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,
Communiqué (Dire Straits album) review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album two and a half out of five stars, writing that the second album "seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material." "Communiqué" spent 32 weeks on the UK Albums Chart. Communiqué (Dire Straits album) Communiqué is the second studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 15 June 1979 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced the single "Lady Writer", which reached #45 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and #51 on the UK