Love Over Gold - History

History

Due to its lengthy atmospheric instrumental passages, the album has been cited as the band's foray into progressive rock.

"Private Investigations" was released as the lead single from the album in Europe, which reached #2 in the UK. "Industrial Disease" was, instead, the lead single in USA, only reaching #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.

In 1986, Love Over Gold had sold 4.4 million copies in Europe, whereas the album had only reached gold status in the United States by that stage.

It was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world on Vertigo Records outside the US and in 2000 in the United States. The remastered CD also features slightly altered cover art; the album title is rendered underneath the band name, both in larger type, rather than arranged across the top. The image of lightning is also somewhat zoomed in and made brighter, making for a more purple colour. It is the only remastered Dire Straits CD with altered cover art.

The album was the last on which drummer Pick Withers played.

"Private Dancer", a song originally planned for the album, was recorded by the band except for the vocals. Mark Knopfler decided that a female voice would be more appropriate and handed the song to Tina Turner for her comeback album of the same name.

"The Way It Always Starts", another song written during the Love Over Gold sessions, ended up on Knopfler's soundtrack to the film Local Hero with vocals sung by Gerry Rafferty.

"Badges, Posters, Stickers and T-Shirts" was cut from the album, released in the UK as a B-side, and subsequently released in the U.S. as the fourth track on the ExtendedancEPlay EP.

Many guitars were used by Mark Knopfler on the album: these included four Schecter Stratocasters (two red, one blue and one sunburst), a black Schecter Telecaster, an Ovation classical guitar on Private Investigations and Love Over Gold, a custom Erlewine Automatic on Industrial Disease and his 1937 National steel guitar on Telegraph Road. Ovation twelve- and six-string acoustics appear on the album. Knopfler's sunburst Fender Telecaster, his pair of red Fender Stratocasters, his red Gibson Les Paul special and his Gibson ES-175 were also present at the recording of the album, but it is unknown whether or not they were used.