Stuff I wrote for my college campus newspaper-13

Mark Knopfler

Compiled By Sanket ‘sultan of swing’ Kambli

Mark Knopfler was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 12th of August 1949. At the age of seven his family moved to Newcastle in North-East of England. Like lots of other guitar-wielding schoolboys of the 1960s, he served an early apprenticeship by forming and joining anonymous schoolboy bands and listening to guitarists such as Scotty Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and James Burton. At sixteen he made a local TV appearance as half of a harmony duo along with school-friend Sue Hercombe. At school he exhibited flair for English; in 1967 he went to study journalism at Harlow Technical College. At the end of the course he secured a job in Leeds as a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post. After two years he decided to further his studies and commenced a degree in English at Leeds University. By day Mark continued working as a reporter and, later, as a full-time student. While living in Leeds Mark made his first record. It was recorded in a room that had been converted into studio in a house in Pudsey. The song was called Summer’s Coming My Way and it featured Steve Phillips on twelve-string guitar. After 1973, Mark took up a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex where he remained for two years living in a rented flat in Buckhurst Hill, sometimes giving guitar lessons at Staples Road School. Then brother David came to stay for a few weeks en route to London. The Knopfler brothers would often sit up late into the night playing songs and, without knowing it, to some extent laying the foundations of what was to become, in time, Dire Straits. In 1977, they got together with John Illsley (bass) and Pick Withers (drums) to do gigs under the name of Mark's old band, the Café Racers. Later, a friend of Pick's suggested a new name for the band - Dire Straits. The die was cast. The band's first gig took place on the open space at the back of the Farrer House flats, the electricity provided by a power cable running from the stage into a socket on the wall of John's first floor flat. The rest as they say is history. In 1996 Mark began his career as a solo performer with the release of the Golden Heart album. The album was simply a step forward in the evolution of his music, "It's just moving forwards...” he said, "...Just trying to be better." In addition, he has scored the music to a number of films. First came Local Hero in 1983 followed in 1984 by the Cal and the Comfort and Joy soundtracks. These were followed in 1987 by The Princess Bride and two years later came Last Exit To Brooklyn. Further soundtrack work has seen the release of Metroland and Wag The Dog both of 1998. Mark's second solo album, Sailing To Philadelphia, was released in September 2000. His soundtrack album to the film A Shot At Glory is due for release in the not too distant future. To date, Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits have sold millions of singles and over 105 million albums. Over the years Mark has collaborated with many artists. He has at one time or other worked with people such as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Buddy Guy, Tina Turner, Phil Lynott, Willy DeVille, Eric Clapton, Waylon Jennings, Chet Atkins, Phil Everly, Vince Gill, Paul Franklin, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Paul Brady, The Chieftains, Ben. E. King, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Joan Armatrading, Scott Walker, Jeff Healey, The Judds, Jimmy Nail, Bryan Ferry, Aztec Camera, Steely Dan, Sting, Sonny Landreth, James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Mark has been the recipient of countless awards and accolades, not least among which was the conferring in May 1993 of an Honorary Music Degree by Newcastle University of which he is justly proud. Mark Knopfler has always been a songster; to him the song is king. It is said that he has never really understood why his music is so popular. There is another side to Mark Knopfler, a very private side. By the mid-80s Mark was being referred to by some as the "quiet man of rock and roll." He is shy by nature and gets embarrassed when fans tell him how much they have been affected by his songs and how his music has changed their lives. It is a matter of public record that Mark has been married three times. His second marriage produced his twin sons, Benji and Joseph, born in 1987, and more recently his third marriage to Kitty Aldridge has been blessed with a daughter, Isabella, born in 1998. After more than twenty years at the top of his profession, Mark Knopfler is now a family man who loves to spend time with his wife and his children.