Back in high school I got into Dire Straits when everyone else my age did--that is, when "Money For Nothing" became the monster hit that consumed radio. That's about as far as my interest went, although I did get On the Night in college and listened to it quite a bit. Now, as I enter my dotage, I find myself seasonally enamoured with Dire Straits. Specifically, the band's become one of my go-to soundscapes for night swimming in the pool. Even more specifically, the double live album Alchemy, which I've only had for a few years. See, Alchemy was that one entry in the Columbia Records & CD Club (and later BMG) catalog that always beckoned me. I never pulled the trigger, because like a lot of my peers, I didn't really grok Brothers in Arms and all of Mark Knopfler's jazzy instrumentals. But when you become an old fart, sometimes you say "What the hell?" and scratch those 30-year-old curiosity itches. And I'm glad I did, because Alchemy is a spectacular live album that lives up to its reputation. Which is neither here nor there, because "Skateaway" isn't on Alchemy but it's exemplifies that particular Dire Straits sound I come back to every summer. It also doesn't hurt that this video is silly fun and takes me back to my teenage years, even though it came out before I was technically a teenager, and the one time I actually went skating I ended up with a broken leg. Ah, memories...
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