Jack Sonni passed away

[fan no more]

Mark didn't owe Jack anything. He made it possible for him to live the life of a rock star for a couple of months, and Jack seems to have enjoyed that a lot. Great, but why should that oblige him to anything more? If you get a plumber to fix your bathroom, and he does a great job, you say thanks a lot and pay him. And that's it. No obligation to hire the same plumber again for your next, totally different project.

These kind of blanket statements make me laugh. You think being the second guitarist in Dire Straits is similar to a plumber fixing a bathroom?
Like most aspects of life, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, both viewpoints (Mark and Jack's) have some legitimacy.
Jack and Mark were good friends before Jack joined Dire Straits. I assume Jack thought the friendship was bigger than the band gig and would continue into the future. It didn't. I think it's reasonable forJack to be disappointed and sad about that.
All the players on the BIA tour committed to the project for many months and contributed to the successor that tour (and resultant album sales).
So why is it that Terry and Jack were dumped for the 'On Every Street' tour? I think they both had reasonable cause to feel cheated.
At the same time, yes, having paid Terry and Jack for their work up to the end of BIA, Mark had no further obligation to them. But bands and the creative people in them have more going on mentally and emotionally than a days work fixing a bathroom.

I might be wrong, but I believe Jack said on some occasion that, when Mark invited him to join the BIA tour, Mark said it was to be on one condition, that whatever happened during the tour wasn't to affect their friendship (maybe referring to Mark being in a boss role?). Something along those lines. Of course those are Jack's words and side of the story, and who knows - maybe he was more committed to the friendship than Mark was? Or – maybe Mark observed a bit too much rock n roll behavior on Jack's side during the tour? Who knows ... (Ed knows ...)

[dustyvalentino]

Can't speak for Ed but from memory I think he said he was baffled by the Jack business, Terry too.

MK making a point of mentioning Jack at Mandela made the whole thing even more weird, especially when, let's face facts, very few people in the 5 billion or whatever worldwide audience would have had any idea who he was.

Again, RIP Jack. I never met the man but I had a few interactions on here and social media and he was always great.

[Pottel]

Mark didn't owe Jack anything. He made it possible for him to live the life of a rock star for a couple of months, and Jack seems to have enjoyed that a lot. Great, but why should that oblige him to anything more? If you get a plumber to fix your bathroom, and he does a great job, you say thanks a lot and pay him. And that's it. No obligation to hire the same plumber again for your next, totally different project.

These kind of blanket statements make me laugh. You think being the second guitarist in Dire Straits is similar to a plumber fixing a bathroom?
Like most aspects of life, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, both viewpoints (Mark and Jack's) have some legitimacy.
Jack and Mark were good friends before Jack joined Dire Straits. I assume Jack thought the friendship was bigger than the band gig and would continue into the future. It didn't. I think it's reasonable forJack to be disappointed and sad about that.
All the players on the BIA tour committed to the project for many months and contributed to the successor that tour (and resultant album sales).
So why is it that Terry and Jack were dumped for the 'On Every Street' tour? I think they both had reasonable cause to feel cheated.
At the same time, yes, having paid Terry and Jack for their work up to the end of BIA, Mark had no further obligation to them. But bands and the creative people in them have more going on mentally and emotionally than a days work fixing a bathroom.

I might be wrong, but I believe Jack said on some occasion that, when Mark invited him to join the BIA tour, Mark said it was to be on one condition, that whatever happened during the tour wasn't to affect their friendship (maybe referring to Mark being in a boss role?). Something along those lines. Of course those are Jack's words and side of the story, and who knows - maybe he was more committed to the friendship than Mark was? Or – maybe Mark observed a bit too much rock n roll behavior on Jack's side during the tour? Who knows ... (Ed knows ...)

i remember that too,...i believe...

[Robson]

Can't speak for Ed but from memory I think he said he was baffled by the Jack business, Terry too.

MK making a point of mentioning Jack at Mandela made the whole thing even more weird, especially when, let's face facts, very few people in the 5 billion or whatever worldwide audience would have had any idea who he was.

Again, RIP Jack. I never met the man but I had a few interactions on here and social media and he was always great.

Can we find it in the forum archives?

[fan no more]

Can't speak for Ed but from memory I think he said he was baffled by the Jack business, Terry too.

MK making a point of mentioning Jack at Mandela made the whole thing even more weird, especially when, let's face facts, very few people in the 5 billion or whatever worldwide audience would have had any idea who he was.

Again, RIP Jack. I never met the man but I had a few interactions on here and social media and he was always great.

Can we find it in the forum archives?

Go to the Answers thread, and click Print. The page which opens is a lot easier to search (Ctrl + F). It's all there.

[Robson]

Can't speak for Ed but from memory I think he said he was baffled by the Jack business, Terry too.

MK making a point of mentioning Jack at Mandela made the whole thing even more weird, especially when, let's face facts, very few people in the 5 billion or whatever worldwide audience would have had any idea who he was.

Again, RIP Jack. I never met the man but I had a few interactions on here and social media and he was always great.

Can we find it in the forum archives?

Go to the Answers thread, and click Print. The page which opens is a lot easier to search (Ctrl + F). It's all there.

But I'm thinking about Jack, not Ed.

[fan no more]

Can't speak for Ed but from memory I think he said he was baffled by the Jack business, Terry too.

MK making a point of mentioning Jack at Mandela made the whole thing even more weird, especially when, let's face facts, very few people in the 5 billion or whatever worldwide audience would have had any idea who he was.

Again, RIP Jack. I never met the man but I had a few interactions on here and social media and he was always great.

Can we find it in the forum archives?

Go to the Answers thread, and click Print. The page which opens is a lot easier to search (Ctrl + F). It's all there.

But I'm thinking about Jack, not Ed.

Something Jack said? I thought you meant what Ed said about Jack.

[Robson]

Can't speak for Ed but from memory I think he said he was baffled by the Jack business, Terry too.

MK making a point of mentioning Jack at Mandela made the whole thing even more weird, especially when, let's face facts, very few people in the 5 billion or whatever worldwide audience would have had any idea who he was.

Again, RIP Jack. I never met the man but I had a few interactions on here and social media and he was always great.

Can we find it in the forum archives?

Go to the Answers thread, and click Print. The page which opens is a lot easier to search (Ctrl + F). It's all there.

But I'm thinking about Jack, not Ed.

Something Jack said? I thought you meant what Ed said about Jack.

I've read all of this. I'm referring to the excerpt from Dusty: > I had a few interactions on here <

[dustyvalentino]

OK, it was me that said Jack and Terry were baffled, not Ed, Ed said he had nothing to add:

(I appreciate the below is potentially confusing because I posted Ed's stuff, but hopefully you can work it out)

A couple of thoughts I had on the original topic:

1) No wonder EB doesn't want to write a book. How can you even name such a book when the man can jump from garden gnomes and death threats to colonic and shrinking balls in a few sentences? Ed's fisheye lens perspective and boundless humour are something I can't imagine in the book scenario, to be honest. That's why I prefer having a YouTube channel, which grows and evolves through time.

2) I'm still a little bit confused about how MK can be described as a guy who avoids conflicts, stress, confrontation at all cost, etc., and at the same time described as this tyrannical leader who fires people left and right, insults his bro, scolds musicians and ignores his mates. Something's wrong here as if we are talking about two different Marks. Maybe, there are two Marks after all.

Or maybe it's just like music vs. music business, music vs. sport, pop music vs. art debates, etc., and duality in this world is inevitable.

Maybe I will.This has been fun and I'm sorry there’s stuff I can't tell you here
Two Mark’s? Only two?
Your words not mine.
Are YOU just one person?

Incidentally no one was “fired” like The Apprentice.
Nobody said “ You’re fired” ( I've covered this in Answers. )
More that they just disappeared never to be spoken of again, like “Wag the Dog" and “Metroland” then and “Suicide Towers” . Now that was a GEM.

2) I'm still a little bit confused about how MK can be described as a guy who avoids conflicts, stress, confrontation at all cost, etc., and at the same time described as this tyrannical leader who fires people left and right, insults his bro, scolds musicians and ignores his mates. Something's wrong here as if we are talking about two different Marks. Maybe, there are two Marks after all.

Maybe I can explain my thoughts since was I am who  writes this sentence.
Seems to me that the only band member that was fired directly by MK as David.
All the others choosed to quit or were "fired" by Ed.
Well, my thoughts are that Mark waves to Ed saying that he didn't want to work with a DS musician, and Ed had the "job" to fire those ones without Mark having to crosspath with this musician ever again.
The ones who choose 'to quit' or wont had their contract renewed never got a 'thanks, mate' from Mark.

Been bossy when you are the boss it's easy. Putting pressure on the band, been on bad mood and transfer his 'bad energy' to the others it's selfish. However, after live almost 2 years with a couple of band mates, sharing food (sausages), rooms, personal problem... after all, at the end, even been bossy and bad moody, the right thing to do is to say:
- Hey, pal. I am sorry for some issues and, sometimes, not been so friendly. I don't know how will be my direction for the future, however, if we wont play again, thanks for everything. Please, talk to Ed and your always be welcome.

Seems that MK never sayed anything even closer to this.

No.
Not even David
That was “ I'm not working with him anymore” and it was during David’s conversation with John in NY when he decided to leave. It was inevitable anyway.

I repeat. I didn't “ fire “ anybody ( except one roadie only at the request of the crew ).
I explained in Answers how this worked.
Their deals were not renewed …that might sound disingenuous but that's the life of the pro musician.
WHY they weren’t is a different matter.
The second part of your comment is pretty much correct.

2) I'm still a little bit confused about how MK can be described as a guy who avoids conflicts, stress, confrontation at all cost, etc., and at the same time described as this tyrannical leader who fires people left and right, insults his bro, scolds musicians and ignores his mates. Something's wrong here as if we are talking about two different Marks. Maybe, there are two Marks after all.

Well, ignoring his mates is absolutely avoiding conflict.

And likewise, "firing" seems to have involved simply not picking up the phone, leaving Jack and Terry baffled.

I have nothing to add.

The main reason I asked that was because of the Arena documentary, when Mark is asked what extent is Dire Straits just a vehicle for his songs (I am paraphrasing) and he says "To no extent" and that was very early in his career.

One thing I am picking up from Ed is his dislike for Alan Clark and David Knopfler!!

I have a feeling Mark is a different person now from the one Ed knew, maybe he has been for many years as it is almost a quarter of a century since they had a working relationship. People can and do change, unless your Roger Waters of course!! I just don't think the likes of Guy Fletcher, who everyone say is a really nice "Guy" would have stayed around and worked with Mark for so long if he was so bad.

Different? We are BOTH different.

Ed's revelations about the 79 tour are fascinating.

We've been banging on about OES for years, but it seems DS really could have folded after 79.

Making Movies was absolutely crucial. To be fair to Holly Beth Vincent, if she hadn't dumped Mark and thus R&J was born, DS might have been dropped by the label.

There was no danger of Phonogram dumping them R and J or not.
But yes, MM was important for sure.

I've just caught up with the answers, and I absolutely love Ed's responses and humor. Though I would love to know more about the whole OES/OTN story (I have always been fascinated by that part of the band), I really appreciate that he keeps things private — stuff that's none of our business — and he is not opening unhealed wounds. He is a real gentleman, if you ask me.

That's very kind and much appreciated. Makes a change from “ that bastard Bicknell says we can't release the three minute edit of Telegraph Road ”

Ed's revelations about the 79 tour are fascinating.

We've been banging on about OES for years, but it seems DS really could have folded after 79.

Making Movies was absolutely crucial. To be fair to Holly Beth Vincent, if she hadn't dumped Mark and thus R&J was born, DS might have been dropped by the label.

I had this feeling when, back on my fervorous fan days of DS, i saw the Arena doc with the recording sessions for what could be the MM.
I felt that tha band was kind of lost because it have to move on and the band was still trapped on his original sounds.
Mark was trying hard to bring new stuff to the band so, i think that, if the band wont decided to chance his direction, maybe MK went solo in 1980.
However, i don't know if he could grow without calling himself as Dire Straits.

I think you need to stop smoking your lawn cuttings.

The last DS tour could have been one big escape for MK.

It was and it wasn’t. That's for the book IF I ever ….

He says that he had a good relationship with the same "girl" (Kitty) for 15 years and that she had a very stabilizing effect on him and that he often wondered if before he hadn't used touring as an excuse to run away. So this statement was not excactly related to his divorce but was more generally speaking.

LE

I think we can safely deduce he was referring to the OES tour.

He was.

[dustyvalentino]

You should be able to see all of the late great Jack Sonni's AMIT posts here:

https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=1258

[Robson]

Yes! Thank you very much, Dusty.