Dire Straits / discography

Dire Straits  - discography
Dire Straits (1985)
Publications
Studio albums	6th
Live albums	3
Compilations	3
EPs	2
Singles	25th
Video albums	4th
Music videos	20th
Box sets	1

This discography is an overview of the musical works of the British rock band Dire Straits . According to the sources, they have sold more than 120 million records in their careers, including over 12.7 million in their home country alone, making them one of the performers with the most records sold worldwide . The most successful release of Dire Straits is the fifth studio album Brothers in Arms with around 30 million units sold.

Albums

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1978	Dire Straits Vertigo Records	DE3 platinum (85 weeks)DE	AT17th gold (6 months)AT	CH- × 2 Double platinum CH	UK5 × 2 Double platinum (132 weeks)UK	US2 × 2 Double platinum (41 weeks)US	First published: June 9, 1978 Sales: + 4,450,000
1979	Vertigo Records communiqué	DE1 platinum (45 weeks)DE	AT7th gold (4½ months)AT	CH- × 3 Triple platinum CH	UK5 platinum (32 weeks)UK	US11 gold (19 weeks)US	First published: June 15, 1979 Sales: + 2,355,000
1980	Making Movies Vertigo Records	DE7th gold (51 weeks)DE	AT15 (1 month) AT	CH- gold CH	UK4th × 2 Double platinum (252 weeks)UK	US19th platinum (31 weeks)US	First published: Oct 17, 1980 Sales: + 2,660,000
1982	Love over Gold Vertigo Records	DE4th platinum (42 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (6½ months)AT	-	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (200 weeks)UK	US19th gold (32 weeks)US	First published: September 20, 1982 Sales: + 2,685,500
1985	Brothers in Arms Vertigo Records	DE1 platinum (131 weeks)DE	AT1 × 4 Quadruple platinum (82 weeks)AT	CH1 diamond (75 weeks)CH	UK1 × 14 14 times platinum (271 weeks)UK	US1 × 9 Nine-fold platinum (97 weeks)US	First published: May 14, 1985 Sales: + 30,000,000
1991	On Every Street Vertigo Records	DE1 platinum (37 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (21 weeks)AT	CH1 × 4 Quadruple platinum (25 weeks)CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (36 weeks)UK	US12 platinum (32 weeks)US	First published: September 2, 1991 Sales: + 15,000,000

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Live albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1984	Alchemy: Dire Straits Live Vertigo Records	DE8th gold (30 weeks)DE	AT9 (11½ months) AT	CH3 (16 weeks) CH	UK3 platinum (164 weeks)UK	US46 gold (18 weeks)US	First published: March 13, 1984 Sales: + 1,788,400
1993	On the Night Vertigo Records	DE7 (19 weeks) DE	AT1 gold (16 weeks)AT	CH5 gold (15 weeks)CH	UK4th gold (8 weeks)UK	US116 (5 weeks) US	First published: May 10, 1993 Sales: + 952,500
1995	Live at the BBC Windsong Records	-	-	CH45 (3 weeks) CH	UK71 (1 week) UK	-	First published: June 26, 1995 Sales: + 165,300

Compilations

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1988	Money for Nothing Vertigo Records	DE2 platinum (31 weeks)DE	AT3 (4 months) AT	CH1 × 3 Triple platinum (25 weeks)CH	UK1 × 4 Quadruple platinum (70 weeks)UK	US62 platinum (17 weeks)US	First published: October 1, 1988 Sales: + 4,992,842
1998	Sultans of Swing - The Very Best of Dire Straits Vertigo Records	DE6th gold (14 weeks)DE	AT5 gold (18 weeks)AT	CH3 platinum (19 weeks)CH	UK6th × 2 Double platinum (36 weeks)UK	-	First published: September 29, 1998 Sales: + 4,495,000
2005	Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler Mercury Records	DE36 (5 weeks) DE	AT44 (13 weeks) AT	CH15 (... weeks) CH	UK20th × 3 Triple platinum (… Where.)UK	-	First published: November 4, 2005 Sales: + 1,469,300

EPs

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1983	ExtendedancEPlay Vertigo Records	-	-	-	-	US53 (15 weeks) US	First published: January 14, 1983
1993	Encores Vertigo Records	DE34 (5 weeks) DE	AT19 (5 weeks) AT	CH20 (5 weeks) CH	UK31 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 7, 1993 Sales: +176,500

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1978	Sultans of Swing Dire Straits	DE20 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	UK8th platinum (17 weeks)UK	US4 (15 weeks) US	First published: May 19, 1978 Sales: + 919,770
	Water of Love Dire Straits	-	-	-	-	-	First published: October 1978
1979	Lady Writer Communiqué	-	-	-	UK51 (6 weeks) UK	US45 (7 weeks) US	First published: July 13, 1979
	Once Upon a Time in the West Communiqué	-	-	-	-	-	First published: September 1979
1980	Romeo and Juliet Making Movies	-	-	-	UK8th gold (11 weeks)UK	-	First published: November 14, 1980 Sales: + 450,000
	Skateaway Making Movies	-	-	-	UK37 (5 weeks) UK	US58 (10 weeks) US	First published: November 1980
1981	Tunnel of Love Making Movies	DE44 (8 weeks) DE	-	-	UK54 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 25, 1981
1982	Private Investigations Love Over Gold	-	AT19 (½ month) AT	CH4 (6 weeks) CH	UK2 silver (8 weeks)UK	-	First published: Aug 23, 1982 Sales: + 250,000
	Industrial Disease Love Over Gold	-	-	-	-	US75 (4 weeks) US	First published: November 1982
1983	Twisting by the Pool ExtendedancEPlay	DE31 (11 weeks) DE	-	CH11 (4 weeks) CH	UK14 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 1983
1984	Love over Gold (Live) Alchemy: Dire Straits Live	-	-	-	UK50 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1984
	Solid Rock (Live) Alchemy: Dire Straits Live	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 1984
	Two Young Lovers ExtendedancEPlay	-	-	-	-	-	First published: April 1984
1985	So Far Away Brothers in Arms	-	-	CH6 (12 weeks) CH	UK20 (6 weeks) UK	US19 (14 weeks) US	First published: April 1985
	Walk of Life Brothers in Arms	DE15 (13 weeks) DE	AT18 (3½ months) AT	CH24 (4 weeks) CH	UK2 gold (12 weeks)UK	US7 (21 weeks) US	First published: May 1985 Sales: + 470,000
	Money for Nothing Brothers in Arms	DE19 (15 weeks) DE	AT7 (2½ months) AT	CH22 (3 weeks) CH	UK4th gold (16 weeks)UK	US1 (22 weeks) US	First published: June 1985 Sales: + 621,900
	Brothers in Arms Brothers in Arms	-	-	-	UK16 gold (13 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 1985 Sales: + 445,000
1986	Why Worry? Brothers in Arms	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 1986
	Your Latest Trick Brothers in Arms	-	-	-	UK26 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1986
1991	Calling Elvis On Every Street	DE8 (18 weeks) DE	AT8 (10 weeks) AT	CH2 (13 weeks) CH	UK21 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 19, 1991 Sales: + 128,000
	Heavy Fuel On Every Street	DE48 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	UK55 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1991
1992	On Every Street, On Every Street	-	-	-	UK42 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1992
	The Bug On Every Street	DE52 (10 weeks) DE	-	-	UK67 (1 week) UK	-	First published: June 15, 1992
	You and Your Friend On Every Street	-	-	-	-	-	First published: July 1992
1994	Ticket to Heaven On Every Street	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 1994

Video albums and music videos

Video albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1984	Alchemy: Dire Straits Live Universal Music	DE*DE	AT5 (7 weeks) AT	CH6 (13 weeks) CH	UK2 gold (… Where.)UK	US*US	First published: March 1, 1984 Sales: + 106,500; * see live album
1985	Brothers in Arms (The Videosingles) Polygram	DE*DE	AT*AT	CH*CH	UK*UK	US*US	First published: 1985 Sales: + 10,000; * see studio album
1993	On the Night Universal Music	DE*DE	AT*AT	CH*CH	UK33 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 10, 1993 Sales: +46,700; * see live album
1999	Sultans of Swing - The Very Best Of Universal Music	DE*DE	AT*AT	CH*CH	UK19th gold (25 weeks)UK	-	First published: May 21, 1999 Sales: + 262,000; * see compilation

Music videos

year	title	Director (s)
1978	Wild West End
1979	Sultans of Swing
	Lady Writer
1980	Tunnel of love	Lester Bookbinder
	Solid rock
	Skateaway	Lester Bookbinder
1981	Romeo and Juliet	Lester Bookbinder
1982	Private Investigations	Tony papa
	Two Young Lovers
	Love over gold	Peter Sinclair
1983	Twisting by the pool	Peter Sinclair
1984	Expresso Love
1985	So far away	Pete Cornish
	Walk of Life	Unknown (UK version) Stephen R. Johnson (US version)
	Money for Nothing	Steve Barron
	Brothers in Arms	Bill Mather
1991	Calling Elvis	Gerry Anderson, Steve Barron
	Heavy fuel	Steve Barron
1992	The bug	Stephen R. Johnson

Special publications

Albums

Box sets + compilations

year	Title music label	Remarks
1980	Dire Straits Amiga	First publication: 1980 publication only in the GDR
2009	Brothers in Arms + On Every Street Mercury Records	First published: June 5, 2009 Part of the "2-in-1" series
2012	3 CD originaux Unknown	First release: July 23, 2009 Release only in France. Part of the “3-CD-originaux” series
2015	Les n ° 1 de Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler Mercury Records	First published: October 12, 2009 Published in France only

EPs

year	Title music label	Remarks
2015	The Honky Tonk Demos Mercury Records	First published: April 18, 2015

Live albums

year	Title music label	Remarks
1979	Live - The Warner Bros. Music Show Warner Music	First published: March 31, 1979

Songs

Guest Posts

year	Title album	Remarks
2005	Flashing for Money George Is On	First published: July 12, 2005 Deep Dish vs. Dire Straits

Sampler contributions

year	Title album	Remarks
1990	I Think I Love You Too Much Knebworth - The Album	First published: 15. November 1990

Soundtracks (selection)

year	Title soundtrack too	Remarks
1995	Six Blade Knife Desperado	First published: August 15, 1995
1999	Sultans of Swing Metroland	First published: March 23, 1999
2008	Brothers in Arms Inside Hollywood	First published: September 23, 2008
2017	Romeo and Juliet I, Tonya	First published: December 8, 2017

Promo publications

Promo singles

year	Title album	Remarks
1978	Wild West End Dire Straits	First published: 1978
1979	Communiqué Communiqué	First published: September 1979
1985	Ride Across the River Brothers in Arms	First published: 1985
1989	Money for Nothing / Brothers in Arms Money for Nothing	First published: 1989
1990	I Think I Love You Too Much Knebworth - The Album (Sampler)	First published: 1990
2005	Flashing for Money George Is On	First published: October 20, 2005 Deep Dish vs. Dire Straits

Box sets

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2013	The Studio Albums 1978–1991 Vertigo Records	DE69 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: November 25, 2013

statistics

Chart evaluation

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one albums DE3DE AT4thAT CH3CH UK4thUK US1US Top 10 albums DE10DE AT8thAT CH6thCH UK10UK US2US Albums in the charts DE13DE AT12AT CH9CH UK13UK US10US

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one singles DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US1US Top 10 singles DE1DE AT2AT CH3CH UK5UK US3US Singles in the charts DE8thDE AT4thAT CH6thCH UK17thUK US7thUS

	DE	AT	CH	UK	US
Number one video albums	DE-DE	AT-AT	CH-CH	UK-UK	US-US
Top 10 video albums	DE-DE	AT1AT	CH1CH	UK1UK	US-US
Video albums on the charts	DE-DE	AT1AT	CH1CH	UK3UK	US-US

Awards for music sales

→ Main article : Dire Straits / Music Sales Awards

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Argentina (CAPIF)	-	gold1	6 × platinum6th	-	130,000	capif.org.ar ( Memento from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) AR2 ( Memento from May 31, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Australia (ARIA)	-	2 × gold2	35 × platinum35	-	2,385,000	aria.com.au
Belgium (BEA)	-	-	3 × platinum3	-	150,000	ultratop.be
Brazil (PMB)	-	2 × gold2	platinum1	-	275,000	pro-musicabr.org.br
Denmark (IFPI)	-	4 × gold4th	6 × platinum6th	-	305,000	ifpi.dk
Germany (BVMI)	-	3 × gold3	6 × platinum6th	-	4,450,000	musikindustrie.de
Europe (IFPI)	-	-	5 × platinum5	-	(19,000,000)	ifpi.org ( Memento from January 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Finland (IFPI)	-	2 × gold2	6 × platinum6th	-	471,803	ifpi.fi
France (SNEP)	-	4 × gold4th	7 × platinum7th	3 × diamond3	8,222,900	infodisc.fr snepmusique.com
Greece (IFPI)	-	2 × gold2	-	-	65,000	Individual evidence
Hong Kong (IFPI / HKRIA)	-	-	2 × platinum2	-	40,000	Individual evidence
Ireland (IRMA)	-	-	2 × platinum2	-	30,000	irishcharts.ie
Italy (FIMI)	-	5 × gold5	5 × platinum5	-	350,000	fimi.it
Japan (RIAJ)	-	-	-	-	300,000	Individual evidence
Canada (MC)	-	3 × gold3	14 × platinum14th	diamond1	2,450,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	2 × gold2	34 × platinum34	-	505,000	nztop40.co.nz NZ2 ( Memento from July 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	2 × gold2	8 × platinum8th	-	1,350,000	nvpi.nl
Norway (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	-	50,000	ifpi.no ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Austria (IFPI)	-	4 × gold4th	6 × platinum6th	-	375,000	ifpi.at
Poland (ZPAV)	-	gold1	platinum1	-	30,000	bestsellery.zpav.pl
Portugal (AFP)	-	2 × gold2	3 × platinum3	-	60,000	Individual evidence
Sweden (IFPI)	silver1	3 × gold3	3 × platinum3	-	435,000	sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	2 × gold2	14 × platinum14th	diamond1	1,250,000	hitparade.ch
Spain (Promusicae)	-	4 × gold4th	14 × platinum14th	-	1,380,000	promusicae.es
Hungary (MAHASZ)	-	gold1	-	-	10,000	slagerlistak.hu
United States (RIAA)	-	3 × gold3	14 × platinum14th	-	15,500,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	7 × gold7th	34 × platinum34	-	12,700,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	2 × silver2	59 × gold59	230 × platinum230	5 × diamond5

Web links

Charts:

• Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

Discography:

• Dire Straits at 45cat.com (English)
• Dire straits at Discogs (English)
• Dire Straits on MusicBrainz (English)
• Dire Straits at Musik-Sammler.de
• Dire Straits at Rate Your Music (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Patrick Cooke: Updated - Mark Knopfler arrives - to sing solo and Straits tonight. Times of Malta, June 17, 2013, accessed December 19, 2016 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Mark Knopfler hurt in crash. ( Memento of April 1, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) news.bbc.co.uk, March 18, 2003, accessed on March 23, 2020 (English).
3. ↑ Jonathan Wingate: John Illsley: Strait from the Art. ( Memento from July 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) performing-musician.com, November 2008, accessed on March 23, 2020 (English).
4. ↑ Dire Straits: Tunnel of Love (Video 1980). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Dire Straits: Skateaway (Video 1980). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
6. ^ Dire Straits: Romeo and Juliet (Video 1981). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
7. ^ Dire Straits: Private Investigations (Video 1982). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
8. ^ Dire Straits: Love Over Gold (Video 1982). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
9. ^ Dire Straits: Twisting by the Pool (Video 1983). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Dire Straits: So Far Away (Video 1985). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Dire Straits: Walk of Life - US Version (Video 1985). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
12. ^ Dire Straits: Money for Nothing (Video 1985). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (The Videosingles) (1986, VHS). discogs.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
14. ^ Dire Straits: Calling Elvis (Video 1991). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Dire Straits: Heavy Fuel (Video 1991). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Dire Straits: The Bug (Video 1992). imdb.com, accessed March 24, 2020 .