Dire Straits Mark Knopfler's official website
 In 1978, Dire Straits recorded their first album, Dire Straits, at Basing Street studios (now known as 'Sarm West') near Portobello Road in West London for ?12,500.[citation needed]. After its initial UK release on Vertigo, a division of Phonogram, after going top ten across Europe, the album came to the attention of Karin Berg, an assistant in the artists and repertoire (A&R) department of Warner Bros. Records in New York City. She felt it was the kind of music that audiences were hungry for, but only one person in her department agreed at first. Other people didn't hear it, she recalled. The act was doing poorly in the U.K., and the record wasn't getting air play. It was totally out of left field. But we fought through and took it to the label (Warner Bros. Records) We signed it, put out the record and it went platinum.[citation needed] Later, re-released as a single, Sultans of Swing became a surprise UK chart hit, making the top 10. The first album eventually went top ten in every European country. [citation needed]
The group's second album, Communiqu? followed in 1979. Communiqu? showed as number one in the German album charts with Dire Straits simultaneously at number 3. Both albums are characterised by a stripped-down sound. However, this would change, along with the band's line-up, over the years. Mark Knopfler and John Illsley played together till the dissolution of Dire Straits, the only two founding members to do so
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