Dire Straits is the debut studio album by the British rock band  released on 9 June 1978 by  internationally,  in the United States and  in Canada. The album has the hit single "", which reached number 4 on the  chart and number 8 on the . The album reached the top of the album charts in Germany, Australia and France, number 2 in the United States and number 5 in the United Kingdom. Dire Straits was later certified double platinum in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Dire Straits came about through a musical collaboration between brothers  and . After graduating from university with a degree in English, Mark Knopfler took a job writing for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Wanting to pursue a career in music, he took a teaching position at Loughton College while playing music at night, performing with pub bands around town, including Brewer's Droop and Cafe Racers. Following a divorce and struggling financially, Mark moved into his brother David's flat, where  also lived. In 1977, Mark, John and David decided to form a band. They recruited drummer  and began rehearsing. , a friend of Mark's, helped give the group their name, a reference to their financial situation. After a few months of rehearsals, the band borrowed enough money to record a five-song demo, which included the song "Sultans of Swing". They took the tape to disc jockey , who had a radio show called "Honky Tonk" on . The band respected Gillett and sought out his advice. Gillett liked what he heard and started playing "Sultans of Swing" on his show. Two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with the  division of  - Wikipedia.
Warner Brothers Records 1978 BSK 3266
Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Knopfler.

Side oneNo.TitleLength1.""3:552.""5:233.""3:184."Six Blade Knife"4:105."Southbound Again"2:58Side twoNo.TitleLength1.""5:472."In the Gallery"6:163."Wild West End"4:424."Lions"5:05Total length:41:34