Happy Anniversary: Dire Straits, MAKING MOVIES

36 years ago today, Dire Straits released their third album, one which found the band teaming up with producer Jimmy Iovine to create an LP which some fans consider to be the best of their entire career.

Upon completion of touring behind Dire Straits’ 1979 album, COMMUNIQUE, Mark Knopfler settled in to compose the material for the album that would become MAKING MOVIES, but when the time came to select a producer, Knopfler – having been inspired by Jimmy Iovine’s work on Patti Smith’s “Because the Night” – bypassed Barry Beckett and Jerry Wexler, who’d helmed the previous album, in favor of giving Iovine a go.

MAKING MOVIES was recorded in New York at the famed Power Station studio. Not only did Iovine do wonders for Dire Straits’ sound as a producer, but he also brought in keyboardist Roy Bittan, best known for his work with the E Street Band, to play on the sessions. When the album was released, it proved to be a substantial commercial hit, climbing into the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and making it all the way to #4 on the UK Albums chart.

Oh, and if years of listening to album rock radio have left you still uncertain as to exactly which Dire Straits album this is, we’ve got three words that should answer the question for you: “Romeo and Juliet.” Although the song wasn’t a chart hit in the US, it was a top-10 hit in the UK, and lord knows it’s more than made up for lost time in terms of the amount of airplay it’s received in America since then.