Terri Nunn and the band Berlin were already well along the path to superstardom when they were asked to record a song for the 1986 Tom Cruise film “Top Gun.”
The song was the Giorgio Moroder produced-and-composed “Take My Breath Away,” which turned out to be incredible vehicle for Nunn’s memorably breathy vocals and the New Wave band’s lush synth-pop sound.
It also turned out to be one of the biggest tunes of the year, taking Berlin to the top of the charts for the first (and only) time, winning the Oscar for original song and basically securing the band’s place in ‘80s pop culture history.
Now, fans have the chance to have their breath taken away all over again by listening to Berlin’s terrific new release “Strings Attached,” which finds the band revisiting its biggest songs — including “Metro,” “No More Words” and, yes, “Take My Breath Away” — with the accompaniment of a full philharmonic orchestra.
I recently had the chance to talk with Nunn about “Strings Attached” — which is now out on the August Day Recordings label — as well as life with the SoCal-born Berlin, which also features primary songwriter/bassist John Crawford and keyboardist David Diamond. For more information about the band and the new album, visit berlinpage.com.
Q: Hi, Terri. Such a treat to get to chat with you today. Let’s jump right into the main event here and talk about the new album. What led you and the band to take on this project?
A: I had played with orchestras prior to (August Day) approaching us. I had been with, maybe three or four times, different orchestras around America. It was mainly for charity events.
The first time I played with an orchestra — and they were playing my music — I cried. I never heard my music sound like this. It was huge. It was absolutely majestic.
It was so wonderful that anytime I got an invitation to play with an orchestra again, I took it. Because it’s just so fantastic to me.
So, when (August Day) came along and asked if “we’d like to do an entire album of Berlin music with an orchestra,” I was like, “Let me think about it … YEAH!”
Q: One thing that impressed me was how the songs didn’t lose an ounce of their New Wave bite in these new arrangements. Did you have any initial concerns that these versions might not have quite the same edge as the original models?
A: I didn’t once this opportunity came along from August Day, because of the previous experience I had. And also, Jim, because we’re a synthesizer band. Strings and horns and all of those sounds — we’ve been putting them into our music forever, because you can with synthesizers. Those lush sounds — not as a good as a live orchestra, not even close — but they were already in our music anyway. So, it wasn’t like we were completely changing.
It wasn’t like the Rolling Stones, right? If the Rolling Stones do it — it’s kind of weird, because it’s not what they do. They are a blues band, in their hearts, in their souls. So that would be like, “Whoa. What’s that?” It’s a completely different come from.
But for a band like Berlin, it’s not a different come from. We’ve been using those sounds for a long time. So, this is making them bigger and more lush. It’s a marriage made in Heaven to me, because (the orchestra musicians) are so much better at it.
Q: Many people think of Berlin in terms of three or four well-known songs. But this album reminded me that the band had so many other cool tunes as well. Do you think the band gets proper credit for the depth of its songbook?
A: For myself, I live in appreciation that I am still doing this after 40 years. I had no idea that this would go on so long — that we’d not only still be playing, but we’d be creating new albums. For 40 years? I am just grateful.
But when I look at a lot of John’s songs, and the depth of what he was writing from his 20s to his 30s and how it holds up now … yeah, I don’t think he got his due as a songwriter.
But — you know what? — we are still out there and we are still playing and we are still getting opportunities like this. So, who knows? I guess, he’s continuing to get more of his due, because these opportunities keep coming up. So maybe in the past he didn’t, but — hey — the game ain’t over yet.
Q: Your best known hit, of course, is “Take My Breath Away.” What was it like to be a part of that whole “Top Gun” mania going on at the time?
A: It was a whirlwind. Being part of something that was just so huge. We had never had a No. 1 single. We had had a top 30 hit — with “No More Words” — at that point.
That movie was sweeping the country and — oh, my God — everything changed for the band. We had already been working our asses off at that point because we were in the machine of make an album, go out on tour, make an album, go out on tour. And it just had been nonstop, as record labels do. I don’t blame them for that. They were trying to make back their investment and ride the Berlin gravy train for as long as it was going to go. Because nobody knows how long it is going to go. So that’s their goal — work the band until they either die or overdose or break up. Who knows what’s going to happen first?
When (“Top Gun”) happened, now, all of sudden the whole world wants tours from us. And I was like, “Great.” But now we’re working even more.
Q: And I’m sure that can also be pretty stressful on a band.
A: The reason we broke up after that record was really — now that I look back on it — we were just tired and we weren’t smart enough to say, “Hey, we need a break and then we’ll get back to this.” That’s what we should have done. Because that’s really all that was going on. We just needed to get off the road and stop thinking about music for — even three months would have been enough.
But instead we weren’t smart enough about that, we didn’t have people around us caring enough about our well-being to say that, so we turned on each other.
That’s really what happened. Now that we are back together, we look back at that time and we realize that none of that was that important. We had disagreements about the music, but with a good night’s sleep — for a month — we could have gotten through that.
Q: Even though the breakup obviously wasn’t permanent, and the band would get back together in the late ‘90s, I still wonder if you might have any resentments toward “Take My Breath Away”?
A: I have no resentments toward it. I have never had a resentment toward it. I was so excited to work with Giorgio Moroder — first with “No More Words.” Then he got the job for “Top Gun” while we were working on “No More Words.” That’s the reason we even got a chance at doing “Take My Breath Away.” It was simply being in the right place at the right time.
Q: That’s a pretty cool turn of events.
A: I loved the song. I loved his work. The problem — and now I see it — is that John Crawford, in the band, was the main writer. By that record, he was struggling to write another hit and write what the record label wanted.
And John is just like, “How do I do this?” and he’s struggling and (the record company execs) keep coming back saying, “We don’t hear a hit.”
Then this guy comes in — Giorgio Moroder just sweeps in — with one song and we have this massive hit. And John was just (hurt) like, “(Expletive), how is this happening? Why didn’t I write that? Why do we have to have a hit from somebody else?”
It was hard for him. I completely see that now. Of course. He’s trying to keep his band going and he feels like it’s getting taken away from him.
Q: Well, it was definitely one of those songs. Even all these decades later, it’s still pretty easy for me to recall the exact moment — who I was with, where we were — when I heard the song for while watching “Top Gun” for the first time.
A: “Awww, thank you. I think one of my crowning achievements, because Giorgio to me is one of the greatest producers and writers of all time, was to hear him say that is his favorite work of anything he’s ever done. And this guy — he did Bowie and Blondie and Donna Summer. Wow. That’s a big deal for me.
Q: I am imagining you’ve heard so many stories from fans about their experiences with that song over the years — dealing with first kisses, lost loves, etc.
A: Yup. That and “Sex (I’m A …).” Those two songs instigating a lot of fun stuff. (Laughs)
Q: You grew up in Oscar country, under the famed Hollywood sign as the daughter of former child actor Larry Nunn, and pursued a career in the industry at a young age as well. So, what was it like to see a song that you sang — “Take My Breath Away” — win the Academy Award for best original song?
A: (Long exhale) It kind of goes back to your other question — “What was it like to be in this whirlwind?” It just kept whirlwinding. It won an Oscar. It won a Golden Globe. And you know what, Jim? It’s still whirlwinding. I still get almost weekly requests for movies and TV shows that want that song. They just have so much connection with it and they still want to put it in everything.
Q: I know there is a new “Top Gun” movie coming out. Will that song, or Berlin in any fashion, be involved with the movie?
A: We are not doing any more music for that movie. They were talking about putting it in like a scene and having Tom Cruise go, “Hey, I really like that song.” (Laughs) So, we’ll see if that happens.
