Making Movies
Making Movies | ||||
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Studio album by Dire Straits | ||||
Released | October 17, 1980 | |||
Recorded | June 20 - August 25, 1980 | |||
Studio | Power Station, New York | |||
Genre | Roots rock | |||
Length | 37:39 | |||
Label |
Vertigo, Warner Bros. (USA), Mercury (Canada) | |||
Producer | Jimmy Iovine, Mark Knopfler | |||
Dire Straits chronology | ||||
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Making Movies is the third studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 17 October 1980 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced the single "Romeo and Juliet", which reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached #1 on album charts in Italy and Norway, #19 in the United States and #4 in the United Kingdom. Making Movies was later certified platinum in the United States and double-platinum in the United Kingdom.
Background
After the Communiqué Tour ended on 21 December 1979 in London, Mark Knopfler spent the first half of 1980 writing the songs for Dire Straits' next album. He contacted Jimmy Iovine after hearing Iovine's production on the song "Because the Night" by Patti Smith—a song she had co-written with Bruce Springsteen. Iovine, who had also worked on Springsteen's Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town albums, was instrumental in recruiting E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan for the Making Movies sessions. Without Bittan, the album's "cinematic power and evocative landscapes might have been impossible to achieve."[1]
Making Movies was recorded at the Power Station in New York from 20 June to 25 August 1980. Jimmy Iovine and Mark Knopfler produced the album.
David Knopfler left Dire Straits in August 1980 during the recording of the album. His guitar tracks were almost complete for the album, but were re-recorded by his brother. David appears on video playing "Solid Rock" and "Les Boys" live in concert, but these performances preceded the recording.
Four outtakes were recorded but not released on the album: "Making Movies", "Suicide Towers", "Twisting by the Pool", and "Sucker for Punishment". "Making Movies" and "Suicide Towers" appear on bootlegs. "Twisting by the Pool" was released on the ExtendedancEPlay EP on 10 January 1983. The title of the album is taken from a line in the song "Skateaway" and from the outtake "Making Movies".
Release
Making Movies was released on 17 October 1980 on LP and cassette formats. In 1981, an identically named short film was released on VHS and Beta, as well as screened in some theatrical venues, consisting of three music videos directed by fashion/commercial photographer Lester Bookbinder, for "Romeo and Juliet," "Tunnel of Love," and "Skateaway." The original CD version was released in 1984. The album was remastered and released on CD with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 internationally, and on 19 September 2000 in the United States.[2]
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Robert Christgau | C+[4] |
Rolling Stone |
In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four and a half out of five stars, noting that Making Movies "ranks among the band's finest work".[3]
In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke gave the album four out of five stars, writing:
Making Movies is the record on which Mark Knopfler comes out from behind his influences and Dire Straits come out from behind Mark Knopfler. The combination of the star's lyrical script, his intense vocal performances and the band's cutting-edge rock & roll soundtrack is breathtaking—everything the first two albums should have been but weren't. If Making Movies really were a film, it might win a flock of Academy Awards.[5]
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Making Movies number 52 in their survey of the 100 Best Albums of the Eighties.[1] The album was the biggest selling album in Italy in 1981 with one million copies sold, with 3.8 million copies sold throughout Europe.
Track listing
All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.[6][Note 1]
Side one | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
1. | "Tunnel of Love" (Extract from "The Carousel Waltz" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II) | 8:11 |
2. | "Romeo and Juliet" | 6:00 |
3. | "Skateaway" | 6:40 |
Side two | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
4. | "Expresso Love" | 5:12 |
5. | "Hand in Hand" | 4:48 |
6. | "Solid Rock" | 3:19 |
7. | "Les Boys" | 4:07 |
Total length: | 37:39 |
Personnel
Dire Straits
- Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitar
- John Illsley – bass, vocals
- Pick Withers – drums, vocals
Additional musicians
- Roy Bittan – keyboards
- Sid McGinnis – guitar (uncredited)[7]
Production
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- Brian Griffin – photography
- Jeff Hendrickson – assistant engineer
- Jimmy Iovine – producer
- Mark Knopfler – producer
- Bob Ludwig – remastering[6]
- Jon Mathias – assistant engineer
- Neil Terk – original design and artwork
- Shelly Yakus – engineer
Charts and certifications
Albums
The album spent 252 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.[8] In Australia, Making Movies was the fifth best selling album of 1981.
Chart (1980–81) | Peak |
---|---|
Australia Albums Chart | 6 |
Austria Albums Chart | 15 |
Italy Albums Chart | 1 |
Norway Albums Chart | 1 |
Spanish Albums Chart[9] | 6 |
Sweden Albums Chart | 4 |
UK Albums Chart | 4 |
US Billboard 200 | 19 |
Singles
Year | Song | Hot 100 | Hot Rock Tracks | UK |
---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | "Romeo and Juliet" | – | – | 8 |
1981 | "Expresso Love" | – | 39 | – |
1981 | "Skateaway" | 58 | 31 | 37 |
1981 | "Tunnel of Love" | – | – | 54 |
1981 | "Solid Rock" | – | 56 | – |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
---|---|---|
Australia | 125,000[10] | |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[11] | Platinum | 53,858[11] |
France (SNEP)[12] | Gold | 100,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[13] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI)[14] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] | 2× Platinum | 600,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[16] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
References
- Notes
- Citations
- 1 2 "100 Best Albums of the Eighties: 52: Making Movies". Rolling Stone. 5 February 1980. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- 1 2 "Making Movies". Discogs. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Making Movies". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Dire Straits". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- 1 2 Fricke, David (5 February 1980). "Dire Straits: Making Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- 1 2 Making Movies (booklet). Dire Straits. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. Records. 1980. p. 2–4, 11. 947771-2.
- ↑ "Sid McGinnis". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ↑ "Making Movies". Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959-2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ↑ "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. 12 June 1982. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- 1 2 "Dire Straits" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ↑ "French album certifications – Dire Straits – Making Movies" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
- ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dire Straits; 'Making Movies')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
- ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Dire Straits – Making Movies" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Making Movies in the "Artiest of titel" box.
- ↑ "British album certifications – Dire Straits – Making Movies". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Making Movies in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ↑ "American album certifications – Dire Straits – Making Movies". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
External links
- Making Movies at Mark Knopfler's website