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Mark Knopfler: Wag the Dog

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Vertigo Records
Released: 1998.01.13
Time:
 22:31
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.mark-knopfler.co.uk
Appears with: Dire Straits
Purchase date: 2001.08.27
Price in €: 9,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Wag the Dog (M.Knopfler) - 4:42
[2] Working on It (M.Knopfler) - 3:32
[3] In the Heartland (M.Knopfler) - 2:40
[4] An American Hero (M.Knopfler) - 1:59
[5] Just Instinct (M.Knopfler) - 1:32
[6] Stretching Out (M.Knopfler) - 4:14
[7] Drooling National (M.Knopfler) - 1:50
[8] We're Going to War (M.Knopfler) - 3:23

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


MARK KNOPFLER - Guitars, Vocals, Producer

RICHARD BENNETT - Guitars
JIM COX - Piano and Hammond organs
GUY FLETCHER - Keyboards
GLENN WORF - Bass
CHAD CROMWELL - Drums

CHUCK AINLAY - Producer
MARK RALSTON - Assistant Producer
DENNY PURCELL - Mastering
JONATHAN RUSSELL - Ass. Mastering
DON COBB - Digital Editing
RICK LECOAT - Design
MARK LEIALOHA - Photography
PHIL CARUSO - Photography
TOBY EMMERICH - Executive in charge of music
JONATHAN MC. HUGH - Soundtrack executive
PAUL BROUCEK - Music executives
DANA SANO - Music executives
LORI SILFEN - Music business affairs
MARK KAUFMAN - Music clearance executive

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1998 CD Polygram 536864
1998 CS Polygram 536864

Recorded at Ocean Way Studios, Nashville USA.

"My thanks to Chuck and the band again and again as always. May you ever be allowed out of the house to play with me. Thank you also to Ed Bicknell, Jean Seal and John Horwood at Damage Management and to my assistant Robyn Becker."

MK.

New Line Cinema would like to thank: Ed Bicknell, Bob Bowen, Michael De Luca, Robert De Niro, Carla Fry, Mitch Goldman, Erik Holmberg, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Ric Keeley, Barry Levinson, Bernie Lozea, Michael Lynne, Maria Mirabal, New Line Creative Services, Helle O'Connell, Claire Rudnick Polstein, Paul Prokop, Jane Rosenthal, Mitch Rotter, Erin Scully, Annie Searles, Bob Shaye, Eurydice Tampole, Judy Weng, Mark Jan Wlodarkiewick.



Mark Knopfler wrote and performed the soundtrack to Barry Levinson's political satire Wag the Dog, and it is one of his best scores, alternately graceful and rootsy. Seven of the eight tracks are instrumental, with the last being reserved for the agreeably humorous single, "Wag the Dog."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



"Why does a dog wag its tail? Because the dog is smarter than the tail. If the tail was smarter, it would wag the dog."

Wag the Dog, explaining the title

Hollywood and Presidential politics - perfect together. Anyone who doubts this simple maxim will face a challenge to their opinion when they see Wag the Dog, the hilarious new satire from director Barry Levinson. For, although this film is one of the funniest comedies of the year, it also carries a serious, thought-provoking message about the relationship between politics and mass- market entertainment. This is one of Levinson's best films, and the screenplay, co-penned by noted writer David Mamet (along with Hilary Henkin), is brilliantly on-target.

The premise is relatively simple. Only two weeks before election day, a sitting president is hit by a sex scandal. A brief dalliance with a Firefly Girl becomes public knowledge, and now his 17% lead is about to plummet. Winifred Ames (Anne Heche), one of the President's top aides, calls in spin doctor extraordinary, Conrad Bream (Robert De Niro). Conrad goes to work immediately, deciding that the best way to get the public's mind off the Firefly Girl is to give them something bigger to think about. "Change the story, change the lead" is his motto, so he decides to manufacture a war against Albania. Why Albania? Because the name sounds sinister and no one in the United States knows anything about the country.

Conrad decides that he and Winifred can't do it alone. They need help, so they go to big-time Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman). He has never won an Academy Award, but he's more than willing to help stage the war. They'll need slogans, a theme song, merchandising links, and sympathetic characters. Soon, carefully-controlled leaks to the press make it to the evening news, and everyone is reporting about the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Albania, even though no troops have been moved and no shots have been fired. Actual battles don't matter, however, because, if it's on television, it must be real.

The ones wagging the dog are clearly the spin doctors: Conrad, Stanley, and Winifred. But who is the dog? The media, who eagerly lap up every drop of milk spilled by the White House press staff? The American public, ever-eager for the latest made-for-television war/entertainment? The answer is likely both. And, while Levinson and Mamet are clearly stretching reality beyond the bounds of credibility for the purposes of this satire, there's more than a kernel of truth in the core theme. Political campaigns are often run like Hollywood motion pictures. Television is critical to a candidate's success. And the media loves a good war - just look at the current frenzy that's occurring as hostilities with Iraq rise towards a crescendo.

Levinson directs Wag the Dog with a sure hand. The director has a spotty resume - he has been responsible for winners like Tin Men and Rain Man (also with Hoffman) and losers like Toys. This time around, he's in complete control of the material. Meanwhile, Mamet has honed his pen to its sharpest to systematically slice apart targets ranging from television news reporting methods to the political process. While doing so, he has come up with some innovative interpretations of various recent historical events. For example, who recalls how soon after the Beirut disaster the United States "invaded" Grenada?

The actors all play their roles with zeal. De Niro, getting a chance to essay a character who's not a gangster or a heavy, is delightful, and it's easy to believe that Conrad is the best in the business. If I needed a spin doctor, he'd be first on my list. Hoffman matches him scene for scene as the sleazy-but-ambitious producer. The actor almost never turns in a bad performance, but this is his best in several years, eclipsing what he did in Mamet's American Buffalo. Anne Heche, who has been in the news for her personal life, is capable as the proverbial dumb blond. Woody Harrelson is wonderfully thick doing his best Billy Bob Thornton impression. Cameos include Kirsten Dunst as an actress hired to play an Albanian refugee, William H. Macy as CIA agent Young, and Craig T. Nelson as Senator John Neal, the President's challenger. It is also worth noting that Levinson got around the tricky task of casting the President by never showing his face. This is entirely appropriate, since everything we learn about the man is a shadowy, insubstantial fabrication.

To avoid making Wag the Dog sound too much like an intellectual challenge, let me make this clarification: the movie is intelligent, but it's also a lot of fun. This is the kind of film that you can laugh and think your way through. I look forward to seeing Wag the Dog another time, and I think I'll enjoy it as much, if not more. No matter what your political persuasion is, or how cynically you regard the goings-on in Washington, you will be entertained. Let's just hope Wag the Dog isn't too close to the mark in its depiction of specific events.

© 1997 James Berardinelli



Movie Soundtrack Not a 'Dog'

The instrumental score to the movie "Wag the Dog" by Mark Knopfler cannot compare to other remarkable musical scores from such films as "The Piano" and "The English Patient." "Wag the Dog's" score is less intricate than the music of the other two films. Without an elaborate symphony, Knopfler provides this film with music that is of a simple style, using guitars, drums, organs and pianos.

Mark Knopfler's other soundtrack credits include 1983's "Local Hero," 1984's "Comfort and Joy," "Cal" and 1989's "Last Exit to Brooklyn." Along with those compositions Knopfler also composed the score of the 1987 blockbuster "The Princess Bride."

Knopfler, 48, is probably more well-known as a member of the group Dire Straits than a film composer. Dire Straits' album "Brothers in Arms" has sold more than 30 million copies to date. The group's first hit was "Sultans of Swing," which was on their debut album "Dire Straits."

Knopfler's generally country-like score is surprisingly relaxing with its emphasis on the guitar. The songs within the movie change sound to form an eclectic mix of melodies which includes country hoedown with the song "In the Heartland," Spanish-flavored music in "Just Instinct," and his rendition of Metallica's "Unforgiven" in "An American Hero."

When listening to the soundtrack alone, one would not guess the theme of the thoroughly entertaining political and satirical "Wag the Dog." The soundtrack leads one to think that the movie takes place on a farm or in the country, however, this movie is about politics, war and the entertainment industry. Despite the seemingly wrong sound of the album, the music does enhance the quality of each scene in the movie.

Knopfler has created a relaxing, mellow score to this year's "Wag the Dog."

by REGGIE HUI
Observer Editorial Board



Good music, but very poorly produced. This CD suffers from the lack of imagination and very short length. If you thought the 30-minute Varese releases were atrocious, wait until you get a load of all 19 minutes of score on this one! With the title song, the CD only creeps above the 24-minute mark. This isn't Knopfler's fault, however... the film didn't have much score to begin with.

Many of you may be familiar with Knopfler's enormously popular music for The Princess Bride. This score doesn't have the same diversity, but instead offers some very low-key guitar music with a soft band accompaniment. It is very unobtrusive, and the 20 minutes of it will slip by before you know it. It is hardly noticeable in the film --being completely overshadowed by the songs created by the film's characters.

Which brings me back to the poor production of this CD. Wag the Dog, more than any film in the past few years, is rich with hilarious songs and quotes performed by the main characters. Why not fill in the extra time on the CD with these great moments? At least twenty minutes could have been added with such material. For instance: one or more of Willie Nelson's silly songs... he plays a dimwitted country singer in Nashville (gee...) who conjures up funny, misguided songs with wretched lyrics whenever Hoffman or DeNiro bring up a new subject. The dark, patriotic songs used by the government to brainwash the public are just as enjoyable --especially if you know their context in the film. And do not forget that Wag the Dog is a black comedy (and I don't mean Afro-American!)... it has a plethora of wickedly entertaining lines performed by Hoffman and DeNiro. I'd love to have a few of these on CD, simply because their performances are so mind-boggling. It's like Dr. Strangelove... where would a CD of the film's music be without some lines from the film?

So if you're in search of having some the comical songs from the film on CD, don't be fooled by this release. The Wag the Dog soundtrack has only the most basic background music in the film. Knopfler is not to blame... but with all the rich possibilities that existed with this film and its soundtrack, the CD is a major disappointment. **

Filmtracks Publishing
Copyright © 1998-2000, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved



This album is a low-key 24 minutes long ... a soundtrack that eschews MTV filler in favour of a true musical companion. These seven instrumentals and one title song say a lot in a short time.

Mark Knopfler's easygoing folk-country-roots-rock hybrid works strange wonders behind the film and makes for a relaxed listen on its own. . . .

Entertainment Weekly



Dire Straits-Chef Mark Knopfler meldet sich zurück - mit einem Soundtrack: Zur Politsatire "Wag The Dog" mit Dustin Hoffmann und Robert De Niro (Kinostart: 26. März) steuert er ein Mini-Album bei. Die acht relaxten, stilistisch vielfältigen Häppchen (sieben Instrumentals) des Sängers und Gitarristen lassen teils ("Working On It") den Straits-Sound anklingen. ** Musik: 03-05 ** Klang: 04-05

© Audio



"By definition, movie soundtracks are rarely the main attraction. But Mark Knopfler's score for 'Wag the Dog', Barry Levinson's new satire, is so insubstantial it barely qualifies as even background music. All but one of the tracks on this mini CD are pale New Age instrumentals that do little more than create a mood (usually somnolent). Knopfler's voice has never been his strongest suit, but the vocals he applies to the title track are a cut below a hoarse moan. Nothing even hints at Knopfler's genius for building spare, soulful guitar solos - a skill that made Dire Straits an enduring pleasure of 1980's rock radio. Too often, this former Sultan of Swing seems content to be the Sultan of Sleep. Grade: D"

Tate, Nick - 05.02.98
Atlanta Journal



"Mark Knopfler has dabbled in a broad range of musical areas, as diverse as last year's classical versions of old favourites Brothers In Arms and Sultans of Swing. His new release which is a compilation of music from the film Wag the Dog which features Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. It's yet another step in Mark Knopfler's experimental career. Some die-hard Dire Straits fans might say he's going soft in his old age. But the truth is that Dire Straits was never going to be all that Knopfler achieved.

This album is an instrumental collection, with the exception of the feature single Wag the Dog. Most of the tracks are sombre but still pack a punch, and are very Knopfler. His distinctive style shows strongly through the album, and is well suited to its bluesy feel.

While Knopfler's influence can be detected throughout, this album also has great variety. Its eight tracks have quite a Latin American feel to them. It bears a fair resemblance to Dire Straits final album On Every Street. In that album he explored his Celtic origins and continues his interest in all types of music from all different cultures on this current effort. Knopfler has shown a fancy for Russian music of late and track five, Just Instinct, reflects this interest and adds to the appeal of the project.

This is not just an album for fans of Mark Knopfler but for anyone who appreciates a master at work."

Walmsley, Stuart
Canberra Times



"Sure things are rarities, especially in popular music, where artistic judgement and public interest can so easily waver, making this year's blockbuster artist next year's has-been. But Mark Knopfler has escaped such perils, at least as far as his film scores are concerned. For nearly fifteen years now, the Dire Straits singer and guitarist has achieved a remarkable consistency in his on-screen endeavours, creating lovely, evocative soundtracks to movies as varied as Local Hero, The Princess Bride, and now Wag the Dog.

The film, which stars Robert De Niro as a Washington, D.C., spin doctor who enlists the aid of a Hollywood insider (Dustin Hoffman) to help boost the popularity of an unscrupulous president by creating a fake war, could have been sunk by an overblown score. Knopfler, though, is too canny to fall into that trap, and instead he weaves a lightly witty, heart-of-the-nation kind of musical tapestry, ranging from the two-beat, somewhat Greek folk of 'Just Instinct' to the cool, languid 'Stretching Out,' with its Dylan-ish high organ part. And on the title track, the disc's only vocal number, he pulls off a deadpan, bluesy update of one of those 'Land of 1000 Dances' numbers from the sixties.

Frankly, the only disappointment is that the Wag the Dog soundtrack contains a mere eight tracks. Knopfler's guitar playing remains as alluring and distinctive as ever, and it seems a bit of a tease to release only a mini-album. Still, that's but a small quibble when what you do get feels so good."

Remstein, Bob
Mr. Showbiz



"The film, a political satire about a White House spin doctor, was intended by director Barry Levinson and writer David Mamet to be low-key release (knocked up during downtime on sci-fi blockbuster Sphere), which may explain why the accompanying album is a low key 24 minutes long. Knopfler's bluesy noodling are instantly evocative of Wag The Dog's effortless, laid-back, knowing strokes - further proof that the Notting Hillbillies is a home-grown Ry Cooder when it comes to twangy cinematic scores - so perhaps purists should applaud the integrity of a soundtrack that eschews MTV filler in favour of a true musical companion. These seven instrumentals and one title song say a lot in a short time. Rating: 4/5"

q - 05.98



"With Dire Straits in mothballs, possibly forever, guitarist and frontman Mark Knopfler turns in another of his tasteful and well-played soundtrack albums. The title track is the only vocal piece, a wry, swampy mix of guitar and organ that paints an aural picture of a Bayou roadside. The seven instrumentals that follow are showcases for Knopfler's exceptional musicality, layering acoustic and electric guitars, slides, dobros and other stringed instruments into evocative soundscapes that range from the Sergio Leoneish drama of 'An American Hero' to the jaunty pick 'n' grin of 'Drooling National.'

Graff, Gary
yahoo!



Mark Knopfler ist ein vielseitiger Komponist / Produzent, der mit seiner englischen Band Dire Straits und Songs wie "Sultans Of Swing", "Romeo & Juliet" oder "Money For Nothing" Rockgeschichte schrieb. Mit dem Soundtrack zur Politsatire "Wag The Dog", in dem Robert De Niro und Dustin Hoffman die Hauptrollen spielen, wandelt Mark Knopfler wieder auf Solo-Pfaden. Bereits seit über 15 Jahren komponiert der Gitarrist Filmmusik. Den Anfang machte 1983 die Komödie "Local Hero"; mit weiteren Soundtracks zu Rob Reiners "The Princess Bride" und Ulrich Edels "Last Exit To Brooklyn" konnte er sich als Komponist für Filmmusik aller Coleur etablieren. Sein nächster Soundtrack, "Metroland", wird bereits im März '98 veröffentlicht.

© 2001 Dirk Jasper



Mark Knopfler, Soundtrack to Wag the Dog (Mercury 1998) - "Wag the Dog" is the new political satire from director Barry Levinson. I haven't seen the film. But the soundtrack, performed by the erstwhile front man for Dire Straits, is an enjoyable 28-minute set.

With only eight songs, the new release qualifies as an EP (which is how the disc is priced). The album contains one song with words (the playful title cut, which is cast as a dance number), and seven instrumentals. Mark Knopfler provides guitar work and vocals, and is joined by Richard Bennett on guitars, Jim Cox on piano and Hammond organ, long-time friend, Guy Fletcher, on keyboards, Glenn Worf on bass, and Chad Cromwell on drums.

The album builds off Knopfler's understated, lyric guitar style, and is colored by a countryish twang. In particular, "Stretching Out" is a sweet number, driven by Jim Cox's Hammond organ.

Knopfler is one of the rock world's most inventive and talented guitar players. Wag the Dog may not have the bite of Brothers in Arms, but it's a pleasant companion.

© 1998 Randy Krbechek
 

 L y r i c s


All tracks are instrumental except:

WAG THE DOG

Now you can do the watusi
You can do it if you try
Any puppy dog or pussy
Can do the jerk or do the fly
Now you can do the wooly bully
But can you pull the wooly wooly
Can you wag, can you wag the dog

You got the shimmy and the hustle
It's all the rage downtown
Yeh, you don't have to have the muscle
To get into the mess around
'Cos you can do the wooly bully
But can you pull the wooly wooly
Can you wag, can you wag the dog

So make him sit, make him stay
Come to heel, go play
Roll him over, lie still
Make him go kill, attaboy
Wag that dog, baby

You have had the duck and mashed potato
Funky chicken on a roll
Move on up a little later
To the monkey and the stroll
Now you can do the wooly bully
But can you pull the wooly wooly
Can you wag, can you wag the dog

Now go bow, bow, wow, wow
Now go woof, woof, woof, woof
Yeh that's right
Wag the dog

The locomotion boogaloo
The hully gully and the limbo too
Wag that dog

Yeh hitchhike for me baby
Now we're barefootin'
The funky, funky penguin

That's the bug
And that's the frug
Yeh, but can you wag
Wag the dog, can you wag the dog
Wag the dog, can you wag the dog

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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