Sep 11, 2013

RhoDeo 1336 Aetix

Hello, it's been 12 years today since one of the most treacherous attacks ever took place, the cynicism of those responsible was so big that nobody in the media dared to point a finger at them. It was part 2 of the coup that had started with the manipulation of the presidential election a year earlier. A million Irakis paid with their lives though they had nothing to do with it, millions suffer to this day because of it. And that my friends wasn't even the main goal, it was what those psychopaths like to call collateral damage, the main goal is absolute global control. We know now that the NSA is already achieving this on a computer level and from now on our liberties can be taken or diminished  at any point in time for all of us. Yet this silent coup   has gone largely unnoticed for most of the public, those that protested too much were ruined or called conspiracy nuts, but hey Hollywood let's you dream on...

As we continue the females in the eighties today, today's band had a leadsinger who in 1977 (as a 16 year old !) posed nude for the February Penthouse issue, under the name "Betsy Harris". It goes then that when a year later she co founded today's band, members would have been already exited from the prospect of working with her. However their first life together was brutally interrupted by Tom Cruise who's Top Gun romance had been accompanied by the band, a mega hit and a mega headache in the end. Meanwhile the band has been revived 14 years ago and there's a new album 'Animal' out next week. Anyway this is Aetix   .....N'Joy

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Despite its name, Berlin did not have any known major connections with Germany, but instead was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978., founded by bassist John Crawford, singer Terri Nunn, and keyboard player David Diamond, Ric Olsen (lead guitar) was brought in during the final recording of Pleasure Victim. Other members added were Matt Reid (synthesizer), Rob Brill (drums: 1982–1987) and Rod Learned (drums: 1979–1982).

They were inspired by what they were convinced was the unique keyboard work of Kraftwerk, Devo, Sparks and The Screamers. Their first single, "A Matter of Time," was released in early 1979 on Zone-H Records. The single was re-issued in 1980 featuring a replacement vocalist, Virginia Macolino, after Terri Nunn had temporarily left the band to pursue an acting career. This was followed by the album Information. The band had trouble gaining success, as the music industry at the time thought "new and exciting" meant upbeat guitar-oriented skinny-tie power pop bands with male lead singers, and thus did not understand their synth female fronted punk sound and more adventurous subject matter

Terri Nunn rejoined the band as singer in 1980, and they signed to independent label Enigma Records where they had their first significant hit: the controversial synth-driven "Sex (I'm A...)" (1982), which was banned by some radio stations due to its graphic lyrics. The song was intentionally written and composed to get airplay on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, which specialized in playing music that was not heard on other stations, and of which members of the group were fans. The accompanying album, Pleasure Victim also included the hit, "The Metro." Two years later, the band released their next album, Love Life, and the single "No More Words," whose subsequent video saw Terri Nunn and bandmates re-enact a Bonnie and Clyde-style car chase and shoot-out, became their first top-20 hit.

Count Three & Pray was an artistic triumph but a commercial disappointment. After making a name for itself playing very European-sounding synth pop, the L.A. trio recruited producer Bob Ezrin (known for his work with Alice Cooper and others) and unveiled a more hard-edged, guitar-oriented sound. "Take My Breath Away" (from the movie Top Gun) was their best-selling single in 1986 and a huge international hit, Nunn viewed it as a fresh new song that allowed the band to perform globally, while others disliked it as not having been written or composed by any of them as a consequence the band broke up.

Nunn left for a solo career in 1987, and Crawford and Brill teamed up in the Big F. 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 1998. In 1999, the band reunited to record some new studio material and also performed a concert, which, along with the new songs, was released as 2000's Berlin Live: Sacred and Profane. This was followed a year later by a flurry of recording sessions that included co-writing tracks with Billy Corgan, among others. The end result, Voyeur, was their first full-length studio release in over 15 years.

The band toured with rock band INXS during the summer of 2011. Nunn herself was scheduled both to debut a radio show on KCSN-FM, and to record a new album, in 2012. In July 2013, it was announced that a new album called 'Animal' would be released on 17 September, from which a single "It's The Way" would also be issued.

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Originally released by the fledgling Enigma Records in 1982 and picked up by Geffen in early 1983 when the lascivious novelty single "Sex (I'm A...)" started picking up radio attention, Pleasure Victim is a frankly exploitative little slab of synth pop cynicism, so baldly crass in its positioning of lead singer Terri Nunn as a sex kitten (posing her in the nude on the inner sleeve, listing her contributions as "vocals, bj's" in the liner notes) and lyrically obsessed with the seedy side of the Los Angeles demimonde that criticism becomes nearly beside the point. Lyrical obsessions aside, Pleasure Victim actually holds up quite well as a piece of early-'80s synth pop, with two very good tunes ("Tell Me Why" and "Masquerade") and one masterpiece of the genre, the gimmicky and atmospheric "The Metro," the one song where Nunn's limited vocal abilities are put to their best use. Surprisingly, for a record that was completely unfashionable seemingly within months of its initial release, Pleasure Victim actually has more to offer than many might remember.



Berlin - Pleasure Victim  (flac 213mb)

01 Tell Me Why 5:34
02 Pleasure Victim 3:50
03 Sex (I'm A...) 5:06
04 Masquerade 4:04
05 The Metro 4:07
06 World Of Smiles 3:50
07 Torture 2:36
08 Sex (I'm A...) (Ext. Version) 8:10

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Love Life, Berlin's second album, took over where 1982's Pleasure Victim left off, with Terri Nunn's vocals sounding a tad stronger in some places as well as some noticeable improvements on behalf of the synthesizers, but this improvement occurs sporadically, not consistently. Their first chart single, the clean-cut dance-rock hybrid entitled "No More Words," made it to number 23 thanks to Giorgio Moroder's production help. Moroder lends his talents to another track, "Dancing in Berlin," which emulates the same streamline formula of sharp keyboards and an animated dance pace. Outside of these two singles, the rest of the songs on Love Life fail to harbor any distinction, and even Nunn's forceful voice can't raise their value. Efforts like "When We Make Love," "Touch," and "For All Tomorrow's Lies" get lost in lukewarm techno-dance rhythms and her sexual innuendoes are much too contrived, wearing thin by the end of the album.



Berlin - Love Life  (flac 293mb)

01 When We Make Love 4:59
02 Touch 3:16
03 Beg, Steal Or Borrow 3:55
04 Now It's My Turn 4:11
05 Dancing In Berlin 4:04
06 Rumour Of Love 4:20
07 Pictures Of You 4:33
08 In My Dreams 4:10
09 No More Words 3:53
10 Lost In The Crowd 4:36
11 For All Tomorrow's Lies 3:48
12 Fall 4:05

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A major change of direction for Berlin, Count Three & Pray was an artistic triumph but a commercial disappointment. After making a name for itself playing very European-sounding synth pop, the L.A. trio recruited producer Bob Ezrin (known for his work with Alice Cooper and others) and unveiled a more hard-edged, guitar-oriented sound. From the rockin' "Trash" (which features none other than Ted Nugent -- the last person one would expect to work with Berlin!) to the ballad "Pink and Velvet" (a tale of two heroin addicts' romance that is as poignant as it is disturbing), Count Three & Pray leaves no doubt just how much lead singer Terri Nunn and her colleagues were enjoying this radical change. But sadly, record buyers weren't ready for it. Despite the inclusion of the hauntingly pretty number one hit "Take My Breath Away" (included in the film Top Gun) the album didn't sell nearly as well as Pleasure Victim or Love Life. Geffen was bitterly disappointed, and Berlin soon broke up.



Berlin - Count Three and Pray (flac 306mb)

01 Will I Ever Understand You 4:41
02 You Don't Know 4:27
03 Like Flames 5:04
04 Heartstrings 4:12
05 Take My Breath Away 4:11
06 Trash 3:39
07 When Love Goes To War 4:10
08 Hideaway 5:04
09 Sex Me, Talk Me 4:40
10 Pink And Velvet 6:44

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7 comments:

El Isabelino said...

Hi, the flac link for 'Berlin - Count Three & Pray' is dead. Any chance for a re-up? Thanks for all the music you share. Saludos.

El Isabelino said...

Thanks for the re-up. Much appreciated. Saludos.

Anonymous said...

Hello. I was wondering if you would consider re-upping these 3 Berlin selection on FLAC. I have perused the entire history of this blog and this will be the last re-up request from me. Thank you so much for your work and generosity thus far. Please know that it is appreciated. Your taste in music is very good and you've turned me on to a variety of new sounds. Thanks again. :)

J.R.

Anonymous said...

I thought I'd ask one more time if you'd be willing to re-up the 3 Berlin albums (flac). If you're not up to it, that's okay.

Cheers, J.R.

Anonymous said...

Hello, would it be possible please to re-up these Berlin albums in FLAC? Thanks in advance, you are a star!

Pernt said...

Hi, any chance you could re-up these Berlin offerings in the near future? No rush, just throwing a request into the ring.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

PLease reupload all Berlin stuff. Thanks!