"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits

Today's birthday wishes go out to Mark Knopfler, guitar god and lead singer of Dire Straits, who together almost single-handedly held back the simultaneous punk and New Wave onslaught on the record charts at the end of the 1970s...

Sultans of Swing was the first single from that band's eponymous* 1978 first album, Dire Straits, which began climbing the charts around the world early in 1979. The song features all of the hallmarks for which Dire Straits later became rightly famous, including a moody sound, literate lyrics, and of course the nimble fingers of one Mark Knopfler. His (and, indeed, their) ample abilities are on display here in their (and, indeed, his) performance from Wembley Stadium during Live Aid in July 1985.

*Not to mention redundant, much like this sentence.
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