Dire Straits “Brothers in Arms” released 35 years ago today, May 13th, 1985. Dire Straits’ 5th studio album was a massive smash, hitting #1 for multiple weeks in many countries (and is still one of the best-selling records of all-time) but, being honest, it irritated the crap out of me in ‘85. This is mainly because its incessant repetition of “Money For Nothing” (#1 US, #4 UK) on the radio and MTV would bump my favorite bands off the playlists (that, and Dire Straits purportedly replaced Duran Duran as Princess Di’s favorite band). 35 years later, however, I find myself quite enjoying Brothers in Arms and realize I know most of the songs’ lyrics verbatim even though I just picked up this LP recently. I suppose a lot of that is some sense of nostalgia: hearing Sting echoey falsetto “I want my MTV” is an instant transport back to the summer of ‘85 (the summer of Live Aid). The corny Cajun organ at the intro to “Walk of Life” (#6 US, #2 UK) is another nod to (perceived) simpler times. Dire Straits released three other singles from Brothers in Arms including “So Far Away,” a laid-back track that went to #19 in the US and #20 in the UK as their lead single from the record; the title track “Brothers in Arms” about the Falkland War (a big deal in the 80′s) which went to #16 in the UK; and “Your Latest Trick” a soft rock track – so VERY 80′s with the jazzy saxophone – which was not released in the US but went to #26 in the UK.