Berlin vocalist catches her breath

Berlin vocalist Terri Nunn likes Jessica Simpson's remake of "Take My Breath Away," though she didn't hear it when it was initially released.

"I was at a disadvantage," Nunn said by phone from Southern California. "All my friends had heard it, and they came up to me saying, 'Oh, it's terrible! I can't believe she did this! You're gonna die!'

"But my friend who works at a radio station played it for me, and I think it's pretty good. Jessica is just a kid. I mean she's only in her early 20s. But she's also sweet and beautiful and that's how she made the song. She made it into a sweet beautiful song."

Nunn said that Simpson's approach was a far cry from where Nunn was when she originally recorded the No. 1 song in 1985. "I had no love life at the time. There were no prospects for a relationship. I was alone, sad, and I was going through some personal crises. And this was all in my early 20s.

"I was looking for meaning in my life, and I felt like a failure because I had no personal relationship. That's where I was coming from when I recorded the song. I was singing about the yearning of finding someone who would take my breath away."

After nearly 20 years, Nunn seems to have found meaning in her personal life, which she's enjoying by the hour. "I've been a stepmom for six years, and I'm getting ready to adopt a little girl from Russia. So I'm looking forward to being a real mom. And it's nice to have a husband who is not in the music business. He has helped me find balance in my life.

She said some of that level-headedness comes from the idea that performing live is supposed to be fun. "When I was younger, everything was life or death for me," said Nunn who is currently listening to the likes of Moby and Nine Inch Nails — and "any female singer with a good voice."

In those days, Nunn said, "I couldn't enjoy music because I was so much into it. Now, if I don't hit that note right, it's not the end of the world. But that doesn't mean I don't try to hit all the notes.

"The idea of live shows is to make the audience enjoy themselves, and you can't do that unless there is some great interaction."

In the past few months, Berlin has been in the spotlight because of a VH1 reality show called "Bands Reunited." That show, which initially aired in January this year, approached Nunn, bassist John Crawford, keyboardist Dave Diamond, drummer Rob Learned and guitarists Matt Reid and Ric Olsen to get back together.