h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Dire Straits - The Band - A864858
Author: Master B - Not finding anything amusing about Scottish football - U190397

This 'ere is an update to A311031, which is pretty pants in my opinion. It was sat around in the old Update HQ for yonks, during which time Jimi X managed to keep it pretty much at arms length.

I know that Dire Straits was one of DNA's favourite bands, so am keen to make this a worthy entry. Hence, any suggestions are most welcome.

B

What did the call the dinosaur? A Knopflerosaurus?

There's one thing I'd like to see cleared up:
The guitar solo from 'Sultans of Swing' is more or less identical to the Only Ones' 'Another Girl Another Planet'. Which came first, and who was ripping off whom?

One of the reasons I didn't really take to the 'Straits was that I'd heard Another Girl Another Planet first, and as their sound was a lot smoother and produced, I assumed they'd pinched it.

But I'm often wrong, and would like to know.

Also, the massive success of 'Brothers in Arms' is credited in many circles with popularising the CD as a new format. Thoughts?

First things first: follow the dinosaur link in the entry and don't be idle.

Mark Knopfler has listed The Only Ones as an influence, and he was good friends with John Perry. It's likely the pair of them developed the riff together and each didn't mind the other on using it their own projects.

On the CD front, it's true that Brothers In Arms was the first big-selling CD but there's no evidence that it popularised the medium. It was just a damn fine record.

B

Good link

Surely the term 'progressive rock' has been a slur at any point since about 1976?

And as I remember it, at the time of its popularity there was generally held to be a connection that roughly went Brothers in Arms = CDs = Yuppies = Wine Bars.

But I'm happy to back down on this point before you fall out with me...

'Ere, you know there's a DNA quote on Dire Straits in one of the h2g2 books, don't you? That might be quite nice to include - I *think* it's in the fourth book, whichever one it is it's when Arthur meets Fenchurch, and DNA says something like Mark Knopfler has the ability to sing like an angel who's (I forget the next bit).

Hmmm...my copy of HHGTTG has gone astray, so I can't verify that.

There probably was a fairly sound yuppie-wine-bar connection, but I think I'd prefer to leave that out of this entry, if it's all the same.

B

Well, I dunno, I might have to be strict with you here...



*returns, out of breath*

Ah, well, Writing-Guidelines point 9, you see. But I think the DNA connection and that quote (if we can find it) will offset any negative vibe that throws in.

But this is an entry about music, not sociology (of which I know nothing). If it was to be truly balanced, would you like me to put some science in there as well?

B

The quote is from 'So Long And Thanks for All The Fish':

"Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff beer"

And it specifically refers to 'Tunnel of Love' - see Whitley Bay Entry (A627671)

And stop fighting, you two!

While I'm here...

Are you sure this is an 'update' B - i.e. including some of the original author's work and crediting them? If it's not, then it could go into PR as a replacement:

"Note: There is a subtle but important difference between a rewrite and a completely new entry. If it's a question of junking the whole thing and starting completely from scratch, then the entry should be submitted to Peer Review with clear instructions in the first posting that this is a new entry intended to replace the old one. That way, the new entry will eventually get its day on the Front Page. If, however, most of the content of the original entry is still present in some way in the update, then the new version should be submitted to the Update Forum."

You've already covered the science angle with your Knopflerosaurus

And yes, sociology's taking it a bit far, but isn't all popular music to an extent defined by its cultural context and the arena in which it is popular?

Now you're making my head hurt. Are you telling me that h2g2 actually has need of different procedures for updates and replacements? I thought that this forum was created for just the reason that it didn't.

And I don't remember Tunnel of Love being mentioned by name anywhere in So Long and Thanks... I remember the quote, but I didn't think it referred to a song in particular. Given that Knopfler played a custom Shech on pretty much all of Love Over Gold and Making Movies, it doesn't tie it down much for me...

B

if this is an update you need to include the sub editor and researchers of the other entry in the researcher list.

spook

...and if I do that I can get away without including any of the original content, yes?

B

yup.

if you're not including any of that then it's not an update, it's a brand new entry on the subject, which is why it needs to go through peer review.

spook

i misread your question, the answer should probably have been nope, although the following para still applies.

if you don't want to include any of the original entry but i think you prob have to, then just take out the best bits, like the first sentence:

"Dire Straits, taking their name from their early financial status"

you could put the bit after the comma as a footnote in your entry. then you're using some of the old info and making the ntry a proper update.

spook

No-one made any of this clear at any time...

Consider it done, anyway.

B

Remove the quotation marks around the song verse at the start. You don't need them since the verse is in italics.

the keep the beat --> keep the beat
romaticism --> romanticism
sing-a-long --> sing-along

No mention of Live Aid?

Updates made from both Spook's and Gnomon's suggestions.

B

In the 'Tunnel of Love' bit, you could link to 'Whitley Bay' (A627671) which is where the song is set (and not just 'cos I wrote it or anything )