FEATURE:
Groovelines
Dire Straits – Money for Nothing
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I have not included…
Dire Straits on my site for a while now. I wanted to spotlight one of their biggest hits, Money for Nothing, as it has a significance regarding MTV Europe. On 1st August, 1987, MTV Europe was launched. The first video played being Money For Nothing. It contained the appropriate line “I want my MTV”. The song itself was released on 28th June, 1985. Taken from the band’s legendary fifth studio album, Brothers in Arms (1985), it is a song that will go down in history. Although there are some problematic lyrics (even though it is from the point of view of a character in the song, the word ‘faggot’ is said three times), the song cannot really be faulted easily. Some might feel the track is overproduced (it was produced by Neil Dorfsman and Mark Knopfler). I feel it sounds perfect for what is this big anthem that was very much made for MTV. From its largely animated video (as Knopfler did not like appearing in videos) to the incredible riff by Knopfler, Money for Nothing is a gem! The track is Dire Straits' most commercially successful single. It reached number one for three weeks on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Top Rock Tracks chart and number four in the U.K. I have seen footage of Dire Straits perform Money for Nothing with Sting (who features on the song delivering the iconic MTV line) at Live Aid. At the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1986, Money for Nothing won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year as well. At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video received eleven nominations, winning Video of the Year and Best Group Video.
I want to go a little deeper into the song before rounding up. It does divide people. Money for Nothing is viewed by some diehard Dire Straits fans as being too commercial or lacking the sound of their earlier work. Yes, the song is a little overproduced and it does sound more mainstream than a lot of the earlier tracks. What is the story behind the classic Money for Nothing? How were the more controversial lyrics perceived? There are a couple of articles I want to source that reveal the details and history of Dire Straits’ 1985 track. Ultimate Classic Rock wrote about Money for Nothing in 2020:
“The tune originally began with the guitar riff,” the song’s producer, Neil Dorfsman, explained to Sound on Sound, admitting that the band was “going for a sort of ZZ Top sound.” Still, the “Money for Nothing” guitar part ended up taking on its own life by accident.
"One mic was pointing down at the floor, another was not quite on the speaker, another was somewhere else,” Dorfsman recalled of the recording session. “It wasn't how I would want to set things up — it was probably just left from the night before, when I'd been preparing things for the next day and had not really finished the setup. Nevertheless, whether it was the phase of the mics or the out-of-phaseness, what we heard was exactly what ended up on the record. There was no additional processing on that tune during the mix.”
Dorfsman loved the guitar sound so much, he suggested Knopfler embrace more solos. “He wasn't into that idea,” the producer revealed. “I remember him asking 'Do you mean like a rock guy?' I think he's one of the greatest soloists ever, so I really wanted to hear more of that. He'd kept saying 'ZZ Top, ZZ Top,' and in my mind I imagined that we hadn't nailed the part he was after on the basic track.”
It turns out, Knopfler had actually gone directly to the source for advice. In a 1986 interview with Musician magazine, Billy Gibbons admitted the Dire Straits frontman had asked how to replicate the ZZ Top guitar sound. "He didn't do a half-bad job, considering that I didn't tell him a thing!" the bearded rocker joked.
For lyrics, Knopfler took the perspective of a blue-collar worker. The words were inspired by an actual appliance store employee who was making off-color remarks while staring at a wall of televisions playing MTV.
“I wrote the song when I was actually in the store,” the Dire Straits singer confessed to Bill Flanagan in the book Written in My Soul. “I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real. It just went better with the song, it was more muscular.”
Exactly what video the store employee happened to be watching has never been revealed, though at least one rocker believes it was about his band. “Dire Straits’ ‘Money for Nothing’ was about Motley Crue,” bassist Nikki Sixx insisted to Blender magazine in 2007. “‘Money for nothing and the chicks for free … that little faggot got his own jet airplane.’ They were in a store that sells televisions, and there was a row of TVs all playing Motley Crue — and that’s where it came from.”
Knopfler decided to drive home the MTV-ness of his song by actually incorporating the network’s jingle into its lyrics. For the part, he recruited friend and fellow rocker Sting.
“Mark asked him to sing on 'Money for Nothing,' lifting the tune from 'Don't Stand So Close to Me,’ Dorfsman recalled. “I knew Mark had already written the line 'I want my MTV,' but I wasn't sure if he had the melody of 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' in mind. It was one of those things where Sting just sort of did it in three passes, I comped the thing, and then I walked around thinking 'There's something amazing about this.' It was done in about an hour”.
I will wrap up with a feature from Society of Rock. They looked at the song from a couple of angles. Whilst it was a commercial hit (a number one in America is not too shabby!), it is also a controversial songs. Some of its lyrics would not be accepted today, that is for sure! Regardless, Money for Nothing has endured and will continue to be played and celebrated for many decades more:
“Commercially Successful But Controversial
The Dire Straits single “Money for Nothing” was a huge success for the band. It topped several charts in the US and was also a hit in the UK and other countries. It earned them a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and MTV VMAs Video of the Year.
In 1985, ZZ Top’s music videos received heavy airplay on MTV and Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler drew inspiration from Billy Gibbons’ trademark guitar tone. In fact, Knopfler actually sought Gibbons’ help. In 1986, Gibbons admitted, “He didn’t do a half-bad job, considering that I didn’t tell him a thing!”
The lyrics were from the POV of two working-class men who watched videos and gave their commentaries. Knopfler got the idea while he was at an appliance store in New York City. They had a bunch of TVs displayed on a wall and tuned in to one channel – MTV. As he stood there and watched, another man dressed in work clothes stood beside him and started commenting on what they saw. Knopfler immediately grabbed a pen and paper to write some of the things he said and used them for the song.
Knopfler told Bill Flanagan in 1984: “The lead character in “Money for Nothing” is a guy who works in the hardware department in a television/custom kitchen/refrigerator/microwave appliance store. He’s singing the song. I wrote the song when I was actually in the store. I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real…”
While they were recording in the studio, Sting came to visit and listened to the demo. He was immediately impressed and so Knopfler challenged him to add something. Sting ended up contributing the line “I want my MTV.”
While “Money for Nothing” was commercially successful, it wasn’t without its share of controversy. The lyrics were deemed homophobic and so when they performed it live, Dire Straits would replace some of the words with something less vulgar.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine in 1985, Knopfler addressed the issue and said: “I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London – he actually said it was below the belt. Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you can’t let it have so many meanings – you have to be direct. In fact, I’m still in two minds as to whether it’s a good idea to write songs that aren’t in the first person, to take on other characters. The singer in “Money for Nothing” is a real ignoramus, hard hat mentality – somebody who sees everything in financial terms. I mean, this guy has a grudging respect for rock stars. He sees it in terms of, well, that’s not working and yet the guy’s rich: that’s a good scam. He isn’t sneering”.
In spite of its more controversial aspects and, maybe, the fact it is a bit overplayed, Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing is a brilliant track that launched MTV Europe on 1st August, 1987. It must have been thrilling to see the video thirty-five years ago! From its singalong lyrics and mighty introduction riff to its relevance to MTV, Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing is…
IMPOSSIBLE to resist.