Berlin (band)
| Berlin | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | New wave |
| founding | 1979, 1999 |
| resolution | 1988 |
| Website | www.berlinpage.com |
| Founding members | |
| Terri Nunn (1979, 1981–1988) | |
| John Crawford (1979-1987) | |
Keyboard, guitar
|
David Diamond (1982-1984) |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Terri Nunn (since 1999) |
guitar |
Carlton Bost (since 2004) |
Drums |
Chris Olivas (since 2000) |
Keyboard |
Dave Schulz (since 2009) |
| former members | |
singing |
Toni Childs (1979) |
singing |
Virginia Macolino (1980) |
| Rod Learned (1979–1982) | |
Drums |
Rob Brill (1982-1987) |
guitar |
Ric Olsen (1982-1984) |
Keyboard |
Matt Reid (1982-1985) |
Keyboard |
Mitchell Sigman (2002-2009) |
Berlin is a Californian pop band that was founded in 1979 by John Crawford and Terri Nunn under the influence of the group Blondie and the synthesizer pioneers Kraftwerk and Ultravox .
Berlin celebrated its greatest commercial success in 1986 with the song Take My Breath Away from the soundtrack of the movie Top Gun . Other hits were The Metro , later covered by +44 , System of a Down and the Alkaline Trio , and No More Words .
In 1988 the group separated. It was not until 1999 that Terri Nunn re-formed the band with other musicians.
Band history
1979–1980: beginnings
Berlin was founded as a new wave band in 1979 when John Crawford answered an ad from singer Terri Nunn. Already in the founding year Nunn got out because she wanted to devote herself to her acting career. She was initially replaced by Toni Childs , but after only one month Childs cleared the place for Virginia Macolino. The band's first single, A Matter of Time , was released in 1980 on the band's own label, Zone H Records.
1981–1985: Brief separation and first chart successes
In 1981 the band split, only to reunite a few months later with the returned Nunn. Alongside Mötley Crüe, Berlin was the first band to be signed by Enigma Records. There - after the label Geffen Records had rejected a contract with the group - the EP Pleasure Victim was released in 1982 , which sold 25,000 times within a month. Geffen Records then bought the rights to the work and re-released it in 1983. A gold record was the result. This work contains the early hits Sex (I'm a…) and The Metro .
In 1984 the album Love Life produced by Giorgio Moroder was released. The album reached number 28 in the US charts, the single No More Words came to number 23.
1986–1987: breakthrough
In the summer of 1986 Berlin achieved their greatest commercial success with the Oscar- winning Top Gun Love theme Take My Breath Away , also produced by Moroder : The song topped the charts in several important music markets. Contrary to expectations, the following album, Count Three and Pray, turned out to be significantly less successful. In 1988 the group separated.
1988–1998: Dissolution and solo projects
Bandleader Crawford and drummer Brill formed the group The Big F, which released the album Is in 1993 . Crawford also played two solo albums. Terri Nunn released the solo album Moment of Truth in 1991 .
Since 1999: Various comeback attempts
In 1999 Terri Nunn put together a new line-up, with which she has since released two studio albums and several live records. On the first of the studio albums, Voyeur , Billy Corgan was involved in the songwriting of the song Sacred and Profane .
A reunion took place in 2004 when VH1 reunited the members from the 1980s for a concert as part of the Bands Reunited series . In 2005 Berlin released a cover version of the Prince song Erotic City (1984) on their album 4play . In September 2013 the album Animal was released with the new keyboardist Dave Schulz.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1983 | Pleasure Victim | - | - | - | - |
US30th  (34 weeks)US |
First published: November 1982
|
| 1984 | Love life | - | - | - | - |
US28  (30 weeks)US |
First published: September 1984
|
| 1986 | Count Three & Pray |
DE61 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK32  (11 weeks)UK |
US61 (20 weeks) US |
First published: October 1986
|
More albums
- 1980: information
- 2000: Live: Sacred and Profane
- 2002: voyeur
- 2005: 4play
- 2009: All the Way In (with Terri Nunn )
- 2013: Animal
- 2019: Transcendance
Compilations
- 1987: Dancing in Berlin
- 1988: Best of Berlin 1979–1988 (US:gold)
- 1997: Master Series
- 2000: The Greatest Hits Remixed
- 2004: Metro Greatest Hits
- 2009: Greatest Hits
EPs
- 1999: Fall into Heaven
- 1999: Fall into Heaven 2
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1983 | Sex (I'm a ...) Pleasure Victim |
- | - | - | - |
US62 (7 weeks) US |
First published: February 1983
|
| The Metro Pleasure Victim |
- | - | - | - |
US58 (10 weeks) US |
First published: April 1983
|
|
| Masquerade Pleasure Victim |
- | - | - | - |
US82 (3 weeks) US |
First published: September 1983
|
|
| 1984 | No More Words Love Life |
- | - | - | - |
US23 (17 weeks) US |
First published: February 1984
|
| Now It's My Turn Love Life |
- | - | - | - |
US74 (4 weeks) US |
First published: June 1984
|
|
| 1986 |
Take My Breath Away Count Three & Pray |
DE3 (18 weeks) DE |
AT4 (14 weeks) AT |
CH2 (14 weeks) CH |
UK1 (30 weeks)UK |
US1 (21 weeks) US |
First published: June 1986
|
| Like Flames Count Three & Pray |
DE36 (12 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK47 (3 weeks) UK |
US82 (5 weeks) US |
First published: October 1986
|
|
| 1987 | You Don't Know Count Three & Pray |
- | - | - |
UK39 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: December 1986
|
More singles
- 1979: A Matter of Time
- 1980: Fascination
- 1982: Pleasure Victim
- 1984: Dancing in Berlin
- 1984: Selections from Love Life
- 1986: Pink and Velvet
- 2003: With a Touch
Video albums
- 1984: Berlin (VHS)
- 1987: Wam Bam, Live in Japan (Laserdisc)
- 2003: Intimate (DVD)
Awards for music sales
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
| Country / Region |
silver |
gold |
platinum
|
Sales | swell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
|
United States (RIAA)
|
- |
2 × gold2
|
platinum1
|
2,000,000 | riaa.com |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
silver1
|
gold1
|
- | 460,000 | bpi.co.uk |
| All in all |
silver1
|
3 × gold3
|
platinum1
|
||
swell
- ↑ Facts and Works
- ↑ a b Chart sources: Singles Albums UK Billboard 200
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
Web links
- Berlin at Allmusic (English)
- Berlin at Discogs (English)
- Fan Page (English)
- Ric Olsen's Berlin page
- Biography (English)
- Interview with Terri Nunn (English)
- Singles Discography on 45cat.com
- Discography on rateyourmusic.com