You're the gift that keeps on giving. Not only have you helped make my greatest dreams come true, you've helped them continue to come true. Your work's made it possible for my kid to have a college education!

Besides ALL that (as if it wasn't enough), I'm honored we're still friends, I love who you are as a person. Never seen a more gentle soul in such a tall athlete's body :). How can you still have the face and hair you did at 20?!

John, thank you for believing in me, partnering with me and sticking with me as a friend through all our thick and thins. Happy HAPPY Birthday!

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FROM Chris Ruiz-Velasco

Every band starts as a dream. And every band is, then, filled with dreamers. When we started Berlin, long ago, we were also inspired by, and driven by, our dreams. But for a band to make it to the stage, to write, to play, to perform requires more than its dreams.

Don’t get me wrong, dreams are vital and essential. Without the dream, there could be no band. But the dream needs to be made manifest in the world, and the way that happens is through hard work. I know that it’s sexier to talk about inspiration and dedication and creativity and joy and, well, you know what I mean. But it’s the hard work that gets you where you want to be.

That work, that work ethic, and the will to succeed are the most overlooked gifts that John brought to Berlin. Without John there would be no Berlin—not because of the great songs that would be missing, not because of the personality he brought to the band. They would be missed, sorely missed. No, there would be no Berlin without John’s contribution because he brought along his invincible work ethic. That’s what made Berlin succeed.

Because of John, we started as a dream, but we became so much more. So, happy birthday John, and thanks.

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FROM Mark Christian

John!!!! Happy Birthday from the Music Bizness! Ha ha...Thanks for giving me the opportunity to make music with you. Was a great experience. "Youth Has No Age" Pablo Picasso.

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FROM Rob Brill

I’m wishing you all the best on your birthday, John!

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FROM Roger O’Donnell

Happy birthday, John! You were a very dear friend to me when I needed it most. Here’s to renewing. Love, Roger x

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FROM Dave Schulz

John Crawford: the man, the myth; lover of all things edible; may you have a glorious 60th B-day and many more years of scrumptious food and questionable duct tape to come.

It is a pleasure to call you a true friend and include you in my circle of deviant musical oddities / degenerates.

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FROM Christopher Olivas

Hey John! Happy Birthday from the Olivas Family! It's been amazing getting to know you and your daughter. You are a great person with a big heart. We wish you many more years to come and many more years of friendship and hanging out. Cheers to another year and love to you.

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FROM Matt Reid Cohn

Happiest of birthdays to you, sir, with much gratitude and respect. The memories we share are among the very best moments I'll ever have on this planet. Thank you.

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FROM Ric Olsen

I have known John for a whopping 42 years! Do you believe it?! We met around 1975 gigging with our respective bands at some local venues in Orange County, CA. Many times we would be on the same bill for various gigs. It was always a grand time.

John’s band was called The Toys. They were a fun and tight 4 piece with John on bass, Dan Van Patten (dec.) on drums, Chris “we won’t use his nickname” Velasco on guitar, and Ty Cobb on vocals. The guys would come to my house from time to time to hang for parties. We got to know each other pretty well, sometimes noodling and singing round my family piano.

John’s early fashion sense was a far cry from his budding and successful songwriting future, and well before David Diamond got a hold of him (and all of us) to work on our everlasting pop-rock transformation ;)!

I had a rehearsal studio in Anaheim, CA . My band shared this space with John and The Toys. They changed their name to Berlin for a short burst and disbanded later on.

After an attempt with a new synth group called Fahrenheit, John and Terri began auditioning guitarists to complete what became Berlin's “Pleasure Victim” album. Before these auditions, he asked me if I would mind helping out since I knew the sound board at our rehearsal studio, and John was wanting my of opinion of the guitar players they brought in.

I have visions of that day with guitarists in, and guitarists out. Whoever it was that was to show up as the last auditionee did not show. So, John stated “Ric, we know you would NEVER want to play stuff like this, but would you want to jam a bit?” Well, I did just that.

We did “Tell Me Why” a few times and having no stake in this as someone auditioning, I played things my way – rocked it up, and made many suggestions to the song that John and Terri seemed to enjoy.

After they packed up, apparently they all headed out to dinner to discuss the many guitarists that came to audition that day. A few days later John called and left a message that he wanted to speak with me about joining the band and finishing the record. Well, I did just that as you know. That call changed my life indeed, and I thank John for that!

And John, know that you have changed many lives for the good. If a person can impact just one other person in life for the good, it shows a person’s worth and purpose. And you have done that. Your songwriting, your wit, your friendships, your kids, are all blessings you can hold close and cherish forever.

I always appreciated your vision, and truly enjoyed the many hours we would meet to write and work out parts at the studio, or listen to albums at your mom and dad’s house. I enjoyed hooking back up for the VH-1 Bands Reunited show, and the times we were able to share the stage sitting in with Terri and the guys.

I was humbled the time you asked if I would consider helping with your solo career (which was hard to do being in different states), and also hold dear the good talks we have had and the occasional emails. I also appreciate you for taking the time to celebrate my 60th this past August. I will hold that dear forever. And know that to this day, I still feel a sense of heightened energy when playing tunes you have penned. Keep me in mind for any need going forward before my hands give out ;).

In closing, we may not be in constant communication, but I feel strongly that a solid friendship is not one that has to be measured by that constant communication. But one with love and respect that can pick up right where you left off without any sense of time lapse.

I love you brother. Happy birthday. Welcome to the “Six-Oh” Club”. It's going to be a wild ride so buckle up and hang on tight!

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FROM Perry Watts-Russell (manager)

I was introduced to Berlin when I saw them play for the first time on Sept 9, 1979 at Madame Wong’s in Chinatown. The lineup was Toni Childs, Jo Julian, Chris Ruiz Velasco, John Crawford and Dan Van Patten.

Jo, who was the oldest in the band, asked me to manage them with another friend of his, Ron Prilliman. By the time Berlin played at the Troubadour, seven weeks later on Halloween night 1979, Toni was no longer in the band and Terri Nunn had joined as the lead singer. By early 1980, Terri had left and Berlin was experimenting with a number of different vocalists.

Unfortunately, the record labels that had shown interest in December 1979, when Terri was the singer, were no longer keen to sign the band. So, by later that year, Berlin had effectively broken up, and John had formed and was the lead singer in another group, Fahrenheit, with Dan Van Patten. But he had some songs that he thought were better suited to Terri’s voice and he asked me if I thought she might be interested in singing them. We asked and she was.

So Berlin re-formed as a recording outfit, rather than a touring band. We had very little money, but we cobbled together enough to record a few songs in a 16-track, semi-professional studio in Orange County.

Dan Van Patten was the producer, Chris Ruiz Velasco played guitar and contributed his song Masquerade. The majority of the songs were written by John. But teenage keyboard prodigy David Diamond had joined the band, and he and Terri collaborated with John on the song “Sex (I’m a…)”, which I had first heard as a Fahrenheit instrumental in a soundcheck at the Club Lingerie.

We didn’t have enough money to record a full album, so it ultimately became a mini album or maxi EP, “Pleasure Victim”. We shopped the recordings as demos and initially received little interest.

But then, largely through the efforts of one crazy Englishman named Alan Niven, who was working at small indie Enigma Records (and who later went on to become the manager of Guns’n’Roses), we were able to get “Sex” played on KROQ. And then the floodgates opened. We ended up having 13 different labels interested in signing the band. We chose Geffen, and the rest, as they say, is history…

John Crawford was the youngest member of the first edition of Berlin, and probably the shyest. When everything imploded, he stepped up and kept going. And most especially he kept writing. He was the one who inspired Terri not to give up on her music dreams. He wrote the majority of the songs on all the Berlin albums. He was the central figure in all the lineups of Berlin, and on all 3 albums the band had completely different members, with only Terri being his partner in crime on all three.

I was proud to be his manager from 1979 until Berlin broke up in 1987. In fact, I continued to manage him in his post Berlin band, The Big F, formed by him and Berlin drummer Rob Brill.

I knew how talented and dedicated and hard-working he was. He always gave it his all. But most especially I was happy and proud to call him my friend. I don’t recall in all those years of working with him ever having a serious disagreement. We were always able to discuss things and come to resolutions. Two Capricorns – although according to Terri’s mom, Joyce, there is apparently a big difference between December and January Capricorns!

He was also kind enough to introduce me to the athletic wonder of American football (Go Raiders - sorry John!) and every year would invite this forlorn Brit down to his parents’ house in Orange County at Thanksgiving to watch the games with his dad. An event I always looked forward to.

It’s been a long time since I have been in daily contact with John, and I miss him. Clearly I would never have had the career I had in the music biz if it were not for him and Terri. So, if I didn’t say it before, Thank You John.

HAPPY 60TH MY FRIEND!

And on the off chance that turning 60 seems like an awful thing to you, let me console you with the thought that when you reach 70, 60 will in hindsight seem fabulously and impossibly young!

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FROM Dallan Baumgarten

John,

Here's wishing you overwhelming joy and good health on your birthday!!! I hope this day and the new year hold everything you desire.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you immensely for starting that crazy Berlin band way back when (in 1978?!). (Just how old are you again?! Well, thankfully, Wikipedia begs to differ. ; )

Growing up in Illinois, discovering your videos on tv, I never could've known how that crazy band of YOURS would eventually effect and shape ME. That I would someday move to Los Angeles, meet Terri, play guitar for Berlin for nearly a decade, meet my future wife because of it, and then leave Berlin behind to start a family, could never have occurred to me in a million years. Way back then, all I could think was that I loved the music and, "Damn, that bass player has AMAZING HAIR!"

Though I was only fortunate enough to be able to hang with you briefly, years ago, I sincerely wanted you to know that of all the incredible things you've done in your life, at least one of those things has made it so that you will always be very close to this guitarist's heart. And your musical imprint is forever stamped on my personal life. And that hair. Damn, your hair is STILL AMAZING!!!

May you enjoy many, many more happy, healthy birthdays. Thank you and God bless!

Sincerely, Dallan Baumgarten (Former Berlin member & gracious fan for life.)

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FROM David Diamond

John,

There is a bond between us that looks like friends, feels like brothers, and works like magic.

Even a 30+ year break couldn't change that.

We stumbled back into this with understandable hesitation and, perhaps, naively high hopes. But I feel safe knowing you’re there--knowing that you’ll tell me when something is wrong, and that you’ll let me do the same. When one of us speaks, the other not only listens, but hears what is said. No one puts his foot down now; we ask, discuss and we accept the wishes of the one who feels most passionate at the time, knowing that if he thinks this is right, it’s probably right.

It’s difficult to imagine there was a time we didn’t see eye to eye. Being your collaborator seems so natural now; and being your friend has become so easy.

Throughout the years we worked together, and all the years since, you, more than anyone else, appreciated my contribution. You would never shy away from redirected credit my way, even when credit wasn’t really due. In the midst of all the fights, harsh words and animosity, you and I could look across the room at one another and always know the true score, even if we weren’t speaking at the time.

No one can say about you that you don’t try harder than everyone else. No one can say that you act without thinking. And no one can say that you don’t feel the weight of the world every minute of every day. I see this when we’re together, and I feel it each time we speak.

I can’t fix it all, and I don’t always know what to say to make it all lighter; but I want you to know that even when I don’t have the right words, I will still be there for you. From sharing a hotel room throughout the Pleasure Victim tour, to spending hours on the phone now days, we have always found room for one another. And I will always willingly provide room in my life for you. In fact, I can’t imagine my life now without you in it.

You trust me and you respect me. You defer to me when I ask you to. You participate in my life, even in ways you can only try to understand. I want you to know that I know this and I appreciate it.

Thanks for asking me to join your band. I hope I never let you down, and I hope I never will.

I love you with all my heart. Happy birthday, my dear friend.

David

Sent from my iPhone