Song #320: "Money For Nothing"--Dire Straits (1985)

First gaining nationwide acclaim back in 1979 with their hit "Sultans of Swing", Dire Straits finally reached the top of the Billboard singles chart on the day I cracked open a radio microphone for the very first time, and the night I almost shattered a hand in a window, September 21, 1985.

First, my story. Billboard charts were "released", or at least "dated" on Saturdays. On 9/21/1985, I was scheduled to train on the small FM radio station that we had at the time at Berkshire Christian College in Lenox, Massachusetts. Radio was, and is, my first love, and second calling, as it were. So, getting to do radio where I could get a degree in Pastoral Studies seemed the perfect fit when I entered college in the Fall of 1985.

So, my friend Mike Poli met me at the station, which was precariously located in a raised room somewhat attached to the very nice academic building, Vannah Hall, at the college. In fact, on a Saturday night, to enter said station, you usually couldn't go through the building. You had to climb the fire escape which led to the side entrance to the studio, FROM THE OUTSIDE. Imagine doing that with a box of albums......

Well, I successfully made it through that evening of training, then, before I left the building, I checked on a few things since I had recently started working as a custodian for the building, which contained classrooms, offices and the library, to help, of course, pay for schooling. I went into one classroom, checked on a window, which apparently was either still open or stuck or something. One thing led to another, and somehow, the window decided to close before I wanted it to, and with my hand underneath.

I believe Mike was still with me, so he helped re-open the window, and I had just won my first trip to the emergency room at the hospital in the Berkshires. Yay me!  Thankfully, nothing broken (or shattered!) and after wearing a cast of sorts for several days, I was AOK.

That night, this song, which dominated radio as I left Virginia for Massachusetts, hit #1, the first and only chart topper for Dire Straits. And here it is, with the video that aired on MTV wanting MTV. How exactly that worked, I still don't know..... :)