Dire Straits "Money for Nothing"). Similarly, the album's title track was also relatively unsuccessful, failing to reach the UK Top 40. The final single released from the album and from the band in the UK was "The Bug", which contains backing vocals by Vince Gill, who was also invited to join the band full-time but declined to pursue a solo career. Session drummer Chris Whitten joined Dire Straits as a side-man when the band embarked on an extensive two-year, 300-show tour, playing in front of some 7.1 million ticket-buying fans. While musically more elaborate than the previous 1985–86 world tour, the band's
Dire Straits of Love" and "Down to the Waterline". After a performance at The Rock Garden in 1977, they took a demo tape to MCA in Soho but were turned down. Then they went to DJ Charlie Gillett, who had a radio show called "Honky Tonk" on BBC Radio London. The band simply wanted advice, but Gillett liked the music so much that he played "Sultans of Swing" on his show. Two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with the Vertigo division of Phonogram Inc. In October 1977, the band recorded demo tapes of "Southbound Again", "In the Gallery" and