Berlin (band)

Berlin
Berlin, 1984. L-R: David Diamond, Rob Brill, Terri Nunn, John Crawford, Matt Reid, and Ric Olsen.
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	New wave, synthpop
Years active	1978–1987, 1997–present
Labels	Enigma, Geffen, Columbia, Time Bomb
Associated acts	The Big F
Website	www.berlinpage.com
Members	Terri Nunn Dave Schulz Carlton Bost Chris Olivas
Past members	Joseph Diforte Mitchell Sigman Rob Brill John Crawford David Diamond Rod Learned Virginia Macolino Jo Julian Ric Olsen Dan Van Patten Matt Reid Chris Ruiz-Velasco Roger O'Donnell Toni Childs

Berlin is an American new wave band. The group was formed in Orange County in 1978 by John Crawford (bass guitar). Band members included Crawford, Terri Nunn (vocals), David Diamond (keyboards), Ric Olsen (guitar), Matt Reid (keyboards) and Rod Learned (drums). The band gained mainstream-commercial success in the early 1980s with singles including "The Metro", "Sex (I'm A...)", "No More Words" and then in the mid 1980s with the chart-topping single "Take My Breath Away" from the 1986 film Top Gun.

Despite its name, Berlin did not have any known major connections with the capital of Germany, but instead was formed in Orange County, California in 1978; the name was chosen to make them seem European and exotic. They were inspired by the keyboard work of Kraftwerk, Devo, Sparks and The Screamers. Their first single, "A Matter of Time," was released in early 1979 on Zone-H Records. The single was re-issued in 1980 featuring a replacement vocalist, Virginia Macolino, after Terri Nunn had temporarily left the band to pursue an acting career; at one point, Nunn auditioned for the role of Leia Organa in the movie Star Wars. This was followed by the album Information. At this point, the band was having trouble gaining the attention and respect of the recording industry: according to Nunn, "It was all skinny ties and a lot of upbeat, happy guitar stuff. The record labels just didn't understand what we were doing."

Terri Nunn rejoined the band as singer in 1980, and they signed to independent label Enigma Records on which they released a double A-sided single, "Tell Me Why" / "The Metro". The single was intended as a one-off, since Crawford was by then focusing on his new band Fahrenheit and regarded Berlin as a "just for fun" side project. However, the single was a success, helping to finance the EP album, Pleasure Victim, which was recorded on a $2,900 budget. The EP included 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. The song was intentionally written and composed to get airplay on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, which specialized in playing music that was not heard on other stations, and of which members of the group were fans. Due to the attention brought on by the single, wider release offers were made by larger record labels for Pleasure Victim. Geffen Records' offer was accepted and the label re-released Pleasure Victim worldwide in early 1983. The label also re-released "The Metro", which then became another hit. The band appeared at the 1983 US Festival.