Platinum Blonde

Canadian rockers Platinum Blonde took the music-video era by storm with their muscular fusion of glam and New Wave—and their outlandish looks. Formed in Toronto in 1982 by vocalist/guitarist Mark Holmes—who had already used the Platinum Blonde name with a short-lived post-punk act—the group released their debut self-titled EP in 1983. Later that same year the band, now a trio with Holmes singing and playing bass, Sergio Galli on guitar and Chris Steffler on drums, released their first full-length, Standing In the Dark. The 1984 launch of the Canadian music-video channel MuchMusic effectively turned the band into the country’s version of Duran Duran, with the Juno-nominated videos for the strutting “Standing In the Dark” and the flippant “Doesn't Really Matter” promoting them to the entire nation. Alien Shores, Platinum Blonde’s high-concept, funk-tinged second album, came out in 1985, with bassist Kenny McClain having joined to relieve Holmes of his bass duties, turning the band into a quartet. Steffler left the band after that album, and Sascha Tukatsch took over on drums for 1987’s Contact. The band broke up soon after; Holmes released Yeah Yeah Yeah under the name The Blondes in 1990, and he and Galli rebooted Platinum Blonde in the early 2010s.