Platinum Blonde (band)
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Platinum Blonde was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s. The band originally consisted of Mark Holmes (vocals, bass), Sergio Galli (guitar) and Chris Steffler (drums). Kenny MacLean later joined the group. The name of the band was inspired by the 1931 Jean Harlow movie Platinum Blonde. They were known also for their stylish glam rock-like appearance dressing in pastel colour outfits and music videos.
History
In 1983 with the release of the album "Standing in the Dark" the band invaded the airwaves in Canada with four hit singles, a double platinum album, and two Juno (Canada's national music Awards) nominated songs: "Standing In The Dark" and "It Doesn't Really Matter". Their music videos were placed into high rotation on the newly created Much Music, Canada's national music video network. Within months some were calling Platinum Blonde "Canada's Duran Duran" because of their similar glamorous image and cutting-edge, futuristic New Wave videos.
In 1985, the band released a second album called "Alien Shores", featuring the addition of a fourth member, Kenny MacLean. "Alien Shores" went quintuple platinum, the group's high-water mark of success. Hits from the second album included "Situation Critical", "Crying Over You", "Somebody Somewhere", and "Hungry Eyes".
The band's next album, "Contact", though an unsuccessful breakthrough attempt in the United States, was still a hit in Canada in 1988, going platinum (though just barely).
Renaming themselves "The Blondes" for their last release, 1990's "Yeah Yeah Yeah", the group switched to their own label, "Justin Entertainment". By 1991 the effort was deemed a failure and the band decided to venture into solo projects.
In 1999, Mark Holmes toured again with Dave Barrett and Sasha Tukatch to promote the release of , a Platinum Blonde best-of compilation.
Rumors of a reunion if the original band, and possibly some new material, have continued to swirl. As of July, 2006, the band has played a few charity concerts only. A DVD video collection is rumored for sometime in 2007.
Discography
- Standing in the Dark (1983)
- Alien Shores (1985)
- Contact (1987)
- Yeah Yeah Yeah The Blondes (1990)
- Best Of Live (1993)
- (1999)
Singles
- "Doesn't Really Matter" (1984) #4 CAN
- "Standing In The Dark" (1984) #10 CAN
- "Sad Sad Rain" (1984)
- "Not In Love" (1984) #7 CAN
- "Crying Over You" (1985) #2 CAN
- "Situation Critical" (1985) #8 CAN
- "Somebody Somewhere" (1986) #26 CAN, #82 US
- "Hungry Eyes" (1986)
- "Contact" (1987) #11 CAN, #59 US
- "Fire" (1988)
- "Connect Me" (1988)
- "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (1990) (as The Blondes)
External links
- [Platinum Blonde official website]
- [Standing In The Dark - A Platinum Blonde Fansite]
- [Info from JAM! Music Canada]
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