A new book about MK

[Love Expresso]

My guess is that it is already worked out and that Paul Sexton will release an biography of MK... either at Marks 80th birthday or some time in the (hopefully far) future when MK passes away.

LE

[Marnix]

Like a Dutch singer always said when the press was asking him if he was going to release a biography: “If you listen proberly to my songs and albums there is no need to write a biography everything is in there”
I think that could also be an answer of Mark Knopfler

[KnopfleRick]

I think you can expect a solo album with just him and his guitar rather than a biographical book about him.
Mark was and still is a very private person. Privacy is sacred to him, so I don't think he's interested in writing a biography in which he opens up his life to the world.
And if he does, then we'll probably only hear the old stories e.g. "blue up the family radio, if you drop this I'll drop you" etc. and not much new. But who knows?
What I could really imagine is that he will present us more songs of autobiographical content. Songwriting is his thing, but spreading out his life in a book not really. 

[Love Expresso]

During the ODR promo he was much more and unusually open about many details in his personal life. Also songs like Watch Me Gone or Pale Imitation show some new kind of retrospective which obviously is part of his mindset these days. So it's not impossible I guess.

LE 
 

[Silvertown]

Like a Dutch singer always said when the press was asking him if he was going to release a biography: “If you listen proberly to my songs and albums there is no need to write a biography everything is in there”
I think that could also be an answer of Mark Knopfler

Who is this artist?

[Marnix]

Like a Dutch singer always said when the press was asking him if he was going to release a biography: “If you listen proberly to my songs and albums there is no need to write a biography everything is in there”
I think that could also be an answer of Mark Knopfler

Who is this artist?

That was Henny Vrienten and also Boudewijn de Groot said it

[Pottel]

is that the kopje koffie guy? name rings a bell (am belgian after all) but cannot currently put my finger on it

[Marnix]

is that the kopje koffie guy? name rings a bell (am belgian after all) but cannot currently put my finger on it

Henny Vrienten was the leadsinger of the Dutch groep Doe Maar one the most famous bands in the early 80's and reformed back in 2000 . He  also made several great solo records and film music. Sadly he past away a couple of years ago.
Boudewijn de Groot is a singer who started in the 60's as protest singer and worked a lot with writer Lennaert Nijgh. He quit performing a couple of years ago but he still made records.
Henny and Boudewijn also made with George Kooijmans from the Golden Earring 3 albums together under the name "Vreemde Kostgangers".

The kopje koffie guy is the leadsinger Nol Havens from VOF De Kunst

[Pottel]

is that the kopje koffie guy? name rings a bell (am belgian after all) but cannot currently put my finger on it

Henny Vrienten was the leadsinger of the Dutch groep Doe Maar one the most famous bands in the early 80's and reformed back in 2000 . He  also made several great solo records and film music. Sadly he past away a couple of years ago.
Boudewijn de Groot is a singer who started in the 60's as protest singer and worked a lot with writer Lennaert Nijgh. He quit performing a couple of years ago but he still made records.
Henny and Boudewijn also made with George Kooijmans from the Golden Earring 3 albums together under the name "Vreemde Kostgangers".

The kopje koffie guy is the leadsinger Nol Havens from VOF De Kunst

aaah..korrekt.
Doe maar was....sinds een dag of 2, 1 nacht alleen,..Pa (super song) . thnx for the refresh

[K-alberto]

I had the chance to read Richard Koechli’s first book, which covers the entire history of Dire Straits. It’s an extremely interesting book, with some remarkable highs—but also some lows. Let me explain. It’s rich, incredibly rich in concrete information: how the albums were recorded, the formation of the band, technical aspects, the tours, the stories. After reading this book, you can truly say you know almost everything about Dire Straits. At times, it feels like a meticulous, patient, and thorough reconstruction of everything that has been published on the web—interviews, news, even contents from this forum. So for anyone wanting to know all the facts, this is the "definitive book" on Dire Straits.

There are two aspects that make me a little less enthusiastic about this book—one objective, and one subjective. The objective one is the limited space devoted to the final album, On Every Street. Since I don’t consider it at all inferior to other ones, I would have given it more attention… also because it was their last studio album!
The subjective aspect is that I miss a more "in depth analysis" of the songs: the interpretation of the lyrics—even if wrong or arbitrary—the search for Mark Knopfler’s Weltanschauung, which lies at the heart and makes up 90% of the endless and wonderful dream that IS Dire Straits.

In any case: well done, Richard, and... look forward to the next one!

[Richard Koechli]

Thank you, dear K-Alberto, for your detailed and sincere review; I really appreciate it.

Regarding “On Every Street”: I am aware that some fans will be disappointed that I only discuss this album briefly. The reason is this: I used to get really upset when music journalists went to great lengths to badmouth an album—my credo has always been that there is no good reason to publish a bad review of an album, that such bad reviews are a waste of editorial space (they take space away from good albums), and that they mostly serve only to boost the journalist's ego. Instead of writing a bad review, it's better not to write a review at all, so that the good albums get their space. This credo also had to apply to me when I wrote this book: my subjective view of the last Dire Straits album is too critical; although I wouldn't write a scathing review, it wouldn't be a particularly enthusiastic one either – so I prefer to write very little about this album in order to give the other albums in Mark's life's work more space.

About the lyrics: For some songs, I went into the lyrics and the philosophy behind them in quite some depth and offered my own interpretation as well as numerous possible interpretations of the song story. Not for all songs, however, for various reasons: 1) I didn't want to publish lyrics for copyright reasons. 2) I don't think my English is good enough to adequately appreciate and analyze the full literary quality of MK's work, so I don't want to be a fraud. And 3) Mark doesn't reveal very much about his inner life; he hardly ever exposes himself, hardly ever sings about his own demons, and tends to put himself in other people's stories. That is his greatest strength. I don't think I can penetrate very deeply into his inner life through his song lyrics; his worldview remains a mystery in some respects. There are other songwriters who lay themselves and their souls completely bare, for example in lamentations. That's not Mark's style, and not everyone has to do that. In that respect, he's not a blues songwriter who sings about his own pain in the first person.

That's not a judgment. Not everyone wants to bare their soul in songs – and there's no guarantee that such soul-baring will be successful. In some songs, for example, I've sung about depression, panic attacks, or suicidal thoughts that I know from my own life – that can quickly become very dramatic, and it's not everyone's cup of tea (e.g., here: https://youtu.be/_Aqo6FrglpE?si=C74KA39IavQdynWL). Mark has also sung about his fears in certain songs (f.e. "Redbud Tree", I LOVE that song), but somehow he doesn't want to cross a certain line – that's why we'll probably never be able to reveal all the secrets of his soul.

In case of doubt, I think every listener should create their own movie from Mark's songs and lyrics.

All the best:
Richard

[wayaman]

Hello Richard. The nowadays edition is the corrected one with the indications provided by fabs here?

[K-alberto]

I think every listener should create their own movie from Mark's songs and lyrics.

That's a really good point, and I think it is exactly what happens with most of us :-)
 

[Richard Koechli]

Hello Richard. The nowadays edition is the corrected one with the indications provided by fabs here?

Yes, dear wayaman, the current versions of the book available in stores are the corrected ones; a special US version (digest size 8.5 x 5.5) is now also available — this was necessary so that the book could be listed by major US online retailers, and it is now widely available: https://richardkoechli.ch/en/books/mark-knopfler-volume-1

[Richard Koechli]

I think every listener should create their own movie from Mark's songs and lyrics.

That's a really good point, and I think it is exactly what happens with most of us :-)
 

There are songs where I didn't even understand the lyrics properly for many years and just had my own movie playing in my head – a very personal story that the melody and vibe of the song triggered in me. Music can touch you on a level that goes even deeper than words...