The band Dire Straits accidentally copied for 1985’s ‘Money for Nothing’: “I never told him a goddamned thing!”
Dire Straits' 1985 hit "Money for Nothing" propelled the band to their biggest commercial success, but its signature riff owed an unacknowledged debt to ZZ Top. During recording at Montserrat's AIR Studios, frontman Mark Knopfler repeatedly referenced the Texan trio's boogie-driven guitar sound and love of studio technology while chasing the track's distinctive tone, though…