Sometimes a band remains anonymous for years and then explodes all over the world thanks to a single song.
Nothing strange... it's called working your way up to fame.
Not all artists, no matter how talented, achieve immediate success.
It happened to Berlin, a Californian band founded in 1978, whose first two albums went unnoticed, and the third one started to make them known in their country, reaching the 28th position in the charts.
Then Giorgio Moroder - producer of some songs on their third album - arrived with the proposal that gave a turning point to their career: to record Take My Breath Away for the soundtrack of the film Top Gun.
And so, in 1986, came the worldwide success, culminating with the victory in the Best Original Song category at the Golden Globes and the Oscars the following year.
Certainly a blessing.
The other side of the coin?
Berlin broke up in 1987, due to the success of Take My Breath Away.
The band consisted of singer Terri Nunn, bassist and singer John Crawford, guitarist Ric Olsen, drummer Rob Brill, and keyboardists Matt Reid and David Diamond.
It seems that Terri Nunn was happy with the success of Take My Breath Away, which allowed them to perform all over the world, while John Crawford (founder of the band) and other members did not appreciate being known thanks to a song written by others.
Added to this, in the autumn, was the poor commercial success of the fourth album, which also included Take My Breath Away; the song had, however, already sold well both as a single and as a track on the film's soundtrack.
One of the most famous songs of the 80s, therefore, has created an irreparable rift between the members of the group to whom that piece has given so much. A mixed blessing, indeed.
Take My Breath Away is featured on the Top Gun soundtrack album and on Berlin's Count Three & Pray album.
In 1997, Terri Nunn re-formed the band with other musicians after legally obtaining the rights to use the name Berlin.
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