Dear everyone,

Lots of news this time! The most important item, of course, is the summer UK tour dates, and we have tried to make things as easy as possible for mailing-list members to get good tickets. Enclosed you will find a priority ticket application form - please read it carefully, and if you want the best seats, fill it in and send it back to me as soon as possible along with your cheque/postal order and a s.a.e.

Some points to note:

1. We have decided not to put any limit on the number of tickets mailing-list fans can order, so feel free to order for your friends as well (we are assuming that none of you are touts out to make a profit!!). In Birmingham and London, where the venues are seated, we will hold the best seats (i.e. nearest the stage) for you. In Brighton, where there are no seats, there won't of course be any difference between the tickets ordered through us and those ordered through the normal outlets, but at least you are virtually guaranteed to get all the tickets you ask for, provided of course that we receive your application back by the date mentioned.
2. Please make sure that your request is as clear as possible (I'm getting a headache just thinking about doing this!!!).
3. Re the charity show at Wembley: I can't give you many details about this at present, but it will be quite a special show, and will be attended by H.R.H. The Prince Of Wales (and hopefully, commitments permitting, Princess Diana). All proceeds will go to The Prince Of Wales' Trust, which provides educational aid for underprivileged kids. Please keep this information to yourself as no formal announcement has been made yet by Buckingham Palace.
4. In case those of you who don't live near any of the places on the list start complaining, we do have another run of UK dates scheduled for December 1985, but these are unconfirmed so I can't give you details yet. Tickets for these shows will not go on sale till late summer anyway. As I said, these December gigs are still tentative, so I'd advise you to try and get to one of the summer ones if you possibly can. Also, please don't mention the December tour to anyone yet. Nobody else knows anything about it.

Now on to other news:

As some of you may already have heard, Hal is no longer with the group. Things weren't really working out, and he will now be pursuing a solo career under new management. I'll let you know his plans as soon as he has something definite in the pipeline. His replacement on rhythm guitar is Jack Sonni, a friend of Mark's from New York, who I actually first met about a year ago - a really nice guy with a great sense of humour. He is currently with the band getting to know all the other guys, and will make his debut on the next tour!

I've just got back from a couple of weeks in Montserrat, where the weather is now perfect - sunny and about 90 degrees! Stayed in a fabulous villa with Mark, and had a total rest to prepare me for the months of slog ahead. Don't suppose any of us will have time for a break now till mid-1986. The LP is now progressing very well after its slow start, and the tentative (but almost certain) title is "Brothers In Arms". Release date is still set for April 26th (my birthday!) with a single about a month before which we still haven't decided on... The band are all in very good spirits (and incredibly sun-tanned!) and spent every spare second in Montserrat on the beach or windsurfing. Alan and Guy became quite expert, and made history by windsurfing 11 miles to another little island. Alan even made the return trip as well, despite meeting a whale at close quarters on the way!

This week, they left Montserrat for New York (they are now mixing the LP at the Power Station, not in Nassau). It's all go here in the office, and the whole of the world tour is shaping up well (more than 200 dates!!!). Let's hope we're all still sane at the end of it... Nothing else of vital importance right now. The mailing list has increased in size no end recently, so I'm finding it quite a struggle to cope alone - I think I have managed to rope my boyfriend in to help, so any mistakes - blame Sammy!

Best wishes for now,

Stop press!!! If you have read in the papers that Dire Straits are doing an Ethiopia benefit show at Wembley in March - ignore it. This story is completely untrue, and is a figment of the media's imagination!