Dire Straits – Money For Nothing (Live At Knebworth)

Video recorded during the Nordoff-Robbins charity show at Knebworth, on June 30, 1990, with Eric Clapton, guitarist Phil Palmer, bassist Nathan East, drummer Steve Ferrone, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, and backing vocalists Katie Kissoon and Tessa Niles.

This song is about rock star excess and the easy life it brings compared with real work. Mark Knopfler wrote it after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV. He wrote the song in the store sitting at a kitchen display they had set up. Many of the lyrics were things they actually said.

Sting sings on “Money For Nothing” and helped write it (he and Knopfler are the credited writers). That’s him at the beginning singing “I want my MTV.”

Sting didn’t want a songwriting credit, but his record company, A&M, did because they earned royalties from it. They claimed it sounded very similar to a song Sting wrote for The Police: “Don’t Stand So Close To Me.”

“Money For Nothing” was the lead single from Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms album, recorded at the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat. There was a studio there called AIR (Associated Independent Recording), established by Beatles producer George Martin. It was active from 1979 until Hurricane Hugo wiped it out in 1989.

It was Dire Straits’ most commercially successful single, peaking at number 1 for three weeks on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Top Rock Tracks chart and number 4 in the band’s native UK. In July 1985, the month following its release, Dire Straits and Sting performed the song 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 11 nominations, winning Video of the Year and Best Group Video. It is widely considered one of the band’s signature songs and the opening guitar riff is one of the most famous of all time.

Fun fact: Before making it in music, both Sting and Mark Knopfler were teachers.

The line “I want my MTV” was the basis of the cable network’s promotional campaign. They played clips of musicians saying, and often times, screaming the line between videos.
The original video (see below) was the first one played on MTV Europe when it went on the air August 1, 1987, six years after MTV in the US.

“Money for Nothing” – Single by Dire Straits from the album Brothers in Arms
Released 28 June 1985
Songwriters Mark Knopfler and Sting
Charted No.1 in US, No.4 UK. No.1 Canada, No.4 Australia, No.38 Belgium, No.19 West Germany