He is best known as the lead vocalist of the Canadian rock band Platinum Blonde. He also co-founded the Mod Club Theatre, an entertainment venue in Toronto that operated from 2002 to 2020.
Early life
Mark Holmes emigrated from Mansfield, England to Canada in 1977.[2] As a youth he had hopes of becoming a professional soccer player.[2] Once in Toronto, Mark moved to Mimico and lived on Royal York Road. He attended Mimico High School and later attended commercial art college, apprenticed in hairdressing and played in bands on the side.[2]
Career
In 1979, Holmes, along with musicians Joey Ciotti and Ray Bailie, formed Platinum Blonde, a punk and new wave band.[3] Holmes provided vocals and guitar, Ciotti vocals and bass guitar, and Bailie on drums.[3][4] They played songs by such artists as Marc Bolan, Gary Glitter and The Police.[2] In 1980 they released a 7-inch single with the original songs "Hey Hey You" and "No Regrets", but eventually disbanded.[4]
In 1982 Holmes placed a want ad in a Toronto newspaper looking for new musicians to join the band.[2] Percussionist Chris Steffler and guitarist Sergio Galli answered the ad.[2] By 1984, Platinum Blonde was one of the top-selling Canadian bands in Canada, second only to Rush.[5] In addition to lead vocals, Holmes served as the band's bassist until Kenny MacLean joined the band in 1985.[6]
Holmes moved to California in 1986 and played some small acting roles on both television and film.[7] In 1988, he and the other members Platinum Blonde appeared as alienbikers in the episode "Eye for an Eye" of the sci-fi television series War of the Worlds.[8] The band also appeared in the episode "Mug Shot" on the Mr. T series T. and T. that same year.[9] Holmes also appeared in the 1989 film Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives![10]
Platinum Blonde dissolved in 1989, although the album Yeah Yeah Yeah was released under the band name The Blondes in 1990.[10] MacLean told the Calgary Herald in 1990 that he was "not proud of" the album and that it was produced out of "contractual obligation."[11] In 1999 Holmes told Maclean's that drugs and poor business decisions played a role in the band's demise and told the Edmonton Journal that he had been involved in a four-year battle with Sony to regain the rights to his songs and get out of his contracts.[10][12]
After the breakup, Holmes moved from California back to Britain for a time then returned to Toronto in 1993.[7] In 1996, Holmes, along with former Platinum Blonde drummer Sascha Tukatsch and musician Dave Barrett, formed a band called Vertigo that later became known as No. 9.[10] Described by C. J. O'Connor of the Toronto Star as "pre-inflatable-pig Pink Floyd, powered by Marshall/clothed by Galliano," the band's sound was inspired by the music of the late 1960–early 1970 London rock scene.[13] The band was not finding any labels to take them on, so Holmes began to organize once-monthly club events, called "Orange Alert".[13] The "Orange Alert" events were inspired by happenings of the 1960s and got their name from the alert that sounded whenever penal colonists attempted an escape during the 1960s, British TV series, The Prisoner.[13]
In 1999 these happenings were rebranded as "Mod Club" nights, which were held Thursdays at the Toronto nightclub, Lava Lounge.[14] Due to the popularity of these shows, Holmes and partner, Bobbi Guy (a fellow British-expat who managed the Toronto record store Sam the Record Man,) added Mod Club shows on Saturdays at the nightclub Revival, which was situated in a former Baptist church.[15] Attendees of these club nights dressed in mod-inspired fashions.[14] Mod Club nights incorporated R&B, funk and soul music from the 1960s, music from the mod revival scenes of the 1970s and 1980s as well as 1990s Britpop.[14][16]
In 2002 Holmes and Guy established the Mod Club Theatre in a venue that was previously a pool hall called Corner Pocket.[17] Holmes convinced the venue's owner, Bruno Sinopoli, to convert it into a nightclub venue.[17] Holmes deejayed at the club under the name DJ MRK and from 2003 to 2007 his Thursday night shows were broadcast live from 102.1 The Edge.[17] The venue also hosted live performances by artists as Amy Winehouse, Muse, New Order, The Killers and Keane.[17][18]
In 2010, Holmes, Galli, and Steffler reunited and played their first Platinum Blonde reunion show at The Mod Club.[3] Three days later the band was inducted into the Radio and Television Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.[19] Holmes, along with Galli, drummer Dan Todd and bassist Rob Laidlaw, released the Platinum Blonde album Now & Never in 2012.[3]
As of 2020, Platinum Blonde reformed as a trio with Holmes returning to playing bass, Galli returning on guitar, and Justin "Juice" Kadis on drums.[citation needed] The Mod Club came to an end in 2020, having been financially affected by COVID-19 lockdowns.[17]
Personal life
Holmes relocated to California in 1986 and was in a relationship with actress Nancy McKeon.[10][7] He moved from Los Angeles to Britain before returning again to Toronto in 1993.[7] At the time he resided in the High Park area of the city.[7] He has a son, Justin.[7]
Mimico is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967.
Maria Morales, known professionally as Maria Del Mar, is a Canadian rock singer.
Phyllis Marion Boyd was a Canadian politician in Ontario. She was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1999 who represented the riding of London Centre. She served as a member of cabinet in the government of Bob Rae.
The Mod Club Theatre was an entertainment venue in Toronto that operated from 2002 to 2020. Its address was 722 College Street, which is in the city's Little Italy neighbourhood.
Platinum Blonde, known briefly as The Blondes, is a Canadian rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1979. Vocalist Mark Holmes has been the only consistent member of the band since its inception.
John Keith Riddell was a Canadian politician in Ontario. He served as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1973 to 1990, representing Huron and Huron—Middlesex for the provincial Liberal Party. He was also Minister of Agriculture and Food from 1985 to 1989 in the government of David Peterson.
Kenneth Irving MacLean was a Scottish-Canadian musician, best known as a member of the multi-platinum selling band Platinum Blonde.
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The Mimico Mountaineers or Mimico Lacrosse Club is a Jr. A box lacrosse association in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Mountaineers operate junior-age and younger teams. Their home arena is Mimico Arena in the Mimico neighbourhood of Toronto. Beginning in 2015, their primary junior team will be a member of the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League. From 1993 until 2014, the Mountaineers were members of the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League.
Platinum Blonde is the self-titled debut EP by Platinum Blonde released in 1983. The EP was only released on vinyl and cassette and is also known as Six Track Attack. It reached a high of #39 on the Canadian charts in early 1984, before being subsequently re-released with four additional tracks as the full-length Standing in the Dark album in 1984.
Standing in the Dark is the debut studio album by Platinum Blonde. Released by Columbia/CBS Records Canada in January 1984, it expanded on the band's original six-track EP. With the addition of four new tracks, the album garnered the band their first taste of attention after going triple platinum in Canada. It reached a high of 23 on the Canadian charts.
Alien Shores is the second studio album by Platinum Blonde Released by Columbia/CBS Records Canada in 1985, it contained one of the band's biggest Canadian hits with "Crying Over You" and their only US hit, "Somebody Somewhere". The album reached a high of 3 on the Canadian charts.
Feel This is the third album by the Jeff Healey Band, released in 1992.
Contact is the third studio album by the Canadian band Platinum Blonde, released in 1987. It sold more than 150,000 copies in its first year of release. The album reached a high of 20 on the Canadian charts. The first single was the title track; its video was shot at Lamport Stadium.
Kingswood Music Theatre was a 15,000-seat amphitheatre located at Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario. Kingswood was open from May to September. The facility opened in 1983. The last concert was in September 2011.
"Not in Love" is a song by Canadian new wave band Platinum Blonde from the band's 1983 self-titled debut EP Platinum Blonde. It was released as a 7" single in October 1984 through CBS.
Now & Never is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock band Platinum Blonde. It is notable as their first album of new material in the 25 years since 1987's Contact. It was also their first new album in 22 years under any name; the group's fourth album, Yeah Yeah Yeah, was issued in 1990 and credited to The Blondes.
"Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" is a comedy sketch by the Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster. First broadcast on The Wayne and Shuster Hour on CBC Radio in 1954, it was reenacted for their British television debut in 1957 and their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. The sketch recasts the Shakespearean historical tragedy as a detective story with gangster overtones. Set in the Roman Senate right after the assassination of Julius Caesar, the script has Brutus (Shuster) engaging the services of private eye Flavius Maximus (Wayne) to identify Caesar's assassin. Several lines from the sketch became popular catchphrases, including Flavius's order of a "martinus" in a Roman bar, and the repeated lament of Caesar's widow Calpurnia in a thick Bronx accent, "I told him, 'Julie, don't go!' " It is considered Wayne and Shuster's most famous sketch.
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References
↑ "Today In History". North Bay Nugget. North Bay, Ontario, Canada. Canadian Press. July 26, 2007. p.A6. Retrieved May 26, 2022– via Newspapers.com. 1960, Mark Holmes of the Canadian rock group Platinum Blonde was born.
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