Berlin

New Wave band Berlin made their TV debut in 1980 on Hollywood Heartbeat, a precursor to MTV that was hosted by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch. Berlin’s controversial single “Sex (I’m A...)” was so popular on the influential L.A. radio station KROQ that it made the band the subject of a record-label bidding war. ∙ After Geffen Records reissued their 1982 indie LP, Pleasure Victim, it became their first and only Platinum album. ∙ The group’s music video for “The Metro”—featuring lead singer Terri Nunn’s dramatic portrayal of a lovelorn woman riding on a Paris train—was a staple during the early years of MTV. ∙ “Take My Breath Away,” their collaboration with producer Giorgio Moroder, topped the Pop charts and won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for its use in the 1986 Tom Cruise film Top Gun. ∙ Their songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Peaches, System of a Down, and Mike Patton’s side-project with Dan the Automator, Lovage.