Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
From Brothers in Arms (1985)
The most epic guitar riff of the MTV era. Also one of the most epic (at the time) videos on MTV. The song is both a critique of MTV era bands, and the perfection of the MTV era hit.
Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and chicks for free
The lyrics are taken verbatim from a real guy working in an appliance store, sounding off about rock stars to the junior working at the store. Compared to their hard work, musicians get money for nothing.
Appliance guy: “we’ve got to install micro-wave ovens”
Mark Knopfler: “That’s freaking brilliant”. *gets pen*
The riff is immediately catchy and undeniable. Sting came by the studio for supper, and they played him the song, and he turned round and said, 'You've done it this time, you bastards'. So he sang the “I want my MTV” intro and reprise.
The guitar tone from the song happened by accident: a microphone got knocked to the floor in front of the speaker and it changed the sound completely. Despite trying, they were never able to replicate it.
After the song became a megahit, the band was not living up to their name, and indeed it could look like they were getting money for nothing. The bassist points out that they had been working hard for many years at that point:
It was a bit like Picasso, when he’d do a quick drawing for someone and people would say: “That only took you 10 seconds.” And he’d say: “No, it took me 40 years.”
They had learned to play the guitar, and they had learned to play them drums. The drum solo and escalation into the guitar riff from 1:15-1:50 is one of the best and most chilling moments in rock music.