Making Movies

Making Movies is the third studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 17 October 1980 by Vertigo Records internationally, Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Mercury Records in Canada. 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.

For the play by Aaron Sorkin, see Aaron Sorkin.
For the band, see Making Movies (band).

Making Movies
Studio album by
Dire Straits
Released17 October 1980
Recorded20 June – 25 August 1980
StudioPower Station, New York
GenreRoots rock
Length37:39
LabelVertigo,
Warner Bros. (USA),
Mercury (Canada)
ProducerJimmy Iovine, Mark Knopfler
Dire Straits chronology
Communiqué
(1979)		 Making Movies
(1980)		 Love over Gold
(1982)
Singles from Making Movies
  1. "Romeo and Juliet"
    Released: 9 January 1981
  2. "Skateaway"
    Released: 1981
  3. "Tunnel of Love"
    Released: 2 October 1981

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.[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
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Robert ChristgauC+[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

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, 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 ranked Making Movies number 52 in their survey of the 100 Best Albums of the Eighties.[1]

Track listing

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.[6][Note 1]

Side one
No.TitleLength
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.TitleLength
1."Expresso Love"5:12
2."Hand in Hand"4:48
3."Solid Rock"3:19
4."Les Boys"4:07
Total length:37:39

Personnel

Dire Straits

Additional musicians

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]

Chart (1980–81) Peak
Spanish Albums Chart[9] 6

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified 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^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[15] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[16] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
Notes
  1. The original vinyl album presented tracks 1–3 on side A, and tracks 4–7 on side B.[2]
Citations
  1. "100 Best Albums of the Eighties: 52: Making Movies". Rolling Stone. 5 February 1980. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  2. "Making Movies". Discogs. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Making Movies". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  4. Christgau, Robert. "Dire Straits". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  5. Fricke, David (5 February 1980). "Dire Straits: Making Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  6. Making Movies (booklet). Dire Straits. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. Records. 1980. p. 2–4, 11. 947771-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. "Sid McGinnis". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  8. "Making Movies". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  9. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959-2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  10. "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. 12 June 1982. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  11. "Dire Straits" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  12. "French album certifications – Dire Straits – Making Movies" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  13. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dire Straits; 'Making Movies')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  14. "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.
  15. "New Zealand album certifications – Dire Straits – Making Movies". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  16. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  17. "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.
  18. "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. 
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