#145: Sex…I’m A… by Berlin

City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: May 1983
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #62
YouTube: “Sex…I’m A…”
Lyrics: “Sex…I’m A…”

The genesis of Berlin was the rock band the Toys, formed in 1976 in Orange County, California, by bass guitarist John Crawford, drummer Dan Van Patten, guitar player Chris Ruiz-Velasco, and vocalist Tyson A. Cobb. After a few shows, the band changed its name to Berlin and stayed together for about three years but ultimately regrouped, discharging Cobb as lead singer. After a brief replacement, Terri Nunn took over as lead vocalist after answering an ad through the Musicians Contact Service in Hollywood in 1979. The band’s first single, “A Matter of Time”, was released in 1979 on Renegade Records and they appeared on television for the first time on the short-lived Hollywood Heartbeat, hosted by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch. Terri Nunn left Berlin later that year to pursue an acting career, and was replaced by Virginia Macolino.

Dan Van Patten was born in 1953 in Placentia, California. John Crawford was born in 1960 in Fullerton, Orange County (CA). Terri Nunn was born in 1961 in Los Angeles.

In 1980, Berlin released the album Information, with Macolino as lead vocalist, but the band struggled to sign with a mainstream label without Nunn. As band manager, Perry Watts-Russell explained, “Unfortunately, the record labels that had shown interest in December 1979, when Terri was the singer, were no longer keen to sign the band. So, by later that year, Berlin had effectively broken up, and John had formed and was the lead singer in another group, Fahrenheit, with Dan Van Patten. But he had some songs that he thought were better suited to Terri’s voice, and he asked me if I thought she might be interested in singing them. We asked and she was.”

Nunn rejoined the band as singer in 1980, after which they signed to independent label Enigma Records. They then released a doube- A-sided single, “Tell Me Why” / “The Metro”. The single was intended as a one-off, since Crawford was by then focusing on his new band, Fahrenheit, and regarded Berlin as a “just for fun” side project. However, the single was a success, helping to finance the EP album, Pleasure Victim, which was recorded on a $2,900 budget.

In 1982, the band consisted of Terri Nunn, John Crawford, Dan Van Patten on drums and electronic percussion, David Diamond (born in 1964 on synthesizer, guitar, and vocals, and Chris Ruiz-Velasco on guitar. Dan Van Patten told the San Pedro Sun that Chris was “from Germany.” Part way through the recording of Pleasure Victim, Ruiz-Velasco left the band and Ric Olsen (born in 1956 in Orange County) filled the spot on guitar. The name Berlin was chosen to make them seem European and exotic. Terri Nunn explained in a 2003 interview, “…Berlin started that way [electronic], and in a sense helped to bring that to America. ‘Cause when we started, it was going on in Europe, but it wasn’t really happening here yet.”

From Pleasure Victim came the single “Sex (I’m A…)”.

Terri Nunn, John Crawford and David Diamond co-wrote “Sex (I’m A…)”.  Nunn later said the lyrics were inspired by her relationship with KROQ DJ Richard Blade, and her attempts to introduce elements of erotic role-play into their sex life. The lyrics offer up a variety of roles: goddess, virgin, blue movie, bitch, geisha, little girl, mother, slave, and one-night stand. This was also confirmed by Blade. “Sex (I’m A…)” has an electronic disco arrangement, inspired by Giorgio Moroder in particular on Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”.

“Sex… I’m A…” peaked at #5 in Toronto, #13 in Miami, and Honolulu, #15 in Fort Lauderdale, and Portland (OR). Internationally, the single reached #4 in Canada, #18 in New Zealand, #19 in Finland, and #62 in the USA.

Chris Ruiz-Velasco, who left Berlin during the recording of Pleasure Victim, seems to have left the music business altogether and returned to a private life.

Two more singles from Pleasure Victim, “The Metro” and “Masquerade” were minor hits. There were a number of lineup changes and Berlin released their album Love Life in 1984. From the album, “No More Words” reached #5 in New Zealand, and the Top 30 in Australia and the USA. A second track, “Dancing In Berlin”, reached #12 in New Zealand, and #39 in Australia.

In 1986, Giorgio Moroder had been asked to write the song “Take My Breath Away” for the film Top Gun. He asked Berlin to record the song for the soundtrack. “Take My Breath Away” became Berlin’s only Top 40 hit, and an international best seller. It reached number-one in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. As well, it climbed to #2 in Australia, Canada, France, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, #3 in West Germany, #4 in Austria, New Zealand and Norway, #5 in Italy, and #13 in Finland.

Berlin officially disbanded in 1987, because of both the lack of success of their album Count Three & Pray and personal disagreements over the single “Take My Breath Away”. Nunn viewed it as a fresh new song that allowed the band to perform globally, while others disliked it as it had not been written or composed by any of them. Later, after the release of the 1991 solo album Moment of Truth, Nunn retained the legal rights to usage of the band’s name after legal wranglings with the founding member of the group, John Crawford. Nunn recreated Berlin, with a new lineup of musicians, in 1997. In 1999, Berlin opened for The Go-Go’s on their West Coast reunion tour.

The band, featuring Nunn supported by other members who were not part of the classic line-up, toured with rock band INXS during the summer of 2011. Nunn’s with her new lineup of Berlin released a series of five albums between 2004 and 2020. The last of these was Strings Attached.

On December 31, 2020, Terri Nunn performed as a solo act at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve Party along with Vanilla Ice. Soon thereafter, Nunn expressed deep regret for participating in the event, stating not only that she did not intend it to be an endorsement or support of any political party. Aside from her music, Terri Nunn has appeared in a dozen and a half TV episodes. Between 1976 and 1982, these includes appearances on Lou Grant, Family, Rafferty, Barnaby Jones, Trapper John M.D., T. J. Hooker, and others.

John Crawford went on to form the Big F after Berlin broke up. That band released three albums in the 1990s. While as a solo artist, Crawford released three albums between 2005 and 2015. After his 2005 album, Surrender, he converted to Christianity.

Dan Van Patten got married in 1993 and left the music business. The couple moved to Belize in 1997.

David Diamond became a pilot and worked in the field of Digital Asset Management, where he directed global marketing teams for nearly 20 years. During that time, he authored three books, “Flight Training: Taking the Short Approach,” “DAM Survival Guide” and “Metadata for Content Management.”

October 26, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Gene Mahoney, “From Berlin to Petaluma – An Interview with ’80s New Wave Diva Terri Nunn,” San Francisco Herald, October 28, 2000.
Sylvia Pingitore, “Remember Top Gun’s ‘Take My Breath Away’ in ’86? Interview with Berlin’s John Crawford,” The Shortlisted, London, UK, June 2022.
“Terri Nunn—Lead Vocalist of New Wave Band Berlin—Guest 12/03/2015,” Ken Boxer Live, October 7, 2015.
“Our Belize Community: Daniel “Drummer Dan” Van Patten,” San Pedro Sun, April 12, 2007.
“David Diamond Bio,” Berlinpage.com.

The Rock of Toronto | CHUM 1050-AM Toronto (ON) | May 7, 1983