Dire Straits were a
british rock band, formed in 1977 by
Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother
David Knopfler (guitar),
John Illsley (bass), and
Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy.