Pleasure Victim cover

Pleasure Victim

Released

Even though Giorgio Moroder briefly made them the biggest band in the world with a massive hit single about asphyxiation for a military propaganda film, Los Angeles synth-poppers Berlin initially made a splash with their own take on the Moroder sound: the cheekily explicit (for the 80s) dirty dancing ditty “Sex (I’m a…).” They knew what sold. It was all a put-on, of course – singer Terry Nunn was literally an actress – but a fun one. Side B contains the two bona fide new wave classics. “Masquerade” thrills as a bombastic Duran Duran rave-up, while the Gary Numan minimalism of “The Metro” still chills. Not a lot of original ideas but Nunn’s charisma makes the listener a willing victim.

Jeff Treppel

Recommended by

Suggestions
Enemigos De Lo Ajeno cover

Enemigos De Lo Ajeno

El Último de La Fila
Human Racing cover

Human Racing

Nik Kershaw
Life in a Day cover

Life in a Day

Simple Minds
Night Time cover

Night Time

Killing Joke
The Raven cover

The Raven

The Stranglers
Fear of Music cover

Fear of Music

Talking Heads
Vienna cover

Vienna

Ultravox
Trio cover

Trio

Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt