When I came back on the scene in 2006, John Illsley contacted Mark Knopfler and proposed reforming Dire Straits, the answer was no no no. Was this because he was having such a good time posturing with other celebrities, who hadn’t yet been informed he wasn’t being truthful about who had written the lyrics to Dire Straits hits like Sultans of Swing, and he was filling his belly with the fruits of deceit and enjoying every moment before the table was chopped up for firewood, bringing to a end the phone calls for him to collaborate on others stars albums, no no no . Then perhaps Illsley had been to hasty and expected with my return our collaboration together could bring the old Dire Straits back together, but how could that reunion ever happen, Illsley’s enthusiasm didn’t seem to get approval from Knopfler who was touring with Emmy Lou Harris, and hadn’t he been told by his friend Mark, that he had already sold the rights of the songs and the lyrics written by Robert Marshal to the major record companies Polydor for example and had spent the money, and as that was never part of our agreement made in Deptford, and just outright theft and fraudulent dealings with those record companies he’d obviously duped into buying someone else’s Intellectual Property he had to say no no no. You’d think surely after all the records D.S. sold would money be a problem to Mark, or maybe the truth is you just can’t get enough of the stuff, and your reputation means nothing as long as you’ve got a healthy bank balance. No no no when I met him his opening gambit was, ” Are you the guy whose going to make me a millionaire,” didn’t seem like a greedy geezer to me, or maybe yes yes yes.?
It was then Illsley decided to put away his learn to paint book, close his studio and hide his paint pots, and make believe he could handle the lead guitar role and give his bass position to someone else, and with him singing he had some of the ingredients that were once Dire Straits, but without Mark there was no-one able to take on the lead guitar, and certainly not Illsley whose come back into the music business, has been a financial disaster according to him. I’ve got to pay for our equipment being stored and the roadies wages and there’s the venue costs, and a hundred or so paying punters isn’t going to cover the expenses, he moaned. However Mister big spender Illsley has again overlooked the reality of the situation, its mostly the money he’s pocketed that should have gone to Robert Marshal he’s spending, and he’s got the balls to complain, money for nothing mate remember.
