Released in January 1985 as the lead single from second studio album, Strange Animal, it reached number five in Canada.

[3] In April 1999, Gowan received a call from a member of the band Styx, which was interested in inviting him to fill in for Dennis DeYoung,[4] who refused to perform for concerts.

[4] As a result, "A Criminal Mind" and other songs in his repertoire, including "Moonlight Desires", "All The Lovers in the World", "(You're a) Strange Animal", and "Guerrilla Soldier", received increased airplay on Boom FM, Q107, and other Toronto radio stations.

[10] Upon completion of recording for the album, Gowan collaborated with videographer Rob Quartly to create a music video for the song.

[16][17] Don Oates, vice president of sales and marketing for Columbia Records, stated that the music video was pivotal in the song receiving airplay[18] in Canada.

In an article in The Gazette, Martin Siberok stated that "the role of video" was key to the song appearing on record charts.