Still Breath-Taking: Giorgio Moroder Discusses His ‘Top Gun’ Theme, 30 Years Later

Three decades after collaborating on some of the biggest movie themes of the 1980s, 74-year-old production and songwriting legend Giorgio Moroder is back, releasing his first solo record since 1985 last year. To celebrate his return — and this week’s 30th anniversary of Top Gun — we caught up with the man himself, to discuss his Oscar-winning Top Gun theme “Take My Breath Away,” performed by Los Angeles new wave band Berlin.

Martha Davis of the Motels was actually the first to take a stab at the love theme. “She did a good job,” says Moroder, who got to hear her rendition again recently when Davis released the demo via Pandora. However, Moroder says Jerry Bruckheimer, who also co-produced this film, didn’t like it. So next he tried for Aimee Mann, who at the time was riding high with ‘Til Tuesday.

“Supposedly [Aimee] was interested,” Moroder remembers, “but then I gave her the songs and I didn’t hear anything back.” Ultimately, it was Terri Nunn, the petite powerhouse singer ford Berlin, who got to record Moroder’s second Best Song Oscar-winner. (His first was the theme to Flashdance, in 1983.) “She has a pop voice, but she’s really good at high notes, too, and she sang it with a believable attitude.”