成立于1979年的英伦摇滚乐队，其英文名为Dire Straits，意欲其刚刚创立时经济上的窘境。恐怖海峡可以说的上是上个世纪80年代最成功的摇滚/流行乐队，它的成功有相当一部分是由于主唱马克诺弗勒深厚的文学造诣以及其精深的吉他演奏技巧。乐队一开始在伦敦酒吧中演出，随着声名鹊起，被唱片公司相中并推出了大受好评的同名音乐专辑。其中的摇摆之王也成为恐怖海峡的经典曲目，此后恐怖海峡还陆续推出“交流”、“电影制作”、“在每条大街上”、“难兄难弟”等专辑，并在商业上取得非常大的成功。马克也由从前的摇滚乐评人变成炙手可热的流行之星，他也因此有机会与像克莱普顿之类的音乐人合作，并在80年代中期投入到电影配乐的创作中。随着90年代的来临 新的音乐风格的鹊起，恐怖海峡逐渐消沉，马克也单飞，创作了另外一些经典曲目，但是其影响显然已经远不极80年代。
恐怖海峡贯穿其始终的就是对人性的关怀以及对商业的讽刺。有意思的是，在1985年的MTV大奖上，恐怖海峡评介其一首对MTV以及唱片工业讽刺的金钱无用获得了第一，这个也是出人所料的。
流派：Rock
风格：Pop/Rock、Folk-Rock、Rock & Roll
演奏形式：Band
乐队成员：Mark Knopfler: Guitarist、Vocalist
David Knopfler: Guitar
John Illsley: Bass
Pick Withers:Drum
“恐怖海峡”1976年组建于伦敦西南部的代特福德，该乐队出现在朋克音乐顶峰时期，但与这一运动没有什么共同之处，最后获得了主流摇滚乐队的称号。他们在全世界范围内销售了大量唱片，他们的成功主要归功于独具特色的、受迪伦影响的歌手和吉他演奏大师、乐队的核心人物马克.诺夫勒（Mark Knopfler，生于1949年8月12日）的吉他演奏。
诺夫勒28、29岁时才开始音乐生涯，在这以前他曾从事过两个职业（新闻记者和教师）。在这一段时间里他吸收了许多音乐影响[最著名的是鲍勃.迪伦（DYLAN，BOB）和J.J.凯尔]而且他的歌曲创作和吉他演奏技巧已完全成熟，这两个因素为“恐怖海峡”在早期得到各音乐团体的接受起了很大的作用。
诺夫勒与他的兄弟戴维（David，吉他手）和约翰.伊尔斯利（John Illsley，贝司手）联合以后，又将鼓手皮克.威瑟斯（Pick Withers）补充到演员阵容中，他们开始在伦敦小酒店联合组织中举办了一些小型演出。最后他们花了120英镑录制了一盘样带， 其中包括他们后来的经典歌曲《摇摆之王》（Sultans of Swing），这首歌在伦敦电台节目主持人查里.杰尔莱的节目中播放过。结果各唱片公司蜂拥而至竞相与该乐队签约。1978年他们与Phonogram公司签约，录制了歌曲《摇摆之王》和一张唱片《恐怖海峡》，尽管评论家们对其华而不实的专家气派颇为赏识，但英国的歌迷对它都很不重视。然而这张唱片更和美国摇滚乐迷的口味，因此与当时从英国来的大多数唱片相比它更易用做电台歌曲播放。转眼之间他们手中拥有了一首风靡美国的歌曲和一张唱片。
这一成功也在别的地方重现，其中包括返回英国，在那里这首歌曲名列排行榜第9位，专辑名列第5。在此之后“恐怖海峡”很快成为国际上一支成就巨大的摇滚乐队。1979年出版的专辑《公报》（Communique）与前面那张唱片几乎毫无两样，也畅销全世界。这张唱片发行以后，戴维离开乐队开始个人发展。1980年第3张专辑《制作电影》（Making Movies），来自布鲁斯.斯普林斯廷（SPRINGSTEEN，BRUCE）的“E街”乐队的罗伊.比坦（Roy Bittan）给这张唱片带来更加清新的声音。《制作电影》在英美获得了相当大的成功，尽管评论界批评他们的音乐过于拖沓。但专辑仍然获得了金唱片，其中的《罗蜜欧与朱丽叶》（Romeo and Juliet）和《滑离》（Skateaway）成为电台和MTV中的热门歌曲。为了1980年的巡回演出，吉他手哈尔.林迪斯（Hal Lindes）和键盘手艾伦.克拉克（Alan Clark）也加入到该乐队中。
与此同时，马克.诺夫勒作为一位吉他演奏家所享有的声誉继续增长，他暂时离开乐队与鲍勃.迪伦和“斯蒂利.丹”（STEELY DAN）进行一些合作。因此隔了很长一段时间才于1992 年出版了第4张专辑《爱情胜过黄金》（Love over Gold）。这张唱片由诺夫勒自己制作，其销量比以往唱片都要多。专辑中充满了冗长和实验色彩的作品，单曲《私人调查》（Private Investigations）获得英国排行榜的死2名，并成为英国榜上的冠军专辑，而在美国成为金唱片。在这张专辑出版不久，特里.威廉斯（Terry Williams）代替了威瑟斯鼓手的位置。而此时的诺夫勒开始在“恐怖海峡”之外探索新的音乐途径，为电影配乐[电影《本地英雄》（Local Hero）、Cal和《舒适与欢乐》（Comfort and Joy）]并出现在范.莫里森（MORRISON，VAN）的专辑中。除了1983年出版一张EP专辑《池边扭摆》（Twisting By the Pool）之外，“恐怖海峡”在1983、1984两年间的大部分时间处于偃旗息鼓状态，这期间，马克.诺夫勒为鲍勃.迪伦制作了专辑《异教徒》（Infidel），为蒂娜.透纳（TURNER，TINA）的复出专辑创作了一首《私人舞蹈家》（Private Dancer），给“阿滋特克照相机”（AZTEC CAMERA）制作唱片《刀》（Knife）。1984年春，乐队出版了双唱片《炼金术》（Alchemy》。这年底，乐队进入录音棚录制他们的第5张专辑，并增加了一位新的成员，键盘手盖伊.弗莱彻（Guy Fletcher）。专辑《情同手足》（Brothers In Arms）于1985年夏天正式出版，这是“恐怖海峡”的一张突破性的专辑，具有讽刺意味的是，其中的一首嘲弄音乐录像的单曲《不劳而获》（Money for Nothing）竟然在MTV电视台的推波助澜下成了热门歌曲，在美国排行榜前10名停留了9个星期并卖掉了900万张；在英国，这张专辑也是80年代销量最高的专辑。《生活之路》（Walk of Life）和《如此遥远》（So Far Away）使这张专辑在排行榜上停留的时间一直持续到1986年。为推广这张专辑，乐队举行了近两百场演出。随后，马克.诺夫勒为兰迪.纽曼（NEWMAN，RANDY）和琼.阿马特雷丁（Joan Armatrading）制作专辑，参加了埃里克.克拉普顿（CLAPTON，ERIC）的巡回演出，又与切特.阿特金斯（Chet Atkins）合作了一张专辑《颈》（Neck and Neck）。1989年，他组建了乡村摇滚乐队“诺丁山地人”（Notting Hillbillies），并于次年出版了一张专辑《想念......大概有个好时光》（Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time）。
在经过了一系列个人活动之后，马克.诺夫勒于1990年重新拾起了“恐怖海峡”，这时的主要成员有：伊斯利、克拉克和弗莱彻以及一些职业乐手。1991年，新专辑《在每一条大街上》（On Every Street）在人们的意料之中出版，不过令人遗憾的是，这张专辑并不像人们预期的那样，在美国只成为白金唱片，莲排行榜的前40名都没有进去，甚至没有一首热门歌曲。同样，他们的巡回演出也是失望而归，他们在欧洲和美国巡回演出的门庇惺备韭舨怀鋈ァＵ獯窝惭葜螅霭媪讼殖∽对谝雇怼罚∣n the Night），随后，乐队又无限期地放了长假。马克.诺夫勒在1996年出版了他的第1张正式的专辑《金子心》（Golden Heart），但并没有获得太多的喝彩，也许，“恐怖海峡”及马克.诺夫勒出色的才华随着80年代的逝去而一去不复返了。
从商业的角度来说，“恐怖海峡”特别是马克.诺夫勒证明他们是自70年代以来最成功的摇滚组合之一，在全世界销售了近2000万张唱片。不过，除了出色的唱片《摇摆之王》之外，“恐怖海峡”录制的唱片通常因其缺乏刺激性而受到批评。人们仍然怀疑诺夫勒天赋并不算高，而只是一位技艺高超的手艺人。
英文介绍
Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy. Led by guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, the group built their sound upon the laid-back blues-rock of J.J. Cale, but they also had jazz and country inflections, occasionally dipping into the epic song structures of progressive rock. The band's music was offset by Knopfler's lyrics, which approximated the winding, stream-of-conscious narratives of Bob Dylan. As their career progressed, Dire Straits became more refined and their new maturity happened to coincide with the rise of MTV and the compact disc. These two musical revolutions from the mid-'80s helped make Dire Straits' sixth album, Brothers in Arms, an international blockbuster. The band — along with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and Steve Winwood — become one of the leaders of a group of self-consciously mature veteran rock & rollers in the late '80s that designed their music to appeal to aging baby boomers. Despite the band's international success, they couldn't sustain their stardom, waiting a full six years to deliver a follow-up to Brothers in Arms, by which time their audience had shrunk significantly.
Knopfler (born August 12, 1949) was always the main force behind Dire Straits. The son of an architect, Knopfler studied English literature at Leeds University and worked briefly as a rock critic for the Yorkshire Evening Post while at college. He began teaching English after his graduation, leading a pub rock band called Brewer's Droop at night. By 1977, Mark was playing with his brother David (guitar) and his roommate John Illsley (bass). During the summer of 1977, the trio cut a demo with drummer Pick Withers. A London DJ named Charlie Gillett heard the demo and began playing "Sultans of Swing" on his BBC show Honky Tonkin'. Following a tour opening for Talking Heads, the band began recording their debut for Vertigo Records with producer Muff Winwood in early 1978. By the summer, they had signed with Warner in America, releasing their eponymous debut in the fall. Thanks to the Top Ten hit "Sultans of Swing," Dire Straits was a major success in both Britain and America, with the single and album climbing into the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dire Straits established Dire Straits as a major force on album-oriented radio in America, and their second album, Communique (1979), consolidated their audience, selling three million copies worldwide. As the group was recording its third album, Knopfler left the band to pursue a solo career; he was replaced by former Darling member Hal Lindes. Like its predecessor, Making Movies was a sizable hit in America and Britain, even though the band was criticized for musically treading water. Nevertheless, the record went gold on the strength of the radio and MTV hits "Romeo and Juliet" and "Skateaway." Dire Straits followed the album two years later with Love Over Gold, an album filled with long, experimental passages, plus the single "Private Investigations," which became a number two hit in the U.K. The album went gold in America and spent four weeks at number one in Britain. Shortly after the release of Love Over Gold, former Rockpile drummer Terry Williams replaced Withers.
During 1982, Knopfler began exploring musical avenues outside of Dire Straits, scoring the Bill Forsyth film Local Hero and playing on Van Morrison's Beautiful Vision. Apart from releasing the Twisting by the Pool EP early in 1983, Dire Straits were quiet for the majority of 1983 and 1984, as Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's Infidels, as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille; he also wrote "Private Dancer for Tina Turner's comeback album. In the spring of 1984, the band released the double album Alchemy: Dire Straits Live and by the end of the year, they had begun recording their fifth studio album with their new keyboardist, Guy Fletcher. Released in the summer of 1985, Brothers in Arms was Dire Straits' breakthrough album, making the band international stars. Supported by the groundbreaking computer-animated video for "Money for Nothing," a song which mocked music videos, the album became a blockbuster, spending nine weeks at the top of the American charts and selling over nine million copies; in England, the album became the biggest-selling album of the '80s. "Walk of Life" and "So Far Away" kept Brothers in Arms in the charts through 1986, and Dire Straits played over 200 dates in support of the album. Once the tour was completed, Dire Straits went on hiatus for several years, as Knopfler produced records by Randy Newman and Joan Armatrading, scored films, toured with Eric Clapton, and recorded a duet album with Chet Atkins (Neck and Neck, 1990). In 1989, he formed the country-rock group Notting Hillbillies, whose sole album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time, became a British hit upon its spring 1990 release. During the extended time off, John Illsley recorded his second album; the first appeared in 1984.
In 1990, Knopfler reconvened Dire Straits, which now featured Illsley, Clark, Fletcher, and various session musicians. The band released On Every Street in the fall of 1991 to great anticipation. However, the album failed to meet expectations — it only went platinum in America and it didn't crack the U.K. Top 40 — and failed to generate a hit single. Similarly, the tour was a disappointment, with many tickets going unsold in both the U.S. and Europe. Once the tour was completed, the live album On the Night was released in the spring of 1993 and the band again went on hiatus. In 1996, Knopfler launched his solo career with Golden Heart.
