Making Movies

Making Movies
Studio album by Dire Straits
Released	17 October 1980
Recorded	20 June - 25 August 1980
Genre	Rock
Length	37:39
Label	Vertigo (UK) Mercury (Canada) Warner Bros. (US)
Producer	Mark Knopfler and Jimmy Iovine
Dire Straits chronology
Communiqué (1979) Making Movies (1980) Love over Gold (1982)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	(C+)[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

Making Movies is the third album by English rock band Dire Straits, released in 1980.

History

The title of the album comes from a line in the song "Skateaway" and the unreleased song "Making Movies". Rolling Stone ranked the album #52 in their survey of the "100 Best Albums of the 80s". Making Movies was the biggest selling album in Italy in 1981 with one million copies; in Europe the album sold 3.8 million copies.

It was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the U.S. and on September 19, 2000 in the United States.

The songs "Making Movies" and "Suicide Towers" were recorded during the sessions and were never officially released. They do however appear on bootlegs.

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Knopfler, unless otherwise noted.

1. "Tunnel of Love" (Mark Knopfler, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 8:11
2. "Romeo and Juliet" – 6:00
3. "Skateaway" – 6:40
4. "Expresso Love" – 5:12
5. "Hand in Hand" – 4:48
6. "Solid Rock" – 3:19
7. "Les Boys" – 4:07

Unreleased tracks

1. "Making Movies"
2. "Suicide Towers"

Personnel

• Mark Knopfler: guitar, vocals
• John Illsley: bass, vocals
• Pick Withers: drums, vocals

Additional personnel

• Roy Bittan: keyboards
• Sid McGinnis: guitar (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
• RB Brown: additional rhythm guitar on later overdub(uncredited)

Other:

• David Knopfler: Note: David is seen on video playing "Solid Rock" and "Les Boys" live in concert preceding the recording, but does not appear on the album. David left the band in August 1980, and his backing tracks which were almost complete for Making Movies, were re-recorded.

Charts

The album spent 252 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.^[4][5] In Australia, Making Movies was the fifth best selling album of 1981.

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1980	Norwegian Albums Chart	1
1980	Swedish Albums Chart	4
1980	UK Albums Chart	4
1980	Austrian Albums Chart	15
1980	U.S. Billboard Pop Albums	19
1981	Italian Albums Chart	1
1981	Australian Albums Chart	6

Singles

Year	Song	Billboard Hot 100	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	UK Singles
1981	"Romeo and Juliet"	-	-	#8
1981	"Expresso Love"	-	#39	-
1981	"Skateaway"	#58	-	#37
1981	"Tunnel of Love"	-	-	#54
1981	"Solid Rock"	-	#56	-

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
BPI – UK	Silver	November 4, 1980
BPI – UK	Gold	January 21, 1981
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	April 21, 1981
BPI – UK	Platinum	September 7, 1981
SNEP – France	Gold	1981
IFPI – Germany	Gold	1981
BPI – UK	Double Platinum	August 5, 1985
RIAA – U.S.	Platinum	July 30, 2001

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Robert Christgau review
3. ^ Rolling Stone review
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ [2]