Communiqué (album)

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

History

Communiqué was recorded in December 1978, at Compass Point Studio, 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 the first LP 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 September 19, 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

• Mark Knopfler: guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
• John Illsley: bass, vocals
• David Knopfler: rhythm guitar, vocals
• Pick Withers: drums
• B. Bear: keyboard

Production

• Producers: Barry Beckett, Jerry Wexler
• Engineer: Jack Nuber
• Mixing: Gregg Hamm
• Mastering: Bobby Hata
• Mastering supervisor: Paul Wexler
• Remastering: Bob Ludwig
• Project coordinator: Jo Motta
• Series concept: Gregg Geller
• Art direction: Alan Schmidt
• Illustrations: Geoff Halpin

Charts

Communiquè has spent only 30 weeks in UK Albums Chart

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1979	German Albums Chart	1
1979	New Zealand Albums Chart	1
1979	Sweden Albums Chart	1
1979	Norway Albums Chart	2
1979	UK Albums Chart	5
1979	Austria Albums Chart	7
1979	Billboard Pop Albums	11
1979	Italy Albums Chart	17

Singles

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

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA - U.S.	Gold	June 26 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	October 29 1985
BPI – UK	Gold	October 29 1985
BPI – UK	Platinum	October 29 1985
SNEP – France	2X Platinum	1991

External links