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| "Hey kid, wanna buy a mink stole? Worn only once." |
Of course, it was "The Metro" with its punk-electro production and heavily nuanced lyrics recalling what we somehow came to visualize as a tryst aboard a moving train between two strangers that pre-dated Tom Cruise's breakout performance in "Risky Business" by a solid year.
If only that had been the song, and the Tom Cruise movie, that had taken the band to #1.
Ah, but rather than dream about what could have been, let us instead celebrate the return of Berlin's core original line-up to Chicago on September 10 for what is shaping up to be a packed house at City Winery. Grab your tickets HERE.
We must ask, though, was the Metro not available?
Of course, to get properly prepped for the show, we recently revisited the band's Geffen Records catalog to see how it has held up in the 30+ years since their Pleasure Victim EP rocked many a teenage world.
We also spent some quality time with the band's brand new "reunion" album Transcendance, which sees singer Terri Nunn re-teaming with original members John Crawford and David Diamond.
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| "Hey kid..." |
Anyone else remember seeing full page ads for this indie EP in the pages of Trouser Press magazine and being immediately intrigued?
Prior to the release of this eye-catching EP, the band had issued a 7" single ("Tell Me Why" b/w "The Metro"), which became a massive local hit, helping to finance the sessions and pry Crawford & Van Patten away from their other band once and for all.
Originally released on the same M.A.O. label that would spawn SSQ (featuring singer Stacey Q and producer Jon St. James), Enigma Records soon swooped in to aid in distribution, moving over 20,000 copies in mere months.
With "Sex (I'm A)" garnering notable spins on the influential alternative radio station KROQ, the band was soon taking offers from several majors before David Geffen made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
Recorded for less than $3,000, the album's icy synthetic sound recalled John Foxx-era Ultravox and added to the band's trashy European aesthetic. "The Metro" and "Masquerade" both charted on the Top 100, surely making this the best three grand any U.S. band has ever spent.
Love Life (1984)
After the lo-fi charm of Pleasure Victim, fans of the band were more than curious how life on a major label would change the band's sound. Knowing that all eyes (and ears) were upon them, they enlisted Mike Howlett, who was riding high after producing the first two A Flock of Seagull albums, and hit the studio with what they believed to be a stellar batch of songs.
Upon turning the masters into Geffen, however, the Geffen A&R staffers told the band they didn't hear a single.
What neither the band or their fans knew was just how much this decision would change the trajectory of this band once and for all.
Enter disco impresario Giorgio Moroder and pop producer Richie Zito, who, in the space of two songs ("No More Words" and "Dancing In Berlin"), gave the album the pop sound for which it is best remembered.
Sadly, once Geffen hit pay-dirt with "No More Words", the label seemed unwilling to promote either Howlett-produced single to any real extent, allowing stellar tracks "Now Its My Turn"and "Touch" to die on the vine.
In hindsight, "Touch" would have made for a perfect lead-off single, providing a stylistic bridge between "The Metro" and "No More Words".
Instead, although the band did not know it yet, Moroder was not done influencing the direction of their career.
Count 3 And Pray (1986)
Back in the '80s, two-and-a-half years between albums was just long enough for a generation of devoted fans to forget all about you. Thankfully, Berlin had an ace up their sleeve in the form of the love ballad from the hit movie "Top Gun" (a.k.a., "Take My Breath Away"), which dominated radio airwaves all summer and went to #1 in six countries, including the US.
Of course, by tacking that song onto this album, its presence completely overshadowed the rest of the album, which, at the end of the day, was just as well because Count 3 is a big budget boondoggle on every level.
First off, the band was in shambles and about as unhappy as any band that just scored a #1 hit could be. Then, of course, you add a big name rock producer like Bob Ezrin to the mix and suddenly the expectations for this album have gone through the roof.
The credits read like a who's who of random musicians who just so happened to be in L.A. at the time (Ted Nugent, Elliot Easton, and David Gilmour, just to name a few ) and exactly one Missing Person (Patrick O'Hearn), none of whom could save this album from itself.
Revisiting the LP for the first time in over 30 years for this article, one is quickly reminded just how bad things had gotten in 1986 for bands that had dominated the then-exploding new wave scene just a few short years earlier.
Having said that, once you adjust your ears to the onslaught of late '80s synth bells n' whistles, you can appreciate the album for its day-glo absurdity because, by then, Nunn had learned to approach each song like that of a movie role, often rising above so-so material.
To play armchair A&R man for a moment, one can only wonder how differently the album's fate might have been had Geffen released "You Don't Know" as the single that followed "Take My Breath Away". The song is just similar enough, musically, and Nunn's vocals are, in a word, breathtaking.
Instead, the song was released in the U.S. after "Like Flames" had failed to generate any buzz at radio or MTV and initial interest in the album had waned.
Rather than take an extended breather to refuel their creative jets, the band broke up.
Transcendance (2019)
In the three decades that have passed since the band called it a day, these American synth-pop pioneers have seen electronic music dominate the marketplace all over the world, thereby making it near impossible to differentiate themselves in a genre they helped define.
Out of the gate, the album has such an in-the-box feel to it that you can't imagine an actual band taking part in its creation. Then, little by little, the band that time forgot begins to reveal itself ever so slightly. "Show Me Tonight" begins like just another bedroom synthwave track on Soundcloud, but, thanks to a stellar cameo by Richard Blade, becomes something altogether groundbreaking.
Meanwhile, on "Lust", Nunn seems to be having such a ball singing the track that you can't help but join her on co-lead vocals by the second chorus.
Normally, anytime a band re-records one of their hits for a new studio effort, it is a recipe for disaster, but the band's re-working of "Sex (I'm A)" for this album is where things actually begin to fall back in place.
Make no mistake, Berlin could have made an album that sought to relive past glory days, but chose to push their sound forward instead. It may not be a sound old fans instantly warm to, but, over the course of a single performance, say, next Tuesday at City Winery, those fans will be hard pressed to not walk away humming one of the band's new songs.
Tags:
berlin
count three and pray
david diamond
john crawford
love life
pleasure victim
terri nunn
transcendance