In the second verse of the song, Mark Knopfler has explained how he just went down to the Chinatown, located off Shaftesbury Avenue where he saw naughty things happening around in the back rooms of Chinatown restaurants, like gambling and prostitution.Dire Straits came about through a musical collaboration between brothers Mark and David Knopfler. “I saw you walking out Shaftesbury Avenue,” this was also a famous West End street which connects Piccadilly Circus to place such as Chinatown. In the first verse of the song lyrics Mark has also sung: “I get a pickup for my steel guitar” – alluding on his famous resonator guitar which later was on the cover for the album “Brothers in Arms.” For this song he used and played on his 1938 National Style O (14 fret guitar). With this verse, Knopfler actually had wanted to make an homage to that small coffee bar in Soho, where at the time he regularly drinks his coffee.ĭuring the recording session for this album, Mark Knopfler has used different guitars. This was a famous coffee bar in West End most known for its own blend of coffee beans. The song begins with the first verse where Mark Knopfler has sung how he stepped out to the Angelucci Coffee bar. On this song, you can hear it, Mark Knopfler, as the vocal and lead guitarist, David Knopfler which was played on a guitar, John Illsley as a bassist, and Pick Withers on the drums. He spots one particularly attractive young woman in Shaftesbury Avenue, another song on this album, “In The Gallery,” had its genesis in a different sort of encounter in that same street. He enjoyed walking around the East End area, always with an eye on the pretty ladies. The song tells some daily vicissitudes in the East End area of London, UK, and it runs to 4 minutes and 42 seconds.Īfter the lead guitarist of the band Mark Knopfler moved to the capital of the United Kingdom, he had felt like most of the tourists – foreign and domestic. “Wild West End” is the number eight song on the Dire Straits debut album published on October 7, 1978. This song will bring you back and awake all the moments of the past, as well as the deep and pleasant hidden memories in your head.

The song is all about the lifestyle in the West End of London, fashionable area of London also popular with tourists. “Wild West End” is a wonderful song, a magnificent declaration of love in Soho’s streets and its women.

Dire straits dire straits album cover