Berlin “Sex (I’m A…)” charted

Sex (I’m A…) Berlin

Writer(s): John Crawford, David Diamond, Terri Nunn (see lyrics here) Released: February 1983 First Charted: March 5, 1983 Peak: 62 US, 57 CB, 10 AR, 2 CO, 4 CN, 81 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.67 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Berlin formed in Los Angeles in 1976 as the Toys. Two years later, they changed their name to Berlin. They had no connections to the German capital, but thought the name made them sound more European and exotic. They scrapped original singer Tyson A. Cobb and after a brief stint with Toni Childs at the helm, settled on Terri Nunn as the lead singer. She left to pursue acting and the band released the 1980 album Information with Virginia Macolino on vocals. Nunn rejoined the group in 1980 and Enigma Records released the single “Tell Me Why.” It was enough of a success to warrant a full EP, Pleasure Victim, which was released in 1982. Berlin then released the “lascivious novelty” AMG single “Sex (I’m A…).” The group wrote the song specifically to get attention from Los Angeles radio station KROQ, which would specialize in music not played by other stations. The song is sung as a duet between Nunn and John Crawford. It called attention to all the ways women were viewed through a sexual lens while Crawford simply sings “I’m a man” over and over. Because of what were deemed graphic lyrics, some radio stations banned the song. It still garnered enough attention for the band to be signed by Geffen Records, who re-released the Pleasure Victim album in early 1983. The song garnered enough attention to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and reach the top 10 on the album rock chart. The Pleasure Victim album showed how Berlin was “baldly crass in its positioning of…Nunn as a sex kitten (posing her in the nude on the inner sleeve, listing her contributions as ‘vocals, bjs’ in the liner notes).” AMG They seemed to be courting controversy just for the sake of gaining attention. Overall, though, the album “holds up quite well as a piece of early-‘80s synth pop” AMG with “Sex (I’m A…)” becoming a staple of the new wave genre. Resources: AMG All Music Guide review of Pleasure Victim WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/2/2022.