10 Classic Songs With Killer Guest Stars
6. Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
Dire Straits' ascent to the top of the charts in the '80s is something that just shouldn't have worked on paper.
For as normal as these guys seemed playing music on stage, their songs ended up becoming mainstays of the MTV like "So Far Away" and "Walk of Life." However, if you're making a song that's going to become a classic, it's probably best to bring in a helping hand if you can.
While most people are well aware of the guitar lick that kicks off "Money for Nothing," the real allure of the song comes in before that, when a disembodied voice prefaces everything with "I Want My MTV." The sound is so distant that it could almost be perceived as a synth line, but when you peel back all the layers, it's actually Sting from the Police.
Collaborating around the time that The Police were falling apart, Sting ducked into the band's studio space to add sporadic backing vocals to the mix, many of which were taken from The Police's "Synchronicity II." Mark Knopfler definitely made his guitar sing across every minute of this track, but the combination of his lead tone and Sting's spectral croon ended up being a match made in heaven.