always get credit where it was due — she was heavily involved in the direction of all her records but didn't get producer credit until her final album, Patchwork. I think she left the record industry because she refused to compromise. That's the last phrase she said in her last song on her last record, ['Lookin' In'] and I don't think it's a coincidence that was the first record she got full producer credit on.

And then there's 'Fancy,' the story of a young woman turned out by her mother as a last ditch effort to help her survive. In the end, the song's protagonist thrives as a high class escort. In a 1974 interview with LGBTQ magazine After Dark, she calls the song her "strongest statement for women's lib"

Source for quotes: https://thequietus.com/culture/books/bobbie-gentry/#:~:text=And%20then%20there's%20'Fancy%2C',strongest%20statement%20for%20women's%20lib%22.

[Trollheart]

Interesting stuff, Lisna, and thanks for reading. It was a bit of a rant, but you know me, dog with a bone...

I think the main problem women in country music had (not so much, once it sort of met pop one dark night with a bottle of whisky in hand and accepted that invitation back to its shack, the rest is sadly music history) was that country has always been, from the beginning, male-dominated due to its flourishing among the likes of farmers, ranchers and what we shall diplomatically call "mountain folk" (you've read my history of country music, aint'cha? You knows what I's jawin' about?) and these groups are, or were, typically ones where the little woman stayed behind and raised the kids and did what she was told, and if she opened her mouth once too often why then a backhanded slap would soon sort her. And that would be blamed on the beer, and atoned for on Sunday in church, before the whole ugly scene would play itself out again the next Saturday night, or the next time the wife fergot her place.

Not, of course, suggesting that all who listened to country music were like that, but I think the larger percentage of them would have been less interested in women's rights than where they took a right off the overpass. As a result, with the exceptions already noted, there weren't many women in country music, as both the audience (men) was not there and also the subject matter usually referred to the cheatin'/lovin' - take your pick depending on how drunk you are at the time - woman, and as they said once in The Simpsons, since we don't care what wimmen think, nobody was interested in hearing them. Record labels would laugh them out of the office, shaking their heads at how such a "purty little thing" could consider herself equal to a man, and radio stations would say "Crystal? Now ain't that just a doggone strange name for a man? What? A woman, ye say? Get thee behind me, Satan!" etc.

So yes, props to any who made it, and these days of course the playing field is very much levelled, but shame on later stars for not trying to break out of the mould they had been forced into by men writing songs for or about them. Stand by your man? Stand on him, more like!

[Trollheart]

Okay. I admit it. I don't know how I was originally choosing these tracks. I said in the OP "completely at random", but there have to be some parameters to choose from for that randomness to work. I assumed initially I was using the charts as a metric, but that doesn't make sense, as they would not cover a large portion of the music I was listening to as I grew up. In fact, most of the bands and artists I listened to around that period would have had no truck with the charts, so how was I selecting tracks? Answer: I don't know. But it seems I picked and wrote about a few more that I had never posted on MB, and the first one here is certainly nothing the charts would ever have anything to do with. I guess it must have been some sort of mad, Trollheart hybrid of using the charts and just selecting my own choices from albums I liked. Or hated. Ah, you figure it out! I got a headache. In the meantime..


Title: "One for the Vine"
Artist: Genesis
Year: 1976
Writer(s): Tony Banks
Genre: Progressive Rock
Highest chart position (if applicable) n/a
Album: Wind and Wuthering
Did I own it? Yes
Album, single, both or neither? Album
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: Still revered by progheads, quoted in a song by Arena, but outside of Genesis fans and the circle of prog aficionados it's completely unknown

Come on, now! You didn't seriously expect me to write about the music I grew up on without mentioning Genesis, now did you? My all-time favourite band ever, and the one that got me into prog rock? Really, sir! You do surprise me! What won't come as a surprise to those who know me and have heard me wittering on about it ad infinitum in my journal and in other threads is that I choose the album Wind and Wuthering with which to mark the contribution Genesis made to my life. While it's true to say that my first real experience of them was through the live album Seconds Out, and this track is not on that, I mark the "golden period" of let's say post-Gabriel Genesis as just immediately after his departure, from 1976 - 1980, when they released four superb albums, two in the one year. Of the two released in 1976 this has always been my favourite, and on that album this is my favourite track.

The thing about this album, and the other they put out this year, A Trick of the Tail, is that though founder member and singer Peter Gabriel had left, one of the most important influences on the Gabriel and post-Gabriel sound remained. Steve Hackett would not depart until after this album, and 1979's ... And Then There Were Three is marked by his absence, as Genesis all but throw the trappings of seventies prog rock that characterised albums such as Nursery Cryme, Selling England by the Pound and Trespass to one side, and go full pop/rock, a route they would slide on down in the ensuing years, until by the time they unleashed Abacab they were no longer recognisable as the band they had been, and the end was in sight.

But here, they're making a statement. They're saying Peter is gone, but we're still here, don't abandon us. Look what we can do. And what can they do? An amazing album in its own right, Wind and Wuthering is definitely built around the lynchpin of "One for the Vine" and the opener "Eleventh Earl of Mar", two of the longest tracks on the album, with the former easily standing as the epic, at ten minutes. For the first time, really, since Gabriel railed against God and religion in "Visions of Angels", way back in 1970, the band tackle the thorny subject not only of religion but of those who follow messiahs, as we listen to the story of "One whose faith had died", who escapes the madness, somehow finds his way into another dimension or time and ends up repeating the very mistakes his predecessor made, causing the whole cycle to repeat.

Unsurprisingly, written solo as it is by Tony Banks, the song is very keyboard-driven, and opens with a lovely piano line (after a sort of squealy synthy bit), and while Phil Collins has his fun on the kit in the midsection, and does a very fine job on the vocals, it's Tony's song and he makes it his by extended keyboard passages, runs, arpeggios and piano melodies. For a song of ten minutes it goes through a lot of changes, both in melody and in mood, bringing everything back in the end to, as Pink Floyd noted right at the very end of The Wall, where we came in. It's a fine song and stands as one of the fan favourites, despite, or perhaps because of its length. Nothing is wasted, nothing is overextended and the story dovetails perfectly with the music, the long instrumental pieces never seeming to be, Dream Theater-like, just then to fill out the tune. Definitely one of my favourite Genesis songs, and a real triumph for Tony, whose spent an entire year working on the song. A year not wasted.

[Trollheart]

Title: "Spanish Train"
Artist: Chris de Burgh
Year: 1975
Writer(s): Chris de Burgh
Genre: Pop/Rock
Highest chart position (if applicable) n/a
Album: Spanish Train and Other Stories (usually just called Spanish Train)
Did I own it? Yes
Album, single, both or neither? Album
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: Almost all of de Burgh's earlier material has been overtaken by that fucking "Lady in Red", and that's what people remember him for now, an inspid love song that makes me want to throw up. You might hear this on a classier radio station from time to time, but overall it's more or less forgotten other than by his fans.

Sit down, children, and let me tell you a tale. Of a time when Trollheart were a lad, and had trouble sleeping, so kept a tiny radio with a one-piece earphone attached, to which I listened at night, trying to fall asleep. One night I heard this song about God and the Devil playing cards, and I loved it. This was a time long before I had any money of my own, and could hardly afford a record player, as turntables were known at the time, so I had no way of doing anything other than listening out for it again on the radio. Unfortunately, as it was never released as a single from the album that gave us (ugh) "Patricia the Stripper" and (cringe) "A Spaceman Came Travelling" I would not hear it again for a long time. When I eventually started working and had money I did buy a record player, and this was among the first albums I bought.

With clever attention to detail, the song uses its chorus to mimic the motion of a train as it trundles along, and opens and closes with the mournful sound of a train whistle. It concerns the legend (presumably made up, but I don't know; could be based on folklore though I doubt it) of a railway driver whose soul is fought over by God and the Devil, the two playing cards for, as the Devil dramatically ups the ante, "the souls of the dead." Given that he says souls plural, I'm inclined to think the game has all humanity as the stakes, though that is not made clear, and the railway driver does mention "Many souls are on the line", so maybe. At any rate, as might be expected, the Devil cheats, and God, in his infinite goodness, is not allowed to, so plays with a handicap.

There is no resolution. The final lines tell us "The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess/ The Devil still cheats and wins more souls/ And as for the Lord? He's just doing his best." Not encouraging. But evocative. The verses are spoken by de Burgh, with the only real music being a sort of background Spanish guitar playing as accompaniment with castanets, until the chorus when the full band comes in and Chris de Burgh sings the lines. It's a great song, a ghost story, a cautionary tale and a legend all in one, and opening the album as it does it sets you up for an album that, to be fair, seldom reaches the heights of its title track. But if it's the first time you've heard Chris de Burgh, it might very well make a better impression on you than that thrice-damned lady in red.

[Trollheart]

Title: "Telegraph Road"
Artist: Dire Straits
Year: 1982
Writer(s): Mark Knopfler
Genre: Rock
Highest chart position (if applicable) n/a
Album: Love Over Gold
Did I own it? Yes
Album, single, both or neither? Album
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Positive
These days: Few people even remember Dire Straits now, and those that do either think of "Sultans of Swing" or "Money for Nothing." It's such a long track this, that you will be very lucky to hear it on radio, your only chance outside of playing the album being a live concert maybe.

To some degree, I can see very clear parallels between this song and, well, almost all of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run album. I've gone into that in great detail in my review of it, but just to take the main point, the focal point if you will: Springsteen's opus begins with hope and purpose and plans for the future, and ends in a run-down, crumbling, all but condemned apartment in a city that does not care, alone and scared and frustrated and disappointed and angry. "Telegraph Road" begins with aspirations. The song opens with a man deciding to stop his wandering and set up a town - "He put down his sack where he thought it was the best/ Made a home in the wilderness" - and the town then grows up around him - "Other people came walking down the track/ And they never went further, no, they never went back." But quickly the dream turns to nightmare, and the music reflects this. Opening on a lonely, ambient, soft synth and then piano, the tempo kicks up as the town is built and the song rocks along.

But then the piano comes back and we hear of the dreams of the man - or a man - who had hoped to find what he was looking for here, but instead found only failure and defeat - "I've run every red light down memory lane/ Seen desperation explode into pain/ And I don't wanna see it again/ From all of these signs saying sorry but we're closed" - as industry dries up and the jobs move away and the town becomes a slum or a ghost town. You can feel the anger and frustration in Knopfler's voice and in his snarling guitar as he fights like a cornered animal against the circumstances that have conspired against him and trapped him here. Then the song finishes with a powerful, almost uplifting guitar solo to fade.

It's fourteen minutes long, but like "One for the Vine", featured previously, it never seems like it. The song is essentially made up of movements, from the opening one where the town is founded, the second where it grows, the third then where despair sets in and escape is attempted or at least dreamed of (very "Jungleland" in its lyrical themes) and the final soaraway instrumental finishing it off. It's truly a masterpiece, and even better when played live. If you ever wondered what people saw in Dire Straits, give this a listen and then tell me the guy is not a genius.

[Saulaac]

^^The change up around 10:30 to the end woke up my sleeping slumbers. Whoa.

Always loved Dire Straits but you're dead right, my experience were the tunes played on the radio.

Your story of "Telegraph Road" would sit very well in their liner notes, TH 





 

[Trollheart]

Hey, glad to have opened up a peek into the world of Dire Straits you might otherwise not have got, Sauulac! I'm not a rabid fan, but that album (Love Over Gold) has no bad tracks, unlike Brothers in Arms ("Twisting By the Pool", Mark? Really? What were you thinking?) 

If you like my analysis of "Telegraph Road" you should definitely check out my review of Born to Run: got a lot of compliments about that one! Hey, I just like to look into the lyrics and see if there's a story there, and if there is, to try to tell it as best I can. I mentioned once that I wouldn't know a B flat from an A Sharp (though I know what an A Flat Major is - a military officer run over by a steamroller!  ) so I don't try to talk about the technical side of music, but approach it instead almost as a book review. With music, obviously.

[Lisnaholic]

That's a great review of a great track, Trollheart. With Telegraph Road and the next track, Private Investigations, it seems like Dire Straits  decided to experiment and expand a bit with the possibilities of their sound, coming up with two of their best tracks, but yeah, on the basis that "freedom is frightening" they went back to their shorter rock songs and, imo, were never as interesting again. Mind you, from memory, Knopfler's Local Hero soundtrack was pretty good too, in a languid, mournful way:-

Knopfler brings along Dire Straits associates Alan Clark (keyboards) and John Illsley (bass), plus session aces like saxophonist Mike Brecker, vibes player Mike Mainieri, and drummers Steve Jordan and Terry Williams. The low-key music picks up traces of Scottish music, but most of it just sounds like Dire Straits doing instrumentals.

P.S: Is "Love Over Gold" an unacknowledged Beefheartism ? This is the back cover of an album from 8 yrs before the Dire Straits album:-

[Trollheart]

I'd say personally for me, though I'm not a huge huge Knopfler fan, I have heard all the Dire Straits albums (I'd actually put their debut as second best really) but it does seem they reached their peak with Love Over Gold, and though Brothers in Arms has some really good tracks there is a lot of filler, and as you say Lisna, yes, they did more or less eschew the longer, more epic and deep tracks for the kind of palatable fare that would get them radio airplay. I think, if I recall, the only tracks you'll hear off LOG are the two singles,  "Private Investigations" (and usually a shortened version) or "Industrial Disease", which is a song with some of the cleverest wordplay I've heard since Marillion's first album.

So I imagine it could be said that LOG was an experiment for them that, commercially, in terms of radio airplay, didn't work, whereas BIA gave them hit after hit. So perhaps - well, before I go further, to Wiki for some facts and figures! Okay. LOG got to number 1 in the UK but only 19 in the US, went Double Platinum in the UK but a mere Gold (no pun intended I assure you) in the USA, while BIA got to the top in both territories, went a staggering fourteen times Platinum back home and a healthy nine times Platinum Stateside! LOG had two singles, BIA had five, one of which was a number one in the US (though oddly, only number 4 here - maybe more popular in America due to the usage of the MTV line?) and BIA was also the first album in history to sell over one million units on CD. So I guess going back to the pop format worked for them, but I consider LOG to be a far superior album. Interestingly, perhaps showing the difference between the two cultures, neither of the singles from LOG did any business in the USA, though again "Industrial Disease" didn't make a ripple here either - maybe something to do with the Thatcher government? Coming too close to the bone perhaps Maggie? 

Heh. The things you find out with a little digging. It seems Knopfler wrote "Private Dancer", which was originally for the Love Over Gold album, but decided it needed a female voice, and gave it to Tina Turner. The verses on the track "Love Over Gold" are the same tune and melody as those in "Private Dancer". Try it and see!

As for the Beefheart connection, Lisna, I don't know. The line is "It takes love over gold, and mind over matter, to do what you do that you must," so I guess what he's saying is that love is, or should be, stronger than wealth? Whether the Captain was saying the same thing, making the same point, or not, I don't know. Maybe ask Frownland, if you want to venture into that wild west town again in search of him.