Dear everyone,

As I'm sure you will have noticed, this newsletter is late! The summer has been very busy here, and the amount of fanmail arriving here is unbelievable, so the group and I have been working out a way of changing the way the Information Service is run. As you know, I currently do it in my spare time, but that is just not possible any more, and I'm having a real struggle just to keep up with new fans joining the list. We have decided that I will do some of the work during office hours from now on (although quite how I'm going to fit it all into the day with all the other things I do, I'm not quite sure yet!!), and hopefully, the service will improve and become more efficient as a result. Newsletters will be more regular, better, and with more offers for you to take advantage of. It will take quite a bit of organisation to get it underway, so could I ask you to keep your letters with questions to a minimum for the next couple of months, please!

Unfortunately, once the new system is in operation, we will have to make a small charge to members of the Information Service. I will be putting details of this in the next newsletter (due December) and at that point, you will have the option of staying on the list and paying the small subscription fee, or coming off the list. We haven't decided what to charge yet, but we will try and keep it as cheap as possible - basically it will just cover paper, envelopes, postage and administration etc.). At present, Mark and John finance the service themselves, and believe me, the costs run into thousands of pounds!

Now, on to the news: As I'm sure you will have seen on TV, the Prince's Trust 10th Birthday Party was a great success. Mark and John both played at the show in the 'supergroup', along with Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Paul Young, Midge Ure, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Sting, George Michael, Joan Armatrading, Status Quo, Paul McCartney, Howard Jones and Mark King (hope I haven't missed someone out). Mick Jagger and David Bowie also came on and did Dancing In The Street, although that bit wasn't shown on TV. Those of you who actually attended the concert will have seen Princess Di dancing about, wearing a silly hat, and obviously really enjoying herself. Prince Charles was, of course, more reserved but I think he got into it in the end... I must say the audience was one of the best ever seen at Wembley Arena - on their feet from the word go, and the atmosphere was great. Afterwards we all went to a party at the Wembley International Hotel with Charles and Di, and they chatted to everyone - a very friendly occasion. I missed quite a bit of the show as I was busy running about organising cars, drinks, etc., so I watched it on TV the following week.

Since that concert, Mark has been working flat out in the studios in London on several different projects, the main one being Tina Turner's new LP. He produced two tracks for her, one of which he had written himself called Overnight Sensation, and another written by Paul Brady (also managed by this office) called Paradise Is Here. The album is called Break Every Rule and is out this week (Capitol Records). I've heard the two tracks Mark produced and they're really excellent.

While in the studio, Mark also wrote and recorded a short piece of music for Martin Scorsese's new film (The Color Of Money). In case you don't know who Martin Scorsese is, his previous films include Taxi Driver, King Of Comedy and After Dark. Mark also wrote and recorded two short pieces for an ITN documentary on Prince Charles and Princess Diana, which is due to be screened on the ITV network in two parts on September 21st and 22nd (subject to change) and which will also be shown in most overseas countries at a later date.

So... you can see he has been busy - in fact at one point he was working about 14 hours a day. Now, I'm glad to say he is taking a break (in New York and LA) for a month or so. He was in the office quite a bit last month and so I passed on all his birthday cards and presents. He was really chuffed to get so many cards! Thanks to all of you who sent them, and thanks for the cards for the other band members on their birthdays.

Before Mark left for the States, he was intending to write and record a piece of music for the British team in the Americas Cup Yacht Race to use as their theme tune. Unfortunately he never had time, so instead they are using Going Home (from the Local Hero LP). This will be re-released as a single in October (exact date to be decided) to coincide with the preliminary rounds of the race. You have probably been hearing it quite a lot recently anyway, as the BBC have been using it during their coverage of the Commonwealth Games and European Athletics Championships.

The rest of the guys have been taking things fairly easy. John has become involved in a project called the Life Education Scheme, which is aimed to help prevent drug abuse amongst young people. The scheme is the personal initiative of Prince Charles, and I'm sure you will get to hear about it sooner or later - they are hoping for a lot of publicity (it's in early stages right now). John also hopes to record a solo LP later this year. Guy played on the Tina Turner LP and is now taking a break. Chris and Jack were working on some songs in New York, and Alan has been working on solo stuff at home for a possible future project, and he will also probably be working on Mick Jagger's solo LP at the end of the year. This weekend, John is playing cricket in a charity match in Bristol for Amnesty International. The captain of the Amnesty team is Viv Richards and they are playing a team from Virgin Records (captain Ian Botham). Chris, Guy and myself all got tickets to see Prince at Wembley recently, and poor Alan was desperate to go - he would have flown down from Newcastle specially but couldn't get a flight! Mark was on a plane to New York at the time so also had to miss it. The gig was all right, but the party afterwards was really something special - Prince played another set to about a hundred people - playing all his early B-sides plus old Stones stuff etc. Eric Clapton joined him on guitar...

Now to answer some of your questions:

When's the next LP/tour? Not for a long time, I'm afraid. People keep writing in or phoning to say they've heard rumours of various gigs, but please be assured that there are no concerts planned anywhere in the world until after the band have done another studio LP, and that probably won't be until at least the end of 1987. If the situation changes, you will be the first people to know, but it is very, very unlikely. They want a complete rest, and that means a rest from shows, TV, radio, and press.

Please give a list of all LPs and singles ever released. I will try and collate this information and include it in the next newsletter. I will also try and include a list of other artists the various members of Dire Straits have worked with in the past.

Where can I get lyric books/sheet music? By mail order from Music Sales, 78 Newman Street, London W1. Tel: (01) 636 7777, or from the major record stores like HMV or Virgin.

Will the group be doing a 1987 calendar? We weren't going to do one, as the group felt it was something only Duran/Wham! type groups did, but we've given into to pressure and we're doing one. It will be available from retail stores throughout the UK from about September 21st, and the recommended retail price will be 2.99 pounds. There are also some bootleg calendars around!!!

What country does the name 'Knopfler' come from? Hungary.

Will there be another Dire Straits book? Not yet. We are toying with the idea, and I'll let you know if there are any developments.

Will the Tube repeat either the Wembley concert or the Israeli footage of the group on TV? They say they have no plans to repeat either, but maybe if you all wrote and hassled them, they would... so, get your pens out and write to The Tube, Tyne Tees TV, City Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, N1 2AL...

That's about all for this time. I am (at last!) taking a holiday in Menorca and won't be back till October, so could I please ask you not to write in for a while. You can, of course, send in your photo-order forms (see next page) so I can go through them as soon as I get back.

Bye for now,

PS. Keep your fingers crossed for the forthcoming MTV Music video awards in the USA - Money For Nothing has quite a few nominations...