Song · Dire Straits
“Calling Elvis” by Dire Straits
From the album On Every Street (1991)
“Calling Elvis” by Dire Straits appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1991 and 2021. It was first released in 1991 on the album On Every Street. Its best result is #10 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1991. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #71 alternative song of 1991.
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Mark Knopfler got the idea for "Calling Elvis" after taking his phone off the hook one day: his brother-in-law, who kept trying and failing to reach him, joked that Knopfler was tougher to reach than Elvis Presley. The song became the first single from On Every Street, the last studio album Dire Straits ever made, released in August 1991 through Vertigo and Warner Bros.
Knopfler wrote it and produced it with the band, and it's a sly joke told at a loping roots-rock pace: a fan convinced Elvis is still out there somewhere, the lyric sprinkled with nods to "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be Cruel", "Return to Sender" and the rest of the catalog. Neil Dorfsman mixed it. It reached 21 in the UK and went top 10 in plenty of other countries.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 67 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1991 | 91 |
| 1991 | 10 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1991 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 738 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
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