Communiqué (Dire Straits album)

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For the American indie rock band, see Communiqué (band).

Communiqué
Dire Straits Communique.jpg
Studio album by
Dire Straits
Released15 June 1979
Recorded28 November – 12 December 1978
StudioCompass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas
GenreRoots rock
Length41:42
Label
ProducerBarry Beckett, Jerry Wexler
Dire Straits chronology
Dire Straits
(1978) 		Communiqué
(1979) 		Making Movies
(1980)
Singles from Communiqué
  1. "Lady Writer"
    Released: 13 July 1979
  2. "Once Upon a Time in the West"
    Released: October 1979 (US) [1]

Communiqué is the second studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits, released on 15 June 1979 by Vertigo Records internationally, Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Mercury Records in Canada. The album produced the single "Lady Writer", which reached number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached number one on album charts in Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden, number 11 in the United States and number 5 in the United Kingdom. Communiqué was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in the United Kingdom and double-platinum in France.

Recording[]

After the Dire Straits Tour finished in Hitchin on 18 November 1978, Dire Straits set to work on recording their second album. The recording sessions for Communiqué took place from 28 November to 12 December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau. The album was mixed in January 1979 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. The album was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, veteran producers from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Beckett (credited as B. Bear) also contributed keyboards to some of the album's nine tracks.

Release[]

Communiqué was released on vinyl LP and cassette on 15 June 1979, eight months after the release of their first album, Dire Straits. It entered the German charts at number one in its first week of release, while their debut album, Dire Straits was still at the number three position. It was later released on compact disc.

"Lady Writer" was the only single released from the album, which continued in a similar vein as its predecessor, displaying the expanding scope of Knopfler's lyricism on the opening track, "Once Upon a Time in the West".[2]

Communiqué was remastered and reissued with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the United States and on 19 September 2000 in the United States.

Dire Straits toured throughout 1979 after the recording sessions were completed. The Communiqué Tour started in February 1979 in Rotterdam, four months before the album's release on 15 June. Dire Straits would play a total of 116 concerts in Europe and North America, the final concert taking place on 21 December 1979 in London.

Communiqué was the last album to feature David Knopfler, who left Dire Straits over creative differences with his brother during the recording of their third album in August 1980.[3]

Artwork[]

The album cover was designed by Hothouse, art directed by Alan Schmidt with the cover illustration by Geoff Halpin.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic2.5/5 stars[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB-[5]
Pitchfork6.2/10[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide3/5 stars[7]

In a 1979 review for the Birmingham Daily Post, Jonathan Daümler-Ford called it a "competent record", but wrote that "the songs sound like pale imitations, or the cuts which were not good enough for Dire Straits".[8] In his retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album two and a half out of five stars, writing that the second album "seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material."[4]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Mark Knopfler.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Once Upon a Time in the West"5:14
2."News"4:11
3."Where Do You Think You're Going?"3:43
4."Communiqué"5:42
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Lady Writer"3:38
2."Angel of Mercy"4:29
3."Portobello Belle"4:21
4."Single-Handed Sailor"4:42
5."Follow Me Home"5:42
Total length:41:42

Personnel[]

Dire Straits[]

Additional personnel[]

  • Barry Beckett (credited as B. Bear) – keyboards and producer
  • Geoff Halpin – illustrations
  • Gregg Hamm – mix engineer
  • Bobby Hata – mastering
  • Bob Ludwig – remastering
  • Jack Nuber – engineer
  • Thelbert Rigby – tape operator
  • Alan Schmidt – art direction[9]
  • Jerry Wexler – producer
  • Paul Wexler – mastering supervisor

Charts[]

Communiqué spent 32 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.[10]

Sales and certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[24] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[25] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[26] Gold 25,000[26]
France (SNEP)[28] 2× Platinum 509,000[27]
Germany (BVMI)[29] Platinum 500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[30] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[31] Gold 7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32] Platinum 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[33] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[34] 3× Platinum 150,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[36] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[]

Notes
Citations
  1. ^ "Dire straits single US cat no".
  2. ^ Considine, J.D. (2004). "Dire Straits". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Rolling Stone Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  3. ^ Genzel, Christian. "David Knopfler". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Ruhlmann, William. "Communiqué". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: D". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (23 September 2020). "Dire Straits: Dire Straits Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  7. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 200.
  8. ^ Daümler-Ford, Jonathan (18 August 1979). "Spin Off". Birmingham Daily Post. Retrieved 30 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ Communiqué (booklet). Dire Straits. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. Records. 1979. p. 11. 947770-2.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ "Dire Straits - Albums". Official Charts. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Charts.nz – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  17. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959-2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dire Straits – Communiqu%E9". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Dire Straits | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Dire Straits Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1979". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1979". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Gold & Platinum Awards 1987" (PDF). Music & Media. 26 December 1987. pp. 42–46. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Dire Straits – Communique". Music Canada.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b "Dire Straits" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  27. ^ "Les Albums Double Platine" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  28. ^ "French album certifications – Dire Straits – Communiqué" (in French). InfoDisc. Select DIRE STRAITS and click OK. 
  29. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dire Straits; 'Communiqué')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  30. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Dire Straits – Communiqué" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Communiqué in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  31. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Dire Straits – Communique". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  32. ^ Sólo Éxitos 1959-2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979-1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005. ISBN 8480486392.
  33. ^ "Swedish Gold For Straits" (PDF). Cash Box. 12 January 1980. p. 26. Retrieved 17 February 2020 – via American Radio History.
  34. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Dire Straits; 'Communique')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  35. ^ "British album certifications – Dire Straits – Communiqué". British Phonographic Industry.Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Communiqué in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  36. ^ "American album certifications – Dire Straits – Communique". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links[]

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