Communiqué (Dire Straits album)

Communiqué
Studio album by Dire Straits
Released 15 June 1979
Recorded 28 November - 12 December 1978 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas
Genre Rock
Length 42:24
Label Vertigo
Warner Bros. (US)
Producer Barry Beckett, Jerry Wexler
Dire Straits chronology
Dire Straits
(1978)		 Communiqué
(1979)		 Making Movies
(1980)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau (B-)[2]

Communiqué is the second album by British rock band Dire Straits.

Contents

History

Communiqué was recorded in November and December 1978, at Compass Point Studios, Nassau and was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett. The album became the first LP ever to enter the German charts at number 1 in its first week of release (while their debut LP Dire Straits was still at number 3 in that country). Communiqué went on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide; in Europe, it sold 3.6 million copies and in the U.S. it reached gold status.

It was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the U.S. and on 19 September 2000 in the United States.

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Knopfler.

  1. "Once Upon a Time in the West" – 5:25
  2. "News" – 4:14
  3. "Where Do You Think You're Going?" – 3:49
  4. "Communiqué" – 5:49
  5. "Lady Writer" – 3:45
  6. "Angel of Mercy" – 4:36
  7. "Portobello Belle" – 4:29
  8. "Single-Handed Sailor" – 4:42
  9. "Follow Me Home" – 5:50

Personnel

Production

Charts

Communiqué has spent only 30 weeks in the UK Albums Chart. [1]

Album

Year Chart Position
1979 German Albums Chart 1
1979 New Zealand Albums Chart 1
1979 Swedish Albums Chart 1
1979 Norwegian Albums Chart 2
1979 UK Albums Chart 5
1979 Australian Albums Chart 5
1979 Austrian Albums Chart 7
1979 U.S. Billboard Pop Albums 11
1979 Italian Albums Chart 17

Singles

Year Song Billboard
Hot 100		 UK Singles
1979 "Lady Writer" 45 51

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA - U.S. Gold 26 June 1979
RISA – South Africa Gold September 1979
RISA – South Africa Platinum September 1979
IFPI – Denmark Gold September 1979
IFPI – Denmark Platinum September 1979
IFPI – Finland Gold September 1979
IFPI – Finland Platinum September 1979
IFPI – Norway Gold September 1979
IFPI – Norway Platinum September 1979
IFPI – Sweden Gold September 1979
IFPI – Sweden Platinum September 1979
IFPI – Switzerland Gold September 1979
IFPI – Switzerland Platinum September 1979
PROMUSICAE – Spain Gold September 1979
PROMUSICAE – Spain Platinum September 1979
IFPI – Germany Gold September 1979
IFPI – Germany Platinum September 1979
BPI – UK Silver 29 October 1985
BPI – UK Gold 29 October 1985
BPI – UK Platinum 29 October 1985
SNEP – France 2x Platinum 1991

External links

References

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William (2011 [last update]). "Communiqué - Dire Straits | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/communiqu-r35451. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (2011 [last update]). "Robert Christgau: CG: dire straits". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=dire+straits. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
Dire Straits
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
EPs
Singles
Tours
Dire Straits Tour · Communiqué Tour
Related articles
Book:Dire Straits  · Category:Dire Straits  · Portal:Rock music