Alan Clark: New Website

[Love Expresso]

Hi there,

on MKNews there is a link to Alan's new homepage, created together with Terry Kilburn. It is all in the early stages but I found some interesting stuff
at the "Biog" section. Have a read, it seems we all should be lucky to have had Alan join the band apparently otherwise there would not have been another record after Making Movies...  A quotation here from Alan's biog section:

People sometimes point out to me that when I joined the band I transformed it into the huge, stadium-filling phenomina people remember it as, and perhaps, without blowing my own trumpet too hard, they're right. Before that, Mark's songs, amazing though they were, were written and performed within a very tight format with only a handful of chords played only on guitars. He'd begun to realise that if the band was going to go the distance he had to introduce another dynamic. He'd done that to a degree on the Making Movies album, by having Roy Bittan  overdub some piano and organ parts, and he'd written at least one of the songs on a Prophet V synthesizer. But I brought a whole new musicality to the band by introducing them to new chords, ideas, sounds, moods and arrangements they hadn't experienced, which was immediately evident in the first record I recorded with them, the complex and expansive Love Over Gold album, and every record thereafter.

 
And another one about being in the band in general:

Let me give you another tip: If you ever get the chance to join a moderately successful band that stands a reasonable chance of becoming a huge, money-spinning global phenomina, be sure to have a manager representing you.


Some interesting stuff here. Anyone who thinks Dire Straits were at their best during the time from 1981 to 1985 must fully agree to these statements,
and of course of lot of us "Die-hard-fans" think that this era was the best one I am sure. That would also mean that Mark's solo career since then was
scaling down (because of the absence of Alan's contributions), and that is something I would not support at all. For my part, I am more happy with his solo releases and the amount of songs he still releases than always remembering one or two "better" albums from the 80's...

Not my cup of tea also is the fact that Alan is joining Marius Müller Westernhagen on his upcoming tour - a guy that makes me switch off the radio as fast as I can when being aired... But of course it is good to see that Alan is still around. I am sure the term "Dire Straits" will be used during every band introduction on Westernhagen's tour...

Have a look!

LE

[herlock]

Let me give you another tip: If you ever get the chance to join a moderately successful band that stands a reasonable chance of becoming a huge, money-spinning global phenomina, be sure to have a manager representing you.

This reminds me of Hal Lindes leaving the band suddenly because of a money issue. Does this mean than Mark was greedy at the time ?
It seems that Mark kept very good relationships with most of ex-DS, except those who left (his own brother, Hal, Pick) and... Alan. They are not seen together anymore, altough the nice pics on Alan's website suggest deep affection between the two. What happened ? musical differences ? fight over money ? or Mark considering Alan not good enough to work with him anymore, as I once read ?

[Love Expresso]

This reminds me of Hal Lindes leaving the band suddenly because of a money issue. 

I never heard about that. Not sure if we should go deeper into this money thing. A band is not a marriage and it is totally normal that sometimes band members come and go - well, at least as you are not U2.
Funny however for me is that since MK is solo, it seems he has found the perfect band. The core of the once called "96ers" is still the same with Guy, Richard and Glen - for 15 years now. So it seems MK is happy with what he does at the moment more than ever. Telling stories from the past or only giving hints here and there is not the best possible way to live with the past in my humble opinion. MK never looks back, that is maybe the best possible way...

LE

[dustyvalentino]

First of all, interesting stuff, but it really does make Alan sound a bit big headed. Doesn't mean it's not true though...

Secondly, there have been a few grumbles here and there in the past that after Pick and David left the other "members" of DS were on fairly basic wages rather than getting a cut of the huge DS pie.

Thirdly, MK played with Alan for the Masterclass TV show, ten years ago? Also at the opening of Alan Shearer's bar, so it seems that if MK is doing something musical in Newcastle he will still work with Alan.

[Love Expresso]

Of course, some maybe bitter words don't automatically mean that they never talk to each other again. You are right about the collaborations of course, Dusty.

LE

[Fletch]

"...every record thereafter..."

Aren't bia and oes fairly straightforward arrangements with straightforward chords compared with LOG???

I always find these bits from ex band members tantalizing, but of course no one ever goes 'on the record' with any major gripes?

[marc96er]

The Westernhagen part is interesting, because Mel Collins was a member of his band in the in the 90s, and David Knopfler´s guitarist Harry Bogdanovs played with Westernhagen on his tour in 2005! And now Alan and Mel are playing togehter in Italy!

[dustyvalentino]

He does't overtly criticise MK, but reading between the lines he seems annoyed that he didn't get enough credit or financial reward for his contributions to DS. He also seems pissed off that he left Clapton's band to go back to DS.

All of which may be true, but if he's so great, how come he hasn't done anything of note since DS finished?

[Fletch]

Agreed Dusty, although it must irk somewhat if the one time of your life you had a massive creative surge you weren't paid well for it. Thank goodness for artistic integrity - at least alan knows the truth... 

[herlock]

And let's not forget about DK saying in a 2005 inverview, to the question "Which DS songs have you written ?" he answered, evasively and sarcastically: "yes, it's strange that there are no credits for me on Dire Straits and Communiqué, isn't it ?". I don't think that MK stole his work, but rather that he refused to put his work on the albums ("Play whatever the f*** you want, it won't end up on the album anyway", MK is known to be said to his brother during the recording of MM).
I wonder to what extend the "Live at the BBC" release in 1995, featuring the one and only recording of one song co-written by the two brothers ("What's The Matter Baby?") was an attempt by MK to make it up for his brother...

[dustyvalentino]

I wonder to what extend the "Live at the BBC" release in 1995, featuring the one and only recording of one song co-written by the two brothers ("What's The Matter Baby?") was an attempt by MK to make it up for his brother...

I would say zero extent, it just so happened that What's The Matter Baby was part of teh show that was being released.

[Pottel]

true, mark didn't even "know" i was being released. i remember something like that in an interview back then.

[ds1984]

Let me give you another tip: If you ever get the chance to join a moderately successful band that stands a reasonable chance of becoming a huge, money-spinning global phenomina, be sure to have a manager representing you.

This reminds me of Hal Lindes leaving the band suddenly because of a money issue. Does this mean than Mark was greedy at the time ?
It seems that Mark kept very good relationships with most of ex-DS, except those who left (his own brother, Hal, Pick) and... Alan. They are not seen together anymore, altough the nice pics on Alan's website suggest deep affection between the two. What happened ? musical differences ? fight over money ? or Mark considering Alan not good enough to work with him anymore, as I once read ?

You forget Terry who said that while whith DS he earned far less money than people though. Sid McGinnis was replaced by Hal because of the fee he asked to go on road with them.

[dmg]

Let me give you another tip: If you ever get the chance to join a moderately successful band that stands a reasonable chance of becoming a huge, money-spinning global phenomina, be sure to have a manager representing you.

This reminds me of Hal Lindes leaving the band suddenly because of a money issue. Does this mean than Mark was greedy at the time ?
It seems that Mark kept very good relationships with most of ex-DS, except those who left (his own brother, Hal, Pick) and... Alan. They are not seen together anymore, altough the nice pics on Alan's website suggest deep affection between the two. What happened ? musical differences ? fight over money ? or Mark considering Alan not good enough to work with him anymore, as I once read ?

You forget Terry who said that while whith DS he earned far less money than people though. Sid McGinnis was replaced by Hal because of the fee he asked to go on road with them.

Maybe that's why Guy writes film scores in his spare time!

[xxFordiexx]

I like the fact that Alan says he showed mark some 'new' chords.... oh thankyou so much. I doub't that. Why don't these people just acknowledge the genius that MK is? He was bounds and leaps against so many other musicians of the time and now. There is no other Mark Knopfler