Platinum Blonde

ARTICLE CONTENTS:  |  Bibliography
Platinum Blonde. Pop group. It was formed in Toronto in 1982 by the singer-songwriter and bass guitarist Mark Holmes with the guitarist Sergio Galli and the drummer Chris Steffler, who was replaced in 1987 by Sascha (Tukatsch). Kenny MacLean (guitar, bass guitar, keyboards) was added in 1985.

Platinum Blonde, so-named for its members' teased, tinted hairstyles, capitalized successfully on the emerging promotional medium of music videos and shared "teen idol" status in Canada with Corey Hart in the mid-1980s. The critic Greg Quill described Platinum Blonde during this period as "a pretty, energetic band that seemed to have a grip on teenage fantasies [and] on melodic rock with a thoughtful, realistic edge" (Toronto Star, 8 Jun 1988). The band's subsequent move to a tougher image and darker, heavier style of rock did not sustain its early popularity.

The band's first album, Standing in the Dark (1983, Col PCC-80090, incorporated an earlier EP, Platinum Blonde, Col CEP-80084). The title song, as well as "Doesn't Really Matter," and "Not in Love," were all popular singles in 1984 that helped sell more than 300,000 copies of the album in Canada. A second album, Alien Shores (Col PCC-80105), included "Crying over You" (the band's biggest hit), "Situation Critical," and "Someday Somewhere," all released in 1985. "Crying over You" received a Gemini award for best music video. The title song from the group's third album, Contact, (Epic FE-40949) was popular in 1987, as were the singles "Fire" "If You Go This Time," and "Connect Me" in 1988. Canadian sales of Alien Shores achieved quadruple platinum sales, and Contact sold more than 400,000 copies.

Chris Steffler left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Tony Thompson. Platinum Blonde toured Canada and in the US in 1984 and 1985 but made only sporadic appearances 1987-9. Group members returned briefly in 1990 as The Blondes with the album Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (Justin JEC-0002), however with marginal album sales, the group disbanded in 1991.

Kenny MacLean (b Glasgow, Scotland, 1956; d Toronto, 24 Nov 2008) moved on to a successful solo career and recorded Don't Look Back (Justin JEC-0001), for which he won a SOCAN award; the title song and "Rescue Me" were popular in 1990. He also released Clear (1995) and Completely (2008).


Bibliography

Niester, Alan. "Fame overtakes Platinum Blonde," Toronto Globe and Mail, 1 Aug 1984

Hazan, David. "Platinum Blonde," Canadian Musician, vol 6, Nov-Dec 1984

Littlejohn, Maureen A. "My life as a Blonde," The Music Scene, 349, May/Jun 1986

Davis, Ted. "Platinum Blonde: musicians behind the makeup," Canadian Musician, vol 9, Oct 1987

0
0
Absolutely free, with over 40,000 articles in French and English, The Canadian Encyclopedia is the ultimate online resource for all things Canadian, from history, sports, arts, science, technology, and much, much more. Get started at www.TheCanadianEncyclopedia.com
Feature Articles
The Formation of the RCMP

The Dominion government's advertisement asked for volunteers "able to read and write either the English or French language" with "good antecedents" who were good horsemen...

INSIDE TCE

Gallery
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Interactive Resources
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
Canucklehead
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
Timeline
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
100 Greatest Events
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.