Dear everyone,

Well, the tour is finally over! The last gig was in Sydney on April 26th, and it ended a world tour that has lasted over a year. The band have visited 23 countries and played to more than two and a half million people altogether . Every show was sold out and the whole thing has been a phenomenal success - it seems very strange here now it is over! The band were due home on the 28th, but the plane developed engine trouble after three hours and had to return to Australia, so they had to go back to the hotel in Sydney and start all over again the next day... anyway, most of them are back here now. Mark has gone to Italy for a few days to take part in the Mille Miglia car race (driving is one of his biggest hobbies) - I just hope he's better at it than Andrew Ridgely of Wham! He and a co-driver friend are driving a Vintage Alfa-Romeo, and the race lasts 4 - 5 days.

After that he is back in the UK and during the summer, he will be producing some tracks for Tina Turner's next LP. Tina and her manager are over here now, and as they have no UK office, they are sort of sharing ours. The recording will be done in London and there may well be a Dire Straits or two on he LP... After that he will be going to the USA for a while to be with his wife (who must be start to forget what he looks like by now!) and he has a couple of other production projects lined up for the autumn, so he's pretty much booked up for the rest of the year... As for the other group members, at this stage I really can't tell you what their plans are - I imagine they will take a long break before doing anything. Please don't ask me when they will do another band LP, as I (and they) have no idea right now.

As you are no doubt aware, Your Latest Trick has been released as a single. We weren't going to put out any more singles off the Brothers In Arms LP, but decided to at the last minute, and to donate all the royalties to the Great Osmond Street Hospital For Sick Children. So, if you buy it, thanks because it's for a good cause as they are desperately short of money there. You may also be aware that in response to loads of requests we have had (mostly from you lot on the mailing list!) there's a video cassette out of the four promo clips from Brothers In Arms (Money For Nothing, So Far Away, Walk Of Life, and Brothers In Arms). It should be in the shops now, and the recommended retail price is £9.99. Title: Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms - The Videosingles. On PolyGram Music Video.

By he time you receive this letter, the Brothers In Arms LP will have been in the UK Top Ten for a whole year, something that has not been achieved since Saturday Night Fever about nine years ago. So - many thanks to all of you for making this such a successful record for the band, and thanks for your support throughout this incredible year for us all.

I said I'd let you know the disc competition winners, so here they are:

1st: Mike Gadd from Addlestone in Surrey.

Runners up: Alan English from Limerick City, Ireland, and Philip O'Reilly from Co. Mayo, Ireland.

Mike will shortly be coming in to pick up his disc, and the runners up have received their prizes, which included a copy of the special limited edition CD single of Brothers In Arms (not available to the public and a collector's item). The correct answer was 30,165,00.

We also ran a competition for overseas fans and the winners were:

1st: Cindy Hoshor from Nebraska, USA.

Runners-up: Arun J. Rana from India and Fricka Bauer from Germany.

The winner of the Swansea Football Club Raffle was Ms. Newcombe from Penlan, South Wales.

Now to answer some of the questions we constantly get asked here (people who have been on the mailing list a long time will know some of the answers already):

Group birthdates: Mark Knopfler 12th August 1949, John Illsley 24th June 1949, Alan Clark 5th March 1952, Terry Williams 11th January 1948, Guy Fletcher 24th May 1960, Jack Sonni 9th December 1954 Chris White 13th July 1955. Birthplaces: Mark - Glasgow, John - Leicester, Alan - Durham, Terry - Swansea, Guy - Maidstone, Jack - Pennsylvania USA, Chris - Bristol.

Where do they live now? Mark - London and New York, John - Sussex and London, Alan - Newcastle, Terry - Swansea, Guy - London, Jack - New York, Chris - London.

Who is married? All except Guy and Jack are married. Mark's wife is called Lourdes, John's wife is called Pauline, Terry's Wife is called Linda, Alan's wife is called Sandra, Chris's wife is called Eve. John and Pauline have one son called James (his picture is in the tour programme), and Terry and Linda have a daughter, Danielle, and a son Rhys. Chris has a stepdaughter Michelle.

Who plays what? Mark - lead guitar/vocals, John - bass/backing vocals, Alan - keyboards/backing vocals, Terry - drums, Guy - keyboards/backing vocals, Jack - guitar/backing vocals, Chris - saxophone/backing vocals.

Can I buy some photos of the group? Not at the moment, but enclosed you will find a free photo of the band which was taken by David Bailey when they appeared at Live Aid at Wembley last summer. As soon as I get together the band for a meeting I will be getting them to choose shots of themselves, and will probably send an order form out with the next newsletter, so you will be able to purchase a set of photos then.

Will the Live In '85 Tube show be repeated? I have spoken to both The Tube and Channel 4 TV, and they say they have no plans to repeat the programme at present but may well do so in the future.

Is there a book about Dire Straits? Yes, there is one simply called Dire Straits by Michael Oldfield, published by Sidgwick and Jackson. I don't recommend it as it is not all that accurate, and even though it states that it was written with the co-operation of the group, which it was to a certain extent, it didn't turn out at all as we expected.

What happened to David Knopfler /Pick Withers/Hal Lindes? David left the group to pursue a solo career, Pick left because he didn't like being away from his wife and children so much on tour, and Hal left during the recording of Brothers In Arms in Montserrat because of musical differences with the rest of the group. I don't know what he is doing now, but he has played with Feargal Sharkey's band from time to time.

Why don't the band appear in the press more often? They keep a reasonably low profile because they like to keep their private life just that - private. They enjoy being able to walk down the street without being recognised all the time.

Where did they find Jack Sonni? Jack worked in a music shop in New York called Rudy's and was a friend of Mark's. He left the shop, joined the group, and within six months had played the biggest show ever in the world - Live Aid. He's taken to being in a big group like a duck to water!

What happens if someone is ill on tour? They aren't - they're not allowed to be ill! Seriously, though, they have very rarely had to cancel a show, and it has only been for circumstances beyond their control. For example, torrential rain at an outdoor show, and one in Luxembourg when the stage collapsed. Recently, in Australia all the lights fell down, but they still did the show with the lights suspended from a crane instead. Very occasionally, if one of the band is sick, they have played without that person and made the best of it.

Where did the band live when they started? In Deptford in East London in a small flat (awful place!)

Did Mark learn to play sax? - Er, sort of. He did try a couple of years back but it wasn't something he stuck at for too long. Believe me, Mark is not going to be the greatest sax player in the world...

Who is the dog in the tour programme? That is Bosun, he belonged to Air Studios, Montserrat.

What is Mark's favourite Dire Straits song? I don't say for certain, but I know Romeo And Juliet is pretty close to the top of the list.

Do the band get on together? When seven people are together as much as they are, they have to get on reasonably well. Of course, there are arguments from time to time, but basically, everything runs pretty smoothly.

Please list the names of all their LPs: Dire Straits, Communiqué, Making Movies, Love Over Gold, Alchemy (double live), and Brothers In Arms. In addition, Mark has done two film soundtrack albums, Local Hero and Cal, plus a film soundtrack EP Comfort And Joy, and John has done a solo album called Never Told A Soul.

Can we get back newsletters? No, I'm sorry, but we are constantly struggling to keep up with the volume of mail as it is, and it would be far too time consuming to run a back newsletter service.

Can we get back merchandise? Normally after a tour, all the merchandise of that particular design is sold off by mail order till it runs out. Therefore, Arena don't usually have any old stock. I think you will shortly be able to purchase the Love Over Gold T-shirts through stores though. You can always call Arena on (01) 833 1121 to check what is available. Incidentally, if some of you have had to wait longer than expected for your mail order merchandise, it is because demand was so great that some of the designs had to be re-ordered from the warehouse, and this delayed things a bit.

Did Sting co-write Money For Nothing? No, but because one of the riffs in it is from a Police song he gets a credit on the LP. A lot of you have asked questions about the group which I cannot answer myself - for example, about their various likes and dislikes, etc. I will try and put these questions to them when they are in the office, but I don't know that they will answer them, as they will probably feel that what they like for breakfast, where they went to school etc., shouldn't be of interest to anyone except themselves... I'll ask, but don't expect too many answers...

A few of you have asked about Paul Brady, who is also managed by this office. For those of you who don't know, he is an Irish singer-songwriter, who you may know from the Cal film soundtrack that Mark did. Paul has a new LP out right now, it is called Back To The Centre and has just gone in to the charts at Number 33, so things are looking reasonably good for him - you should try and hear the LP if you can!

While I think of it, I would like to thank everyone for the birthday cards and presents you sent to me. Special thank to Carolyn in Bristol, she'll know why...

You must put your full name and address on any correspondence with this office. We have several people on our list with the same names, and in any case, it takes a long time to keep going through the files to check addresses. Please print your name and address so we can really read it.

As you may have read in the Daily Mirror (who leaked the story prematurely), Mark will be one of the guests performing at The Prince Of Wales' Trust Birthday Party concert at Wembley Arena on June 20th. We have known about it here for quite a while but has sworn to secrecy until Buckingham Palace had made he official announcement. By the time you receive this, they will have made their announcement.

We will have very few tickets here (only enough for the rest of the band, relations, and office staff ) so please don't ask us for tickets! It isn't a Dire Straits concert so I cannot do any special offers for the people on the mailing list. There are enough of you to fill Wembley Arena, and of course, with so many other artists involved, I can't get hold of a lot of tickets. Mark (and Tina Turner) will form part of a group which will also include Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, Mark King, Phil Collins, Elton John, Howard Jones and Paul Young.

So, I hope that at least some of you will be able to come along, it should be quite a show!

That's about all for this time,

Best wishes for now,

PS. For those of you who have asked questions about me and Sammy, some of the answers are on the next page...

As promised, a bit of information about me:

When and where were you born? 26th April 1955, in South London, grew up in Bromley.

Have you any brothers or sisters? Yes, a step-brother, John.

Where were you at school? Bromley high school, a boarding school in Cheltenham, then Deer Park Comprehensive in Cirencester, Glos.

What subjects were you good at school? English, art, music and sports, especially gymnastics.

What jobs did you do before you worked for Dire Straits? Spent four years as a journalist on an evening paper. Trained at Criff College and Harlow Tech (same place as Mark, who was also a journalist, but different time!). Got NCTJ Journalism Finals (English, law, public administration, newspaper design, shorthand etc.) and left the paper the next day to work in the music business in London! Through a photographer friend, got job at music agency (which booked tours for bands including Rod Stewart, Thin Lizzy, Sex Pistols, Boomtown Rats, Bryan Ferry) and stayed for just a year, whilst getting to know the business. Got job with Dire Straits after they had released first LP (previous secretary married Pick Withers (the original drummer) and left).

Have you met a lot of famous people? Yes I suppose so, but not just through this job. When I was a reporter, I interviewed lots of people including Harold Wilson (then Prime Minister), Freddie Starr, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Noel Edmonds, and many bands. Since I've been here, I've met lots of people at award ceremonies etc., too many to list...

What countries have you been to? Most European countries several times over (in fact if I ever have to go to Brussels again I'll scream), plus America, and several Caribbean islands.

Where do you live? West Hampstead, North London. Are you married/do you have a boyfriend? No. Lived with Sammy till just before Christmas. No kids.

What music do you like? American funk, some reggae, David Bowie, early Stones, etc.

What are your hobbies? Don't have time for many, but enjoy watching sport (mainly football) on TV and listening to music.

A bit of information about Sammy:

When and where were you born? 7th March 1955, in Jamaica. Came to England as a baby.

Where do you live? Camden, North London.

Have you got a girlfriend/are you married? Yes.

Have you got any children? Yes, three.

How did you get the job with the information service? Through Liz.

What kind of music do you like? All kinds, mostly American R&B.

What are your hobbies? Sport when there's time, if not - watching it on the box.

How do you know the band? Through Liz.

What's your ambition? To be a successful musician.