Single:
Sultans of Swing entered the Australian singles chart* on 6 November 1978 and peaked at #6. It was the #48 song of 1978.
Album:
The song is on Dire Straits which entered the Australian albums chart* on 16 October 1978, reaching #1.
Songwriter:
Mark Knopfler
Producer:
Muff Winwood
Record label of Australian release:
Vertigo
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
From Alchemy: Dire Straits Live, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London in July 1983:
Wikipedia:
Sultans of Swing was composed by Mark Knopfler who, at first, thought the song was “dull” until he bought his first Stratocaster in 1977: “It just came alive as soon as I played it on that ’61 Strat … the new chord changes just presented themselves and fell into place.”
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultans_of_Swing
Songfacts:
Group leader Mark Knopfler got the idea for the song from watching a lousy club band perform. As the story goes, Knopfler ducked into a bar where a mediocre band was closing out the night to an audience that was maybe four or five drunks. The band ended their set with the lead singer announcing “Goodnight and thank you. We are the sultans of swing.” Said Knopfler: “When the guys said ‘Thank you very much, We are the Sultans of Swing,’ there was something really funny about it to me because Sultans, they absolutely weren’t.”
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/dire-straits/sultans-of-swing
Lyrics:
You get a shiver in the dark
It’s raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowing Dixie, double four time
You feel alright when you hear the music ring
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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