Platinum Blonde (band)

Platinum Blonde was initially formed as a punk, new wave, cover original band by Mark Holmes (vocals, guitar) with Joey Ciotti (bass guitar/lead vocals) and Ray Bailie (drums).[3] After playing numerous Toronto gigs and developing a repertoire of punk-pop original material, they recorded and issued a self-financed indie single ("No Regrets" / "Hey Hey You") in 1980.[4] Ciotti and Bailie left the band and Holmes subsequently placed advertisements for new musicians. Drummer Chris Steffler (ex-The Next, Suspects) was the first to answer, followed by mutual friend and architecture student Sergio Galli, a guitarist. Within a week the resulting trio were playing Toronto-area gigs as the new Platinum Blonde.

In 1983, they signed to Epic Records Canada and released a self-titled six-song EP that became CBS Canada's biggest EP seller and made it to No. 39 on the Canadian albums chart. It was quickly expanded into a full-length album titled Standing in the Dark,[1] which featured identical artwork to the EP. The LP version then received a wide release distribution deal through CBS America. The band's popularity on the airwaves in Canada led to a triple platinum album, featuring four hits including two Juno Award nominations: "Standing in the Dark" and "Doesn't Really Matter".[1] Their music videos were placed into high rotation on Canada's Much Music television and play listed on MTV in America and Europe.

In 1985, the band released a second album called Alien Shores, featuring the addition of a fourth member, Kenny MacLean.[1] Alien Shores went quintuple platinum, the group's high-water mark of success.[1] Hits from the second album included "Situation Critical", "Crying Over You", "Somebody Somewhere", and "Hungry Eyes".[5]

Chris Steffler left the band in 1987 with tendonitis issues. Alexander "Sascha" Tukatsch[6] joined the band in 1988 for the next album, Contact was a hit in Canada, going double platinum, but was significantly less successful than their previous record.[1] The title track "Contact" was a modest hit, but the album was a commercial disappointment, and they were dropped by CBS.[1] Platinum Blonde changed their name to The Blondes and recorded and released one further album Yeah Yeah Yeah before disbanding.[1]

The entire group appeared as alien bikers in the 1988 episode Eye for an Eye of the television series War of the Worlds. They were also special guests on the second episode of the first season of T. and T. starring Mr. T on January 18, 1988.

In 2002, Mark Holmes and partners opened the Mod Club Theatre in Toronto.[7] The Mod Club Theatre has showcased such musicians as Muse, Amy Winehouse, MGMT, The Killers, Keane and Feist, among others.

Rumors of a reunion of the original band, and possibly some new material, continued to swirl, as the band played a few charity concerts in the mid-2000s. A DVD video compilation entitled Platinum Blonde: The Complete DVD Collection, containing all of their music videos was in production but ultimately shelved by CBS as they were bought out by Sony Music that same year.

In November 2008, Holmes took up McLean’s long-standing offer to make a guest appearance at one of his shows at the Mod Club, this time to mark the release of his third solo CD entitled Completely. McLean had commented to Holmes “hundreds of times” that Platinum Blonde should re-unite. Holmes quotes McLean as saying, “Let's get back together. Music doesn't have any rock stars anymore.” Holmes always replied that he was too busy with his DJ career, but this time he agreed and they performed a collection of Platinum Blonde hits. MacLean died of a heart attack in his recording studio on Yonge Street in Toronto, three hours after the show ended. His body was found there on November 24, 2008.[8] He was 52 years old.[9]

On March 10, 2010, Platinum Blonde played their first reunion show at the Mod Club Theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The next day, the band announced on Much Music that a reunion was in the works with a new recording and show dates. The original line up of Mark Holmes, Sergio Galli, and Chris Steffler were inducted into the Radio and Television Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

In 2012, drummer Chris Steffler had to surrender his drum seat with the band after developing the auditory affliction tinnitus.

In June 2012, Platinum Blonde members Mark Holmes and Sergio Galli, along with drummer Dan Todd and bassist Rob Laidlaw released a new single, "Beautiful" and announced a new album Now & Never would be released in August of that year. The video for "Beautiful", directed by Jesse Mann, was released in February 2013. A video for "Valentine", directed by Michael Penney, was released in March 2014.

As of 2020, the band is back to a power trio consisting of Mark Holmes (vocals and bass), Sergio Galli (guitar), and Justin "Juice" Kadis (drums) as they continue to tour.

Current

• Mark Holmes – vocals (1980–1990, 2010–present), bass (1980–1984, 2014–present), keyboards (1980-1984), guitar (1987)
• Sergio Galli – guitar (1980–1990, 2010–present)
• Justin Kadis – drums (2020–present)

Former

• Chris Steffler – drums (1980–1987, 2010–2012)
• Kenny MacLean – bass, keyboards (1984–1990; died 2008), guitar (1987)
• Sascha Tukatsch – drums (1987–1990)
• Rob Laidlaw – bass (2010–2013)
• Daniel Todd – drums (2012–2019)

Timeline

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

• Platinum Blonde new official website
• The band's original site (est.1999)
• Standing in the Dark - A Platinum Blonde fansite
• Bio at CanadianBands.com