Berlin (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Berlin
Origin Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre(s) New Wave(1979 - 1987)
Industrial Rock (1999 - Present)
Years active 1979 - 1987, 1999 - present
Label(s) Geffen
Associated
acts
The Big F
Members
Terri Nunn
Former members
David Diamond
Rod Learned
John Crawford
Matt Reid
Ric Olsen
Rob Brill
Virginia Macolino

Berlin is an American new wave band featuring lead singer Terri Nunn.

Contents

Berlin was formed in Orange County, California in the late 1970's. Their first single, "A Matter of Time," was released in 1980 on I.R.S. Records and featured replacement vocalist Virginia Macolino on lead vocals after Nunn had temporarily left the band to pursue an acting career. Terri at one point auditioned for the role of Princess Leia in the movie Star Wars. They were then signed to independent label Enigma Records where they had their first significant hit: the controversial synth-driven "Sex (I'm A...)" (1982), which was banned by some radio stations due to its graphic lyrics. Later "Take My Breath Away" (from the movie Top Gun) became their best-selling single in 1986 and a huge international hit. They had two other hits: "The Metro" and "No More Words", whose subsequent video saw Terri Nunn and bandmates re-enact a Bonnie and Clyde style car chase and shoot-out.

Aside from Nunn, the core members of the band were founding member John Crawford (primary songwriter, bass guitar & Synthesizer), and David Diamond (Synthesizer & guitar). Other members of the band included Ric Olsen (lead guitar), Matt Reid (Synthesizer), Rob Brill (drums: 1982-1987) and Rod Learned (drums: 1979-1982). Berlin officially disbanded in 1987, partly due to the lack of success of their album Count Three and Pray despite its major hit "Take My Breath Away"; and Nunn retained the legal rights to usage of the band's name after legal wranglings with the founding member of the group, John Crawford. Terri Nunn recreated Berlin (with a new lineup of musicians) in 1999.

In 2000-2001 Berlin contributed to several artist tribute albums. The only track to make it on to a full Berlin release is a cover of Marilyn Manson's "The Dope Show", which is included on Berlin's 4play album as well as the Marilyn Manson tribute album Anonymous Messiah (2001 Vitamin Records). Other tributes include material by Madonna and Blondie.

The classic version of Berlin was featured on the VH1 show, Bands Reunited where all members (except for Rob Brill) agreed to not only reunite as friends but as a band. They played one show at The Roxy in California to a sold-out crowd.

From Information :

  • "A Matter of Time" (1980)
  • "Fascination" (1980)

From Pleasure Victim :

  • "Tell Me Why" (1981)
  • "Sex (I'm A...)" (1982) #62 US, #5 Canada
  • "The Metro" (1983) #58 US
  • "Masquerade" (1983) #82 US

From Love Life :

  • "No More Words" (1984) #23 US, #1 NZ
  • "Now it's my Turn" (1984) #74 US
  • "Dancing In Berlin" (1984) #12 NZ
  • "Touch" (1985)

From Count Three and Pray :

From Voyeur :

  • "Blink of an Eye" (2002)
  • "With a Touch" (2003)

In the UK, "Take My Breath Away" was re-released twice: in 1988, it charted at #52, and in 1990, it reached #3.

  • "No More Words" was also included as the B-side of Madonna's #1 hit of 1985, "Crazy for You". Both songs were part of the soundtrack for the film Vision Quest. Nonetheless, "No More Words" is not included in the soundtrack album.
  • Terri Nunn has said she was somewhat taken aback by the success of "Take My Breath Away" on Adult Contemporary radio stations, since none of Berlin's singles up to that point had been suitable for AC radio. She is quoted in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson as saying that the first radio station she heard playing it was a station her mother listened to. "Take My Breath Away" peaked at #3 on the Billboard AC chart and was the only Berlin single to enter that chart. However, Terri Nunn recorded a duet with Paul Carrack, "Romance," for the soundtrack of the 1989 film Sing, and it reached #14 on the AC chart while missing the pop charts.
  • Terri Nunn auditioned for the role of Princess Leia Organa in the film Star Wars.[citation needed]
  • "Sex (I'm A...)" is on of the songs featured on the in-game radio station The Wave 103 in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006).
  • Heavy metal band System of a Down covered "The Metro" for the Dracula 2000 soundtrack.

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.