Word: direness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Capa's future in Germany ended with the election of Hitler in 1933. As a leftist refugee, and even worse as a Jew, his physical safety was in danger every minute he stayed in Germany. He soon found his way to Paris where he again faced dire poverty. As Whelan points out in detail, Capa was broke most of his life. The need to make money was always paramount in Capa's mind even if he ended up wasting it away in food and wine...
Mark Knopfler shrugs a lot. A year ago he was just the lead guitarist/songwriter/singer for a critically respected British blues band that played 20-minute songs, Dire Straits. Now, thanks to "Money For Nothing," a ZZ Top parody that happened to hit Number One, this small man with a balding John McEnroe "hairstyle" is an arena giant, a jukebox hero and an heir apparent to such names as Page, Clapton, Townshend--and yes, Van Halen. Mark Knopfler just doesn't know quite what to do with his sudden fame...
...that he's a total unknown: Dire Straits has long been an arena headliner in Europe, where consequently they used to do 90 percent of their touring. But who could have guessed that America would embrace such an esoteric and forgotten art as the blues, especially when played with the bombast of The Who and the lilt of a Celtic wedding dance? Certainly not Knopfler...
...this is not to say that the Dire Straits show wasn't cool. "Money For Nothing" (previously considered here as Knopfler's worst composition) turned into a long grungy blues jam on a Steinberger. "Wild West End" was a nice--if obvious--choice to let second guitarist, Jack Sonni, do some mellow jamming. "Private Investigations" came off terrifyingly well, although probably more due to the volume than anything else. And "Romeo And Juliet" and "Why Worry Now" were the tear-jerkers of the show. All in all, they proved that Dire Straits may be the world's tightest rock band...
...case, Sonni adds a bit of amateurism--and thus excitement--to the band, something it needs if it wants to last as an arena headliner in this country. Personally, I hope Dire Straits doesn't. They were much more fun and comfortable when they were a good British blues band who played 20-minute songs...