Twisting by the Pool

"Twisting by the Pool" is a song by British rock band Dire Straits that appears on ExtendedancEPlay. It was released as a single in 1983, peaking at No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart and at No. 12 on the US Billboard Rock Top Tracks chart.

"Twisting by the Pool"
Single by Dire Straits
from the album ExtendedancEPlay
B-side	"Two Young Lovers" "If I Had You"
Released	14 January 1983 (1983-01-14)[1]
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	3:32
Label	Vertigo
Songwriter(s)	Mark Knopfler
Producer(s)	Mark Knopfler
Dire Straits singles chronology
"Private Investigations" (1982) "Twisting by the Pool" (1983) "Love over Gold (Live Version)" (1984)

Composition

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 182 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of A major with Knopfler's vocal range spanning from A₂ to E₄. The song has a basic sequence of A–D–E as its chord progression.^[2]

Critical reception

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic retrospectively praised the song, calling it "the closest thing to exuberant rock & roll this seemingly humorless band had ever attempted."^[3]

Live performances

The song was performed live as early as 1979 and is featured on the Live at the Rainbow concert recorded in London, December 1979 and released in 2024 as part of the Dire Straits Live 1978-1992 box set.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1983) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 6 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6] 18 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 7 France (IFOP)[8] 29 Ireland (IRMA)[9] 13 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[1] 6 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[12] 6 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 13 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 11 UK Singles (OCC)[15] 14 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[16] 12 West Germany (GfK)[17] 31

Year-end charts Chart (1983) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[18][19] 14 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 66 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 17

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand)