Blue Peter

Blue Peter was a Canadian new wave synthpop band founded in 1978 in Markham, Ontario, by Chris Wardman and Paul Humphrey. In their heyday, Blue Peter opened for major international acts such as the Police and Simple Minds. The video for "Don't Walk Past", directed by Rob Quartly, was No. 85 on MuchMusic's top videos of the century list, and was played on MTV in the United States, in spite of the lack of American record distribution for the band. Humphrey died on April 4, 2021, after a long illness. History Blue Peter was founded by guitarist/songwriter Chris Wardman and lead singer Paul Humphrey in the late 1970s, as a high school band. The initial lineup was rounded out by bassist Geoff McOuat and drummer Ron Tomlinson; this ensemble recorded Blue Peter's first EP, Test Patterns for Living, in 1979. In 1980, Mike Bambrick replaced Tomlinson on drums, and in the same year, the band released their first full-length album, Radio Silence. Over the next couple of years, Blue Peter ran into difficulties with record labels and management, which led to them briefly releasing material on their own label, including "Chinese Graffiti" in 1981. Around this same time, McOuat left the band and was replaced by new bassist Rick Joudrey. After a year without label representation, Blue Peter returned to Ready Records in 1982, in time to release Up To You. "Chinese Graffiti" was included on the Up To You release, and won the band a CASBY Award (then known as the "U-Knows") for Single Of The Year in 1982. When Falling was recorded, the band was fleshed out by the addition of Jason Sniderman on keyboards, and new drummer Owen Tennyson (replacing Bambrick). The album was their most successful, and would also prove to be their last. It spawned their biggest single, "Don't Walk Past", and its companion video, which won awards including "Best Video of 1983" from the Canadian Film and Television Association. The music video, inspired by Blade Runner, was created at the insistence of the band who saw British and American artists making visuals for MTV.