Roger Waters Ripping off Dire Straits?

[Keith Jordan]

Anyone else think that Roger Waters has ripped off Dire Straits in general during his solo career?

[Real Pink in the Inside]

Are we talking about Roger Waters' solo material or David Gilmour's solo material? The latter reminds me of Dire Straits at times.

[Damn!t]

Or the other way around...

[mosespa]

I think Keith is referring to the way that Roger's voice on ATD sounds a bit like Knopfler's voice.

[Keith Jordan]

Yes. The voice is the biggest part. But also the sparse instrumentation in parts, the sound of the guitars etc. They just sound so much alike. I have only recently been listening to Dire Straits back catalogue and have been thinking ever since, who is ripping off who!! And yes, I think Gilmour is guilty of it too in some of his work, especialy On An Island!

[snifferdog]

Interesting. I'd have always thought it was Gilmour rather than Waters but now that mention it. To me, Lost for Words off The Division Bell is very very Dire Straitsy.

[moom]

Same here, Sniffer. And well I don't hear any similarities between Knopfler's and Roger's voice ... Maybe it's the way of singing, not the voice itself...

Knoplfer's voice always reminds me of Dylan's one, same goes to songwriting, but his guitar playing is sometimes similar to Gilmour's, I think.

[Real Pink in the Inside]

Yes. The voice is the biggest part. But also the sparse instrumentation in parts, the sound of the guitars etc. They just sound so much alike. I have only recently been listening to Dire Straits back catalogue and have been thinking ever since, who is ripping off who!! And yes, I think Gilmour is guilty of it too in some of his work, especialy On An Island!

I would imagine that if Roger chose to rip off somebody it would be a band/artist who made it "big" before Pink Floyd. Dire Straits were founded right around when Roger was creating the initial demos of The Wall.

[mosespa]

Gilmour and Knopfler are both second-generation disciples of the blues. That's where that similarity comes from. If you're going to accuse Knopfler of ripping off Gilmour, then you must also accuse them both of ripping off Clapton, Beck, Page, et. al.

Waters and Knopfler both use a "talkey" style of vocalizing since neither one seems to be particularly confident in their ability to actually SING. If you're going to accuse one of ripping off the other, then you must also accuse them both of ripping off Leonard Cohen.

[Keith Jordan]

I would say Roger's Lost Boys Calling track is quite a rip-off of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms.

[Hogtown]

T.Rex a rip off of Barrett?

[Idisaffect]

How far back do you wanna go with this? It's exhausting. It's all a "rip off" if you look at it that way. We've got rip offs of rip offs of rip offs at this point. And beyond! Language is recycled. That's the way it goes. These words I am typing have all been typed before. Musical language is the same. Knopfler is a traditional type of player and most of Waters stuff that might sound like him has a source that goes way back before Dire Straits. Dire Straits were not exactly pushing the musical envelope. It was dressed up folk music. The finger picked lead lines were the most distinctive part of their sound other than the 'talking' vocals.

I don't doubt Waters and Gilmour were influenced by Knopfler. When you hear something you like you are influenced by it.

[J Ed]

one reason I couldnt stand the single Radio Waves when it came out is cuz it sounded like Dire Straits to me

[mosespa]

Given that Andy Fairweather-Low's guitar part (the main one up front in the mix) is finger picked...and Knopfler never uses a pick...I could see that.

[Hudini]

I would say Roger's Lost Boys Calling track is quite a rip-off of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms.

"Lost Boys Calling" is a rip-off of Elmer Fudd.