諾夫勒與他的兄弟戴維（David，吉他手）和約翰.伊爾斯利（John Illsley，貝司手）聯合以後，又將鼓手皮克.威瑟斯（Pick Withers）補充到演員陣容中，他們開始在倫敦小酒店聯合組織中舉辦了一些小型演出。最後他們花了120英鎊錄製了一盤樣帶， 其中包括他們後來的經典歌曲《搖擺之王》（Sultans of Swing），這首歌在倫敦電台節目主持人查里.傑爾萊的節目中播放過。結果各唱片公司蜂擁而至競相與該樂隊簽約。1978年他們與Phonogram公司簽約，錄製了歌曲《搖擺之王》和一張唱片《恐怖海峽》，儘管評論家們對其華而不實的專家氣派頗為賞識，但英國的歌迷對它都很不重視。然而這張唱片更和美國搖滾樂迷的口味，因此與當時從英國來的大多數唱片相比它更易用做電台歌曲播放。轉眼之間他們手中擁有了一首風靡美國的歌曲和一張唱片。
成功
這一成功也在別的地方重現，其中包括返回英國，在那裡這首歌曲名列排行榜第9位，專輯名列第5。在此之後“恐怖海峽”很快成為國際上一支成就巨大的搖滾樂隊。1979年出版的專輯《公報》（Communique）與前面那張唱片幾乎毫無兩樣，也暢銷全世界。這張唱片發行以後，戴維離開樂隊開始個人發展。1980年第3張專輯《製作電影》（Making Movies），來自布魯斯.斯普林斯廷（SPRINGSTEEN，BRUCE）的“E街”樂隊的羅伊.比坦（Roy Bittan）給這張唱片帶來更加清新的聲音。《製作電影》在英美獲得了相當大的成功，儘管評論界批評他們的音樂過於拖沓。但專輯仍然獲得了金唱片，其中的《羅蜜歐與朱麗葉》（Romeo and Juliet）和《滑離》（Skateaway）成為電台和MTV中的熱門歌曲。為了1980年的巡迴演出，吉他手哈爾.林迪斯（Hal Lindes）和鍵盤手艾倫.克拉克（Alan Clark）也加入到該樂隊中。恐怖海峽
與此同時，馬克.諾夫勒作為一位吉他演奏家所享有的聲譽繼續增長，他暫時離開樂隊與鮑勃.迪倫和“斯蒂利.丹”（STEELY DAN）進行一些合作。因此隔了很長一段時間才於1982 年出版了第4張專輯《愛情勝過黃金》（Love over Gold）。這張唱片由諾夫勒自己製作，其銷量比以往唱片都要多。專輯中充滿了冗長和實驗色彩的作品，單曲《私人調查》（Private Investigations）獲得英國排行榜的死2名，並成為英國榜上的冠軍專輯，而在美國成為金唱片。在這張專輯出版不久，特里.威廉斯（Terry Williams）代替了威瑟斯鼓手的位置。而此時的諾夫勒開始在“恐怖海峽”之外探索新的音樂途徑，為電影配樂[電影《本地英雄》（Local Hero）、Cal和《舒適與歡樂》（Comfort and Joy）]並出現在范.莫里森（MORRISON，VAN）的專輯中。除了1983年出版一張EP專輯《池邊扭擺》（Twisting By the Pool）之外，“恐怖海峽”在1983、1984兩年間的大部分時間處於偃旗息鼓狀態，這期間，馬克.諾夫勒為鮑勃.迪倫製作了專輯《異教徒》（Infidel），為蒂娜.透納（TURNER，TINA）的復出專輯創作了一首《私人舞蹈家》（Private Dancer），給“阿滋特克照相機”（AZTEC CAMERA）製作唱片《刀》（Knife）。1984年春，樂隊出版了雙唱片《鍊金術》（Alchemy》。這年底，樂隊進入錄音棚錄製他們的第5張專輯，並增加了一位新的成員，鍵盤手蓋伊.弗萊徹（Guy Fletcher）。專輯《情同手足》（Brothers In Arms）於1985年夏天正式出版，這是“恐怖海峽”的一張突破性的專輯，具有諷刺意味的是，其中的一首嘲弄音樂錄像的單曲《不勞而獲》（Money for Nothing）竟然在MTV電視台的推波助瀾下成了熱門歌曲，在美國排行榜前10名停留了9個星期並賣掉了900萬張；在英國，這張專輯也是80年代銷量最高的專輯。《生活之路》（Walk of Life）和《如此遙遠》（So Far Away）使這張專輯在排行榜上停留的時間一直持續到1986年。為推廣這張專輯，樂隊舉行了近兩百場演出。隨後，馬克.諾夫勒為蘭迪.紐曼（NEWMAN，RANDY）和瓊.阿馬特雷丁（Joan Armatrading）製作專輯，參加了埃里克.克拉普頓（CLAPTON，ERIC）的巡迴演出，又與切特.阿特金斯（Chet Atkins）合作了一張專輯《頸》（Neck and Neck）。1989年，他組建了鄉村搖滾樂隊“諾丁山地人”（Notting Hillbillies），並於次年出版了一張專輯《想念......大概有個好時光》（Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time）。
起源
在經過了一系列個人活動之後，馬克.諾夫勒於1990年重新拾起了“恐怖海峽”，這時的主要成員有：伊斯利、克拉克和弗萊徹以及一些職業樂手。1991年，新專輯《在每一條大街上》（On Every Street）在人們的意料之中出版，不過令人遺憾的是，這張專輯並不像人們預期的那樣，在美國只成為白金唱片，蓮排行榜的前40名都沒有進去，甚至沒有一首熱門歌曲。同樣，他們的巡迴演出也是失望而歸，他們在歐洲和美國巡迴演出的門庇惺備?韭舨懷鋈ァU獯窩慚葜?螅?靄媼訟殖∽??對諞雇懟罰∣n the Night），隨後，樂隊又無限期地放了長假。馬克.諾夫勒在1996年出版了他的第1張正式的專輯《金子心》（Golden Heart），但並沒有獲得太多的喝彩，也許，“恐怖海峽”及馬克.諾夫勒出色的才華隨著80年代的逝去而一去不復返了。
英文介紹
Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy. Led byguitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, the group built their sound upon the laid-back blues-rock of J.J. Cale, but they also had jazz and country inflections, occasionally dipping into the epic song structures of progressive rock. The band's music was offset by Knopfler's lyrics, which approximated the winding, stream-of-conscious narratives of Bob Dylan. As their career progressed, Dire Straits became more refined and their new maturity happened to coincide with the rise of MTV and the compact disc. These two musical revolutions from the mid-'80s helped make Dire Straits' sixth album, Brothers in Arms, an international blockbuster. The band — along with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and Steve Winwood — become one of the leaders of a group of self-consciously mature veteran rock & rollers in the late '80s that designed their music to appeal to aging baby boomers. Despite the band's international success, they couldn't sustain their stardom, waiting a full six years to deliver a follow-up to Brothers in Arms, by which time their audience had shrunk significantly.恐怖海峽
Knopfler (born August 12, 1949) was always the main force behind Dire Straits. The son of an architect, Knopfler studied English literature at Leeds University and worked briefly as a rock critic for the Yorkshire Evening Post while at college. He began teaching English after his graduation, leading a pub rock band called Brewer's Droop at night. By 1977, Mark was playing with his brother David (guitar) and his roommate John Illsley (bass). During the summer of 1977, the trio cut a demo with drummer Pick Withers. A London DJ named Charlie Gillett heard the demo and began playing "Sultans of Swing" on his BBC show Honky Tonkin'. Following a tour opening for Talking Heads, the band began recording their debut for Vertigo Records with producer Muff Winwood in early 1978. By the summer, they had signed with Warner in America, releasing their eponymous debut in the fall. Thanks to the Top Ten hit "Sultans of Swing," Dire Straits was a major success in both Britain and America, with the single and album climbing into the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dire Straits established Dire Straits as a major force on album-oriented radio in America, and their second album, Communique (1979), consolidated their audience, selling three million copies worldwide. As the group was recording its third album, Knopfler left the band to pursue a solo career; he was replaced by former Darling member Hal Lindes. Like its predecessor, Making Movies was a sizable hit in America and Britain, even though the band was criticized for musically treading water. Nevertheless, the record went gold on the strength of the radio and MTV hits "Romeo and Juliet" and "Skateaway." Dire Straits followed the album two years later with Love Over Gold, an album filled with long, experimental passages, plus the single "Private Investigations," which became a number two hit in the U.K. The album went gold in America and spent four weeks at number one in Britain. Shortly after the release of Love Over Gold, former Rockpile drummer Terry Williams replaced Withers.
During 1982, Knopfler began exploring musical avenues outside of Dire Straits, scoring the Bill Forsyth film Local Hero and playing on Van Morrison's Beautiful Vision. Apart from releasing the Twisting by the Pool EP early in 1983, Dire Straits were quiet for the majority of 1983 and 1984, as Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's Infidels, as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille; he also wrote "Private Dancer for Tina Turner's comeback album. In the spring of 1984, the band released the double album Alchemy: Dire Straits Live and by the end of the year, they had begun recording their fifth studio album with their new keyboardist, Guy Fletcher. Released in the summer of 1985, Brothers in Arms was Dire Straits' breakthrough album, making the band international stars. Supported by the groundbreaking computer-animated video for "Money for Nothing," a song which mocked music videos, the album became a blockbuster, spending nine weeks at the top of the American charts and selling over nine million copies; in England, the album became the biggest-selling album of the '80s. "Walk of Life" and "So Far Away" kept Brothers in Arms in the charts through 1986, and Dire Straits played over 200 dates in support of the album. Once the tour was completed, Dire Straits went on hiatus for several years, as Knopfler produced records by Randy Newman and Joan Armatrading, scored films, toured with Eric Clapton, and recorded a duet album with Chet Atkins (Neck and Neck, 1990). In 1989, he formed the country-rock group Notting Hillbillies, whose sole album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time, became a British hit upon its spring 1990 release. During the extended time off, John Illsley recorded his second album; the first appeared in 1984.
In 1990, Knopfler reconvened Dire Straits, which now featured Illsley, Clark, Fletcher, and various session musicians. The band released On Every Street in the fall of 1991 to great anticipation. However, the album failed to meet expectations — it only went platinum in America and it didn't crack the U.K. Top 40 — and failed to generate a hit single. Similarly, the tour was a disappointment, with many tickets going unsold in both the U.S. and Europe. Once the tour was completed, the live album On the Night was released in the spring of 1993 and the band again went on hiatus. In 1996, Knopfler launched his solo career with Golden Heart.
恐怖海峽
諾夫勒
恐怖海峽
恐怖海峽