''Communiqué'' is the second studio album by British rock band

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

, released on 5 June 1979 by

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

internationally,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in the United States and

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in Canada. The album featured the single " Lady Writer", which reached number 45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached number one on album charts in Germany, Spain, New Zealand, and Sweden, number 11 in the United States and number 5 in the United Kingdom. ''Communiqué'' was later certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the United States,

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

in the United Kingdom and

double-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in France. It is the last album to feature

David Knopfler David Knopfler (born 27 December 1952) is a British musician. Together with his older brother Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, and Pick Withers, he founded the rock band Dire Straits in 1977, serving as rhythm guitarist on their first two albums. ...

, who departed from the band during the making of their following album, and the last with the original lineup.

Recording

After the

Dire Straits Tour Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). The ...

finished in Hitchin on 18 November 1978, Dire Straits set to work on recording their second album. The recording sessions for ''Communiqué'' took place from 28 November to 12 December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau. The album was mixed in January 1979 at

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own record ...

in Alabama. The album was produced by

Jerry Wexler Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integra ...

and

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in the ...

, veteran producers from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Beckett (credited as B. Bear) also contributed keyboards to some of the album's nine tracks.

Release

''Communiqué'' was released on vinyl LP and cassette on 5 June 1979, eight months after the release of the band's self-titled debut. It entered the German charts at number one, while its predecessor was still at number three. " Lady Writer" was the first single released from ''Communiqué''. ''Communiqué'' was remastered and reissued with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the United States and on 19 September 2000 in the United States. Dire Straits toured throughout 1979 after the recording sessions were completed. The Communiqué Tour started in February 1979 in Rotterdam, four months before the album's release in June. Dire Straits would play a total of 116 concerts in Europe and North America, the final concert taking place on 21 December 1979 in London. ''Communiqué'' was the last album to feature

, who left the band over creative differences with his brother during the recording of their third album in August 1980. It is the only Dire Straits album not represented on the compilation '' Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler''.

Artwork

The album cover was designed by Hothouse, art directed by Alan Schmidt with the cover illustration by Geoff Halpin.

Critical reception

In a 1979 review for the ''

Birmingham Daily Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a succession of distinguished ...

'', Jonathan Daümler-Ford called it a "competent record", but wrote that "the songs sound like pale imitations, or the cuts which were not good enough for ''Dire Straits''". ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said of "Once Upon a Time in the West" that Knopfler's "unique and super-sensitive vocals evoke vivid imagery that's totally enhanced by the Wexler-Beckett production team." The ''

Tucson Citizen The ''Tucson Citizen'' was a daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as the ''Arizona Citizen''. When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the dail ...

'' called the album "an appealing production," writing that "a combination of country and reggae can be substantial." In his retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, William Ruhlmann wrote that the second album "seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material."

Track listing

Personnel

Dire Straits

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

– vocals, lead and rhythm guitars *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

John Illsley John Edward Illsley (born 24 June 1949) is an English musician, best known as bassist of the rock band Dire Straits, and he is one of the two members who stayed in the band during the existence, along with the frontman Mark Knopfler. He has re ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals * Pick Withers – drums

Additional musician

– keyboards

Production

and

(credited as B. Bear) – producers * Gregg Hamm – mix engineer * Jack Nuber – engineer * Bobby Hata – mastering * Paul Wexler – mastering supervisor *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– remastering * Thelbert Rigby – tape operator * Alan Schmidt – art direction * Geoff Halpin – illustrations

Charts

''Communiqué'' spent 32 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

''Communiqué''
a
Mark Knopfler official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Communique Dire Straits albums 1979 albums Albums produced by Jerry Wexler Albums produced by Barry Beckett Albums recorded at Compass Point Studios Vertigo Records albums Warner Records albums