Memories of Platinum Blonde

Platinum Blonde's breakout album was "Alien Shores", released in 1985.

Source: https://redcat.ca/products/platinum-blonde-alien-shores

(May be subject to copyright)

“Crying, Crying over you.”

A blonde man, platinum blonde actually, staring into the camera singing that phrase was my introduction to a Canadian band that really hit its stride in the mid 1980s. It was part of a commercial advertising Platinum Blonde was coming to Lethbridge to perform at the Lethbridge Sportsplex.

I had not heard much about Platinum Blonde when “Crying Over You” came out, but that song and “Alien Shores”, the album it was on, catapulted them to mainstream success in Canada.

I was thinking about Platinum Blonde recently when they were inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame with 12 other Canadian recording acts.

They’re awesome
My first exposure to Platinum Blonde was in Grade 10, when they came to Lethbridge, and Luba opened for them.

I am not sure I had heard anything about either Platinum Blonde or Luba before that. I just assumed Platinum Blonde was a heavy metal band like Motley Crew, Twisted Sister or Iron Maiden.

The day after the concert, my classmate Bill Vink told us all about it in German 10 class, so it must have been the fall of 1984. He said, in particular, that Luba was awesome.

“Standing in the Dark” was their first song, and I saw the video shortly after. Neither the song or the video were as polished, as their later songs, especially from the “Alien Shores” album.

“Standing in the Dark” was their first album, released in 1983. The first single was “Doesn’t Really Matter”, which went to number 31 in Canada. The titletrack, “Standing in the Dark” was the second single, also released in 1983, and it went to number 43 in Canada.

In 1984, they released “Sad, Sad Rain” which went to number 57 in Canada, and “Not in Love” which went to number 44 in Canada.

That was all prelude to their break out, which came in 1985.

“Alien Shores”
Even now, I can picture the album art for their second album, but for whatever reason, it was a long time before I knew it was called “Alien Shores”. Maybe it is due to the fact there is no title track, no song called “Alien Shores”.

The album came out in 1985, and I always equate it with the beginning of Grade 11 in September of 1985. That’s because Platinum Blonde was coming to play in Lethbridge, and it was heavily promoted. The commercials opened with the first few bars of the video for “Crying Over You”.

It is an amazing song, with an even more striking video, taking full advantage of it as a medium of expression.

“Crying Over You” became Platinum Blonde’s biggest single in the band’s history, going to number one in Canada. It remains their only number one hit.

They followed it up with three more charting singles, that were all really good.

“Situation Critical” became their second straight top ten hit in Canada, peaking at number eight.

“Somebody, Somewhere” followed in 1986, going to number 23 in Canada, and number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming their only top 100 song in the U.S. to date. What I will always remember about “Somebody, Somewhere” is where I first heard it.

I was riding on the school bus, and the radio was playing a list of songs that were the follow-up singles to current hits. “Kyrie” by Mr. Mister was following “Broken Wings”; “Sara” by Starship was following “We Built This City”; “King for a Day” by the Thompson Twins was following “Lay Your Hands”; and Platinum Blone’s next single was “Somebody Somewhere”.

“Hungry Eyes” was after that, going all the way to number 57 in Canada. I will always remember a scene from the video for “Hungry Eyes”. It is essentially a concert video, and at one point the band is waving a flag that is half Canadian flag and half Union Jack. That pays homage to lead singer Mark Holmes who is originally from England.

The rest of the decade
Platinum Blonde would put out one more album in the decade, “Contact”, released in 1987.

The title track “Contact” was the last Platinum Blonde song I recall of theirs, because life got busy, but their popularity also began to decline. Still, “Contact” was a good song, peaking at number 13 in Canada.

It is their last top 20 single to date.

Parting thoughts
“Crying Over You” came out at a pivotal time in my teenage years. I was beginning to go out more, with my good friend Mat who had his licence. He was taking tae kwon do lessons in Lethbridge every Wednesday. He would pick me up, drop me off at our friend David Perlich’s where I would hang out, until Mat came back. Then we’d all hang out together, play pool, and talk.

So many times, “Crying Over You” was playing on the stereo in Mat’s vehicle.

It is one of the songs that takes me back to that period in time.

"Crying Over You" was an amazing song, that conjures up a an amazing time.