Love over Gold

Following the end of the On Location Tour on 6 July 1981 in Luxembourg, Mark Knopfler began writing songs for Dire Straits' next album. Keyboard player Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes, who both joined the band at the end of 1980 for the On Location Tour, would also be involved with the new album. This was also the last album to feature drummer Pick Withers. Knopfler was inspired to write "Telegraph Road" after Dire Straits' tour bus drove for miles along Telegraph Road in Detroit: ==Recording==

Love over Gold was recorded at the Power Station in New York from 8 March to 11 June 1982. Knopfler produced the album, with Neil Dorfsman as his engineer—the first in a long line of collaborations between the two. Knopfler used several guitars during the sessions, including four Schecter Stratocasters—two red, one blue, and one sunburst—a black Schecter Telecaster, an Ovation classical guitar on "Private Investigations" and "Love over Gold", a custom Erlewine Automatic on "Industrial Disease" and his 1937 National steel guitar on "Telegraph Road". Knopfler also used Ovation twelve- and six-string acoustic guitars during the recording. A few songs were written and recorded during the Love over Gold sessions that were not released on the album. • "Private Dancer" was originally planned for the album, with all but the vocal tracks being recorded. Knopfler decided that a female voice would be more appropriate and handed the song to Tina Turner for her comeback album, Private Dancer. Due to contractual issues, Turner did not simply overdub her voice onto the original Dire Straits track, but recorded a completely fresh track with most of the Dire Straits musicians participating (except Knopfler, who was replaced on guitar by Jeff Beck, and Pick Withers, replaced on drums by Terry Williams). • "The Way It Always Starts" ended up on Knopfler's soundtrack to the film Local Hero, with vocals sung by Gerry Rafferty. • "Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-Shirts" was cut from the album and later released in the UK as a B-side to "Private Investigations" and in the United States as the B-side to "Industrial Disease". It was subsequently released in the United States as the third track on the ExtendedancEPlay EP. ==Release==

Love over Gold was released on 24 September 1982 initially on vinyl LP and cassette, and later on compact disc. "Private Investigations" was released as the lead single from the album in Europe. It reached the number 2 position in the United Kingdom, despite its almost seven minute length, and was Dire Straits’ first single in the UK to reach the top 5. In the United States the shortest track "Industrial Disease" was released as a single, reaching the 75 position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. The album was remastered and reissued with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 by Vertigo Records internationally, and in 2000 by Warner Bros. records in the United States. The remastered CD features slightly altered cover art; the album title is rendered underneath the band name, both in larger type, rather than arranged across the top. The image of lightning is also somewhat zoomed in and made brighter, making for a more purple color. It remains the only remastered Dire Straits CD with altered cover art (the U.S. remastered CD still retains the original vinyl LP art). Love over Gold was the final album to feature original drummer Pick Withers, who was replaced by former Dave Edmunds / Rockpile drummer Terry Williams. Dire Straits then embarked on the eight-month-long Love Over Gold Tour which finished with two sold-out concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 22 and 23 July 1983. In January 1983 a four-song EP titled ExtendedancEPlay was released while Love over Gold was still in the album charts. The double album Alchemy Live was a recording of excerpts from the final two concerts of the tour and was reportedly released without studio overdubs. The concert was also issued on VHS and Laserdisc, and was remastered and released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2010. "Private Investigations" continued to be played throughout the Brothers in Arms and On Every Street tours, while "Telegraph Road" returned to the band's set list in 1991 during Dire Straits' final 1991-92 tour, and Knopfler continued to perform the track during his tours as a solo artist. ==Critical reception==

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, David Fricke called Love over Gold "an ambitious, sometimes difficult record that is exhilarating in its successes and, at the very least, fascinating in its indulgences." Fricke remarked that the album more deeply and at times more dramatically explores a dichotomy present on Dire Straits' earlier albums, between fiery angst and soft sensitivity. He concluded that "in a period when most pop music is conceived purely as product, Love over Gold dares to put art before airplay." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the addition of a new rhythm guitarist "expands [Dire Straits'] sounds and ambitions". Erlewine added, "Since Mark Knopfler is a skilled, tasteful guitarist, he can sustain interest even throughout the languid stretches, but the long, atmospheric, instrumental passages aren't as effective as the group's tight blues-rock, leaving Love over Gold only a fitfully engaging listen." ==Track listing==

Dire Straits • Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitars • Hal Lindes – guitars • John Illsley – bass • Alan Clark – keyboards • Pick Withers – drums Additional musicians • Ed Walsh – synthesizer programming • Mike Mainieri – vibraphone and marimba (2, 4) Production • Mark Knopfler – producer • Neil Dorfsman – engineer • Barry Bongiovi – assistant engineer • Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk (New York City, New York, USA) • Peter Cunningham – photography • Alan Lobel – photography • Michae Rowe – sleeve design • Damage Management – management ==Charts==

Weekly charts Love over Gold spent 200 weeks in the UK Albums Chart. Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==