Take My Breath Away

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"Take My Breath Away"
"Take My Breath Away" cover
Single by Berlin
from the album Top Gun soundtrack
B-side(s) Radar Radio
Released 1986
Genre Pop/Rock
Length 4:11
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Giorgio Moroder
Tom Whitlock
Producer(s) Giorgio Moroder
Chart positions
Berlin singles chronology
"Dancing In Berlin" (1984) "Take My Breath Away"
(1986)
"Like Flames" (1986)

"Take My Breath Away" is the name of a love song from the film Top Gun. It was composed by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock and performed by the band Berlin. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1987.

Contents

[edit] Releases and performance

"Take My Breath Away" was the first single from the Top Gun soundtrack and was released in 1986 as a split single alongside the song "Radar Radio":

  1. "Take My Breath Away (Love Theme from Top Gun)" (performed by Berlin)
  2. "Radar Radio" (performed by Giorgio Moroder featuring Joe Pizzulo, written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock)

The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 13, 1986 and became number 1 in the UK for four weeks in November 1986.

"Take My Breath Away" is available in the Top Gun soundtrack (both the original and expanded editions) and was also released on Berlin's Count Three And Pray album in 1986 and featured in several "best of" and remix albums: Best Of Berlin 1979-1988, Master Series, Greatest Hits Remixed (which includes a "Mission UK Remix" version), LIVE: Sacred & Profane and Metro Greatest Hits.

"Take My Breath Away" was re-released in October 1990 to coincide with the first television showing of Top Gun (by ITV, on the evening of 6th October) as well as Peugeot's new television advertising campaign for the 405 model range. It reached second place in the UK singles charts.

[edit] Music Video

The music video features scenes from the movie Top Gun intermingled with Berlin's singer Terri Nunn performing the song in blue coveralls walking between pieces of planes in a windy junk yard or aircraft boneyard at night. Two men are shown relaxing in the yard and then following Terri.[1] This video clip can be seen occasionally in VH1 Europe's Top 10 Movie Soundtracks program. This video was re-released within the 2004 Top Gun DVD Collector's Edition.

[edit] Covers

The song has been performed by other artists, such as Jessica Simpson, who included it on the special edition of her album In This Skin, the band Copeland on their album of cover songs, Know Nothing Stays the Same, and was translated into Cantonese and covered by Sandy Lam. Martha Davis of The Motels was one of a list of artists asked by Moroder to make a demo of the song. Her version is available on The Motels' Anthologyland CD.

[edit] Jessica Simpson cover

"Take My Breath Away"
"Take My Breath Away" cover
Single by Jessica Simpson
from the album In This Skin
Released 2004
Format CD Single
Recorded 2004
Genre Pop
Length 3:15
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Giorgio Moroder
Tom Whitlock
Producer(s) billymann
Certification Gold
Gold (Australia)
Chart positions
Jessica Simpson singles chronology
"With You"
(2004)
"Take My Breath Away"
(2004)
"Angels"
(2004)
Audio sample
Play (in browser) (help·info)

"Take My Breath Away" is the third single by pop music singer Jessica Simpson, released from the album In This Skin in 2004. It is a cover of the classic hit by Berlin, written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, with Simpson's version produced by billymann. Simpson chose to cover this song because she felt that it was the theme song of her relationship with her then husband, Nick Lachey. Simpson's version was also included on the compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 16 (from the U.S. Now! series).

[edit] Music video

The video shows her driving through a southwestern desert. She stops to fill up with gas, and then arrives at a diner where she watches lovers in motion.

[edit] Chart performance

"Take My Breath Away" became a top-twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as a top-ten hit on the Top 40 Tracks and Top 40 Mainstream charts. The song also became another number-one hit for Simpson on the Hot 100 Singles Sales. Although the song did not break records of any sorts, it performed decently on the other tracks it charted on: Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, the Hot 100 Airplay, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, and Hot Digital Tracks. In late 2005 it received a Gold certification by the RIAA.

Chart (2004) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 20
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 22
U.S. Hot Digital Tracks 14
U.S. Hot Dance Club Play 10
U.S. Top 40 Tracks 10
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream 8
U.S. Adult Top 40 29
U.S. Adult Contemporary 23
Australian Singles Chart 15
French Singles Chart 18
Philippine Singles Chart 1
Mexican Top 100 9
U.K. Top 75 Singles 4

[edit] Trivia

  • This song was used by Ford Motor Company in advertisements for its Lincoln-Mercury division during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
  • The song was also played in an episode of The King of Queens.
  • The song plays during a clip from Baywatch watched by Borat in the 2006 film of the same name.
  • The song was used as the theme song for the Korean telenovela Sunshine of Love which was featured in the Philippine television show Sandara's Romance in 2003, catapulting Simpson's cover to the #1 position in the local music charts.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Top Gun Soundtrack: Take My Breath Away Video http://www.topgunsoundtrack.com/Take_My_Breath_Away.html#Video
Preceded by
"Venus" by Bananarama
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Berlin version)
September 13, 1986
Succeeded by
"Stuck With You" by Huey Lewis & the News
Preceded by
"Every Loser Wins" by Nick Berry
UK number one single
November 2, 1986
Succeeded by
"The Final Countdown" by Europe
Preceded by
"Say You, Say Me" from White Nights
Academy Award for Best Original Song
1986
Succeeded by
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing
In other languages