Mark Knopfler is best known as the brilliant guitarist and songwriter for Dire Straits, although his work outside of that band is also beautiful. He and Dire Straits emerged from a gritty London in the late 1970s. They had to compete against a punk scene, and very soon the more electronic tones that would predominate in the 1980s. Through it all, Mark's eloquence as a songwriter reflected the busy pace of London's streets. He constructed songs with true emotion, using minor chords and changes of tempo that built flowing stories, laden with feeling. His solos, too followed a feeling rather than simply adhering to a blues scale, and combined with his unique, Chet Atkins-inspired fingerpicking style, cut through the noise of the competition with a ring of a clean Stratocaster. 

The band is probably best remembered for the hit tune “Money for Nothing” which both parodied the “big sound” of 1980s music but was also a flagship, being one of the first albums to be recorded completely digitally, to great effect. 

My favorite Dire Straits tune to play is “Sultans of Swing.” It is a crowd favourite, and the solo is still considered as one of the hardest ones to play. However if you really want to connect with the poetic genius that is Mark Knopfler, I recommend listening closely to Wild West End from the band's first album. This is a tune that captures all of Knopfler's talents as a poet, a composer and of course a guitarist.  

No AI was used in writing this post - it's just me.