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Mark Knopfler had a secret younger brother, Shemp, who was hidden away in the attic due to his acne. During his years in isolation, he learned to play guitar, really well. In the mid 70's, only 14 years old, and already a prodigy, he was asked to write songs for Mark's first punk band, 'Dik Likker'. Shemp remembers the time well:
"Mark could not write, play, or sing. He sounded like Bob Dylan. He was very punk. He knew an A chord. I showed him how to wear a sweat band on his head and play really slow songs with slinky leads. He thought it was a stupid idea that would never sell. Within a year, Mark got tired of the aggression of punk music, wearing pins in his nose, spitting on his audience, and reconsidered the idea of trying a different style.
I had written an epic song for his punk band called 'Fudge tunnel' which Mark loved, but by 1977, Mark was now trying to get on FM radio and had mellowed out entirely. He thought it was too suggestive so I changed the lyrics and the title to 'Tunnel of love'. I gave him some more slow songs in sad minor keys, but never got credit for any of it. He and David then formed a new 'mellow' band but even here he had no clue what to call it.
For six months during 1977, they played the pubs around London as 'Slinky Lead and the Sweatbands'. Everyone in the group had a sweatband. Ridiculous. They got nowhere. Then, for a couple months, it was called ‘Pick Withers’, a joke about their drummer's name, before I came up with the final name because that is what I kept telling them. 'You wankers are in dire straits.'"
By 1980, Shemp's acne had cleared up, and he asked to join Dire Straits as roadie/second guitarist after David left the band to follow his dream job as a telemarketer. Mark was having none of it.
"David didn’t play lead so Mark was okay with that. But with me, the guy who taught him how to play, he didn't want another guy in the band, especially his kid brother, playing slinky leads better than him. He was jealous. I wrote the songs. I taught him all he knows. Even his fingerstyle. We were so poor in the 70's, we couldn't afford real guitar picks, so I showed him how to play without one."
In 1982, Shemp tried to form his own band, 'Money for nothing', wearing a sweatband and playing slinky leads, but by this time, it was too late, as 'Dire Straits' had stolen all his ideas and were well on their way to superstardom. Shemp recalls:
"The fans were rabid. All the kids wanted to look like Mark. There was a serious worldwide shortage of sweat bands by 1985, and that's when Bob Geldof had to raise funds so that every child in Africa had a sweatband. I wasn't so lucky."
Shemp was forced to busk the rest of his life to support himself, often playing Dire Straits songs that he wrote, and without a sweatband.
"It's not a bad life. I am forbidden to wear a sweatband, even in the summer, or I will be sued by my own brother for copyright infringement, but I will play my songs. Some people say 'You even look like Mark Knopfler. I tell them to fuck off. If they only knew..."
Copyright 2018, from Shemp Knopfler’s book. ‘Walk of strife: The real talent behind Dire Straits'.
#busker #direstraits #tunneloflove #lesson #guitar