Dire Straits was launched with Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing". After the "Brothers in Arms" tour ended Mark Knopfler took a break from Dire Straits and during 1987 he concentrated on solo projects and film soundtracks. Dire Straits regrouped in 1988 for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act. They were joined for their set by Eric Clapton who performed his hit "Wonderful Tonight" with the group and played rhythm guitar on the other songs performed by the band, while guitarist Jack Sonni was absent. Soon afterwards,
Dire Straits charts. It featured the hit single "Twisting By the Pool" which reached the Top 20 in the UK and Canada. The band won Best British Group at the 1983 Brit Awards. With session keyboard player Tommy Mandel added to the live line-up to help Clark cover the band's increasingly detailed arrangements, Dire Straits embarked on an eight-month-long world tour to promote "Love Over Gold", which finished with two sold out concerts London's Hammersmith Odeon on 22 and 23 July 1983. The double album "", was a recording of excerpts from these two concerts and was reportedly released without studio overdubs.