Live at the BBC (Dire Straits album)

Live at the BBC is a live album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 26 June 1995 on Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album was recorded on 22 July 1978 at BBC Studios in London, with one track recorded on 31 January 1981. The studio versions of the first six songs were released on Dire Straits. Live at the BBC was the band's third live album, preceded by Alchemy: Dire Straits Live (1984) and On the Night (1993).

Live at the BBC
Live album by Dire Straits
Released	26 June 1995 (1995-06-26)
Recorded	BBC Studios, London, 22 July 1978, 31 January 1981
Genre	Roots rock
Length	46:01
Label	Windsong (UK) Vertigo (International) Warner Bros. (US)
Producer	Various
Dire Straits chronology
Encores (1993) Live at the BBC (1995) Sultans of Swing (1998)

Release

Live at the BBC was released on 26 June 1995, after the group officially disbanded. According to Knopfler, the album was released because Dire Straits still owed one album to Phonogram Records (now Mercury Records). The album was a means to end the contract before Knopfler began his solo career (still signed to Mercury).

Live at the BBC was re-released in November 2023 for the box set Live 1978-1992.

Composition

Live at the BBC consists of eight songs, the first seven recorded for the BBC Live in Concert series on 22 July 1978. The eighth song, "Tunnel of Love", was recorded at the Rockpop concert in Dortmund the 19th of December 1980.[1]

The album features one unreleased song, "What's the Matter Baby?", co-written by Mark Knopfler and his brother David. It is the only song to appear on a Dire Straits album not written exclusively by Mark Knopfler; while two other Dire Straits songs list Knopfler sharing writing credits — "Tunnel of Love" from Making Movies (with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II) and "Money for Nothing" from Brothers in Arms (with Sting) — but in both cases the song itself was entirely written by Knopfler, with only a small contribution to the backing or arrangement by the other credited artist. The riffs and general structure of "What's the Matter Baby?" were largely recycled for the song "Lady Writer" from the band's second album Communiqué, which may explain why it was never re-recorded in the studio.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

In his review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album three and a half out of five stars, writing, "It's a modest effort from a modest band and, in that sense, a better representation of them than Alchemy or On the Night, both of which reflected their worldwide popularity." The album stayed on the UK albums chart for one week.

Track listing

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Down to the Waterline"		4:10
2.	"Six Blade Knife"		3:47
3.	"Water of Love"		5:29
4.	"Wild West End"		5:12
5.	"Sultans of Swing"		6:38
6.	"Lions"		5:26
7.	"What's the Matter Baby?"	David Knopfler, Mark Knopfler	3:20
8.	"Tunnel of Love"	Extract from "The Carousel Waltz" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II	11:56
Total length:			46:01

Personnel

Dire Straits

• Mark Knopfler – guitar, vocals
• David Knopfler – guitar, backing vocals (except on track 8)
• John Illsley – bass, backing vocals
• Pick Withers – drums
• Alan Clark – keyboards (only on track 8)
• Hal Lindes – guitar (only on track 8)

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	45
UK Albums (OCC)	71

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	Gold	50,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.