John Illsley – Bass

John Illsley played bass for Dire Straits. That’s pretty much it. Proper solid player, I love that Dire Straits were a bunch of mates from school who thought they would form a band. did so and the rest is history. That’s proper legend. I actually heard this track on a compilation album that was free with the ‘Record Mirror’ music newspaper. It was mostly punk but this one stood out for me and I was intrigued enough to buy the album. I didn’t really like it and eventually sold it to a mate from school.

‘Down To The Waterline’ from the 1978 Dire Straits debut, ‘Dire Straits’. Easy read bar one fill at the very end.