Berlin

Emerging from the Southern California punk and new wave club circuits and fronted by singer Terri Nunn, Berlin became one of the defining American mainstream electronic acts of the 1980s.

Founded by bassist and core songwriter John Crawford, the band went through minor lineup shuffles before recruiting Nunn (who had played Jeannie in the 1978 disco-era comedy film Thank God It’s Friday).

They then scored an early underground club hit with the pulsing track The Metro.

On a budget of just $2,900, they recorded the 1982 EP Pleasure Victim, which included the synth-driven track Sex (I’m a . . .).

The EP attracted major-label attention, leading to the gold-certified 1984 album Love Life, which produced a Top 40 American hit with the catchy track No More Words.

In 1986, producer Giorgio Moroder asked Berlin to record a sweeping romantic ballad for a movie soundtrack.

That song was Take My Breath Away, which became the love theme for the Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun (1986).

The track reached #1 on charts worldwide and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Ironically, this massive victory fractured the band. John Crawford and other members resented that an outsider wrote their biggest hit rather than the band itself, leading to intense personal and creative friction.

Exhausted and divided, Berlin officially disbanded in 1987.

Terri Nunn secured the rights to the group’s name after a lengthy legal dispute in the 1990s and resurrected Berlin with a new lineup in 1997.

The core classic trio of Nunn, John Crawford, and keyboardist David Diamond officially reconciled decades later, releasing new studio work like Transcendance and their sweeping orchestral catalogue reimagining, Strings Attached.

Terri Nunn
Vocals
John Crawford
Bass, synthesizer
David Diamond
Guitar, synthesizer
Ric Olsen
Guitar
Matt Reid
Synthesizer
Rod Learned
Drums
Rob Brill
Drums
Chris Ruiz-Velasco
Guitar