Berlin hit #1 with “Take My Breath Away”

Take My Breath Away Berlin

Writer(s): Giorgio Moroder, Tom Whitlock (see lyrics here) Released: June 15, 1986 First Charted: June 21, 1986 Peak: 11 US, 11 CB, 5 GR, 2 RR, 3 AC, 1 CO, 14 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.83 UK, 2.41 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1022.30 video, 423.13 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Jerry Bruckheimer, the co-producer for 1986’s Top Gun, approached Giorgio Moroder, a pioneer of electronic dance music best known for work with Donna Summer, to write a song for the film. Moroder responded with “Danger Zone.” When Bruckheimer liked it and asked for a slower song to fit a romantic scene, Moroder responded with the “smoldering tune” TB “Take My Breath Away.” He recorded a demo on a synthesizer which had a distinct bass sound. It ended up on the final recording. WK Moroder turned to Tom Whitlock to write lyrics for both songs. “Take My Breath Away” was originally offered to the Motels WK but then both songs were offered to the new wave group Berlin. FB The group found an audience on college rock radio in the early ‘80s with “The Metro” and “Sex (I’m A…)” before hitting the top 40 with “No More Words.” Moroder was interested in the band recording “Danger Zone” as a duet, but they liked “Take My Breath Away” more. FB The other song was given to Kenny Loggins, who had a #2 hit with the song. The title phrase had been running through Whitlock’s head. His idea was a song that captured, as he said, “asking for that kind of awe, something so striking that you can’t breathe.” FB He wrote the words after listening to Giorgio’s music and seeing most of the movie. The love scene was actually reshot to better fit the song. FB While a #1 song would seemingly be good fortune, it had a detrimental effect on Berlin. Lead singer Terri Nunn wanted to record it, but John Crawford, the band’s songwriter and keyboardist, didn’t think it was the right direction for the band and didn’t want to record a song they hadn’t written. SF While “Take My Breath Away” gained new audiences on adult contemporary stations, the rock stations where Berlin had built a following thought it was too top 40. The band struggled to get future spins on rock stations and disbanded in 1987 after releasing their fourth album, Count Three and Pray. Nunn revived the group in 1999, but without any of the other members. She eventually reunited with Crawford and David Diamond, the band’s co-founders, for the 2019 album Transcendance. Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 647. SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 223. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 11/28/2020; last updated 4/29/2024.

Berlin “The Metro” charted

The Metro Berlin

Writer(s): John Crawford (see lyrics here) Released: 1981 First Charted: May 28, 1983 Peak: 58 US, 50 CB, 2 CO, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.6 video, 12.17 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 singles “Tell Me Why” and “The Metro” in 1981. A full EP, Pleasure Victim, followed in 1982 which featured a remixed version of “The Metro.” Geffen Records then signed the band and re-released the album in early 1983, promoted by the single “Sex (I’m A…).” That song reached #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was followed by the re-release of “The Metro.” This time the song charted, hitting #58. While radio stations didn’t give the song a lot of attention, it had heavy rotation on MTV. The video gave them an attractive female to show alongside their largely male-dominated playlist. She was exhausted from shooting the subway scene repeatedly and broke down in tears. They used the footage in the video. As far as the song, Nunn said it “defined us and defined that period of music.” WK The recording has in fact, become known for “epitomizing the new wave genre.” WK The band’s bass player, John Crawford, wrote the song about a woman riding the Metro, the underground train system in Paris, to see an ex-love. “The moments of this meeting and the lead up to it are etched in her memory, as she recalls the train ride in vivid detail, including the soldier sleeping next to her.” SF Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/2/2022.

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.