#18 -- Mark Knopfler

"Wha...?"

Alex Voltaire recently published a well-thought-out essay on the musical artists spurned by the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame.  He lists the 20 most egregious snubs according to several opinion-makers within the industry, including Rolling Stone magazine.  All the lists except his own are missing Dire Straits.

How could that be?  The band's biggest selling album, Brothers In Arms, outsold such classics as U2's Joshua Tree, Carole King's Tapestry, Bob Marley and the Wailer's Legend, Eric Clapton's Unplugged, and Simon and Garfunkle's Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

Dire Straits' overall sales, meanwhile, bested such giants as Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart and The Who.  What gives?

Could it be the name?  Possibly.  It evokes hard times and a stiff challenge before an ill wind.  

The music, though, is so well crafted and the lyrics so well constructed, one is left perplexed.  

And Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler isn't alone.  Our next artist was also passed over.

Knopfler, recording on his own since the mid-90's, is also known for his forays into country music--"The Bug" from Dire Straits' final album was a cross-over hit.  The great Chet Atkins and the engaging Emmylou Harris made excellent collaborators. 

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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
  1.  Innovation
  2.  Influence in my life--as a typical American
  3.  Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)  
  4.  Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music

7/8/9/7 = 31 out of a perfect 40

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Note: The often misunderstood "Money For Nothing" and the zippy "Walk of Life" were part of what was the first album to sell a million CDs, ushering in that era.