Platinum Blonde

A Canadian 1980s New Wave group, the band originally consisted of Mark Holmes on vocals and bass, Sergio Galli on guitar and Chris Steffler on drums. Kenny MacLean later joined the group on bass and keyboards.

The band's name was taken from the 1931 film, "Platinum Blonde", starring Jean Harlow. The band was renowned for its trademark glam-rock appearance, with outfits in pastel colours and 80s glam-style music videos.

Platinum Blonde began as a performing the music of and in the style of The Police in bars in Ontario, Canada. The group released they’re debut EP “Platinum Blonde” also known as “Six Track Attack” in the fall of 1983. Then after the success of the EP they released "Standing in the Dark" in early 1984, which went double platinum and launched the group into the Canadian canon, with regular radio and video play. Often referred to as "Canada's Duran Duran", primarily due to their similar glam-rock image, British production and New Wave video style, the band's early lyrics hit on political themes, including police state repression (Doesn't Really Matter) and nuclear war (Standing in the Dark).

Kenny MacLean joined the band in time for their second album, 1985’s "Alien Shores", which went quintuple platinum.

The band's third album, 1987's "Contact", went platinum and notoriously featured Canadian pop duo, Tú on backing vocals.

The band's final release, 1990's "Yeah Yeah Yeah" was released under the name "The Blondes" on Justin Entertainment Inc..

The band separated to work on solo projects until 1999, when Mark Holmes began touring again, with Dave Barrett and Sascha Tukatsch backing him, to promote the greatest hits album, "Seven Year Itch: 1982-1989".

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.[citation needed]

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.”[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

In 2010, drummer Chris Steffler had to surrender his drum seat with the band after developing the auditory affliction tinnitus.[citation needed]Derrick Gyles joined together on drums until later 2011

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.[citation needed]

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.