Italian musicianGiorgio Moroder was asked byJerry Bruckheimer, the co-producer forTop Gun, to write a song for thefilm's soundtrack. He first wrote "Danger Zone" which was recorded byKenny Loggins. Happy with the result, Bruckheimer then requested a slower song for a romantic scene. Once Moroder had written the musical backing to what would become "Take My Breath Away", he recorded a demo which featured a distinctive bass sound on a synthesizer that would later be used on the actual recording. Moroder gave the demo to lyricistTom Whitlock. The two first became acquainted when Whitlock, a mechanic, fixed the brakes on Moroder'sFerrari, and informed him that he was also a lyricist.[4] Whitlock wrote the lyrics while driving home from the studio, and then spent a few hours at home polishing them. A demo of the song, sung by a background singer, impressed directorTony Scott and producers Bruckheimer andDon Simpson, who decided to film new romantic scenes betweenTom Cruise andKelly McGillis to feature the song.[5]
The song was first offered toThe Motels, who much later released their original demo, which is fairly similar toBerlin's released version, on their compilation albumAnthologyland (2001).[6]Columbia Records suggested some of their signed artists, includingAlison Moyet,[7] but eventually Moroder thought of the band Berlin, whose song "No More Words" he had produced. Whitlock made a few changes to the lyrics beforeTerri Nunn recorded the vocals.[5] Moroder has said that of all the songs he has produced in his career, he is most proud of this song.[8]
"Take My Breath Away" was the second single from theTop Gun soundtrack album, following Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone", and was released in 1986 as asplit single alongside the song "Radar Radio", performed by Moroder featuringJoe Pizzulo.
"Take My Breath Away" is available on both the originalTop Gun soundtrack album and the expanded edition. The song was also featured on Berlin's 1986 fourth studio album,Count Three & Pray and, as the band's biggest hit, on several of the band's compilation albums:Best of Berlin 1979–1988,Master Series,Greatest Hits Remixed (which includes a "Mission UK Remix" version),Live: Sacred and Profane, andMetro Greatest Hits. "Take My Breath Away" was one of the few songs not written by Berlin'sJohn Crawford that they had performed on any album up to that point. Following the release of "Take My Breath Away", the band split over different points of view regarding the track: while Nunn viewed it as an opportunity that allowed the band to perform worldwide, Crawford disliked it as it had not been written or composed by any of them. He later said: "None of us had ever heard it. None of us had anything to do with it. I didn't play on it. Nobody played on it. No one wrote it".[10]
"Take My Breath Away" was re-released in the United Kingdom in October 1990 to coincide with the first television showing ofTop Gun (byITV, on the evening of October 6, 1990), as well asPeugeot's television advertising campaign for the405 model range.[11] The re-release reached number three on theUK Singles Chart.
In 2017,ShortList's Dave Fawbert listed the song as containing "one of the greatestkey changes in music history".[12]
The music video features scenes from the filmTop Gun intermingled with Berlin's singer Terri Nunn performing the song in bluecoveralls, walking between parts of planes in a windyaircraft boneyard (part of theMojave Air & Space Port) at night. Bandmates John Crawford and Rob Brill are shown relaxing in the yard and then following Nunn.
Nunn's coveralls appear to be scorched (as if her character was in an accident), and where she appears, surrounding electric lights come to life akin to paranormal phenomena associated with ghosts. As her bandmates watch, Nunn is greeted by the ghostly appearance of military airmen of various eras. Nunn and the military men disappear into thin air at the end of the video, indicating they were all ghosts in the boneyard, and a reference to the titular lyric of the song.[13]
The video can be seen occasionally onVH1 Europe's Top 10 Movie Soundtracks program. It was later included on the 2004Top Gun collector's edition DVD.[citation needed]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
American singerJessica Simpson covered "Take My Breath Away" and released it as the third single from the albumIn This Skin in March 2004. Her version was produced byBilly Mann. Simpson chose to cover this song because she thought that it was the theme song of her relationship with her then-husband,Nick Lachey.
An instrumental version was recorded byThe Shadows for their 1991 albumThemes & Dreams. As is typical for the group's cover versions, it featuresHank Marvin's lead guitar played to the original vocal melody, with considerable note elongation, echo and whammy bar application.
A Czech version, titled "Ještě se mi směj" (also known as "Diagnóza láska") was released as a single in 1987 by multipleZlatý slavík award winnerPetra Janů, becoming one of her biggest hits.[91]
^"Classifiche".Musica e dischi (in Italian). RetrievedJune 3, 2022.Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Berlin" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
