The Diodes
Encyclopedia
The Diodes are a Canadian
punk
/new wave
band
formed in 1976. They released five albums: Diodes (1977), Released (1979), Action-Reaction (1980), Survivors (1982), and Time/Damage Live 1978 (2010). One of the first Toronto
bands playing that style of music, The Diodes helped foster the scene in the city.
in 1977, called Crash 'n' Burn, where many of the city's punk bands at that time played. The first band to play the club was The Nerves
, on a bill with The Diodes. The club was closed at the end of the summer of 1977 due to complaints by the Liberal Party of Ontario (the principal tenants of the building). The club was the subject of a movie by experimental
filmmaker Ross McLaren
Crash 'n' Burn. Footage of the club also exists in the CBC Television
archives because it was the subject of a TV special in 1977. The band put out their first record at this time, a single featuring Bruce Eves and Amerigo Maras of the Centre For Experimental Art and Communication. Mickey Skin of all-girl punk band, The Curse, spews profanity on one side; the Diodes provide musical backing on the other. It was released on the Crash and Burn label. One side was called "War," the other "Raw," and was one of the first punk records to come out of Toronto. This single was actually an issue of the CEAC Newsletter (published by the Centre For Experimental Art and Communication, the owners of the building that housed the Crash 'n' Burn club).
In the January 9, 1978 issue of Maclean's magazine, the Diodes were featured on the cover and included in the article, "The Class of '78: Introducing the New Elite." They were touted as the Canadians "we'll soon be talking about." Others included in this elite group included Wayne Gretzky
and Conrad Black
.
The band brought up punk acts from the east coast of the U.S. to share the bill, such as The Dead Boys
, and joined Toronto punk bands The Viletones
, Teenage Head
, and The Curse to perform in the United States at CBGB
. The Diodes toured the U.S. east coast during the blizzard of 1978; performing in New York City
, Boston
, and other cities. On January 20, 1978 they opened for the Ramones
and Runaways
at the Aragon Ballroom
in Chicago
to an encore. In the early 1980s, the band performed concerts in Los Angeles
and San Francisco. They also toured across Canada with U2
and Split Enz
.
In 1981, John Catto and Paul Robinson moved to London, England to launch a short-lived version of The Diodes with a new rhythm section consisting of bassist Steve Robinson (ex-Barracudas) and drummer Richard Citroen (ex-Loved Ones). An album of new material was recorded, but remains unreleased. This version of The Diodes toured Ontario in 1982, to promote the group's 4th album, Survivors, a compilation of unreleased outtakes, demos, and live recordings (from the first two albums and live with John Hamilton on drums, plus demo recordings with Mike Lengyell on drums).
Upon returning to England, the group metamorphosed into High Noon (consisting of John Catto, Paul Robinson, Steve Robinson, David Buckley (ex-Barracudas, backing vocals), and drummer Rick Zsigmond) in 1983. High Noon lasted until 1985 and were regulars playing around the London scene including headlining The Embassy club and the Marquee Club
on Wardour Street
. The band also recorded sessions which remain unreleased. High Noon peaked playing an Anti Heroin charity gig at The Moonlight Club in West Hampstead supported by The Stone Roses
which culminated in a Jam session including High Noon, The Stone Roses, and Pete Townshend
playing the songs, "Substitute" and "The Kids are Alright
". The group gradually disbanded with each member going his own way, and singer Paul Robinson and guitarist John Catto remaining in London
, England
.
"Tired Of Waking Up Tired" was listed at #23 in the book, The Top 100 Canadian Singles, by Bob Mersereau, published by Goose Lane Editions, Oct. 2010.
On July 2, 2011, The Diodes were voted "Best Toronto Band. Ever" in a contest run by The Toronto Star
. Readers voted for them over the course of a month, beating out such peers as Rush
, The Tragically Hip, Martha & The Muffins, and others.
to promote that CD. On May 24, 2007, The Diodes (Robinson, Mackay, Catto) played the Cavern Club in Liverpool
as part of the International Pop Overthrow Festival. On May 25, 2007, they did an afternoon concert at Lennon's Bar in Liverpool, also as part of the festival. On June 9, 2007, the original lineup from the first album (Robinson, Mackay, Catto, Hamilton) reunited for 30th anniversary concerts for the NXNE festival. They performed a free afternoon concert at Dundas Square
and a midnight show at Sneaky Dees. A live vinyl album of a 1978 concert, Time Damage was released on Rave Up Records (Italy) in February, 2010. Action-Reaction is now on iTunes on Bongo Beat Records (including bonus tracks from the Survivors album) and the physical cd will be out Nov, 2011.
The original 1977 line-up (Robinson, Catto, Mackay, Hamilton) re-united again in 2010 for touring and recording. They performed at The Horseshoe (Toronto), Call The Office (London), Starlight (Waterloo), This Ain't Hollywood (Hamilton), Road to Ruins Festival (Rome, Italy), Pop Corn Club (Venice, Italy), and The Sound Of Music Festival (Burlington, Canada; with The New York Dolls).
A documentary about the band Circa 1977:The Diodes was directed by Aldo Erdic and premiered at NXNE 2010.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
formed in 1976. They released five albums: Diodes (1977), Released (1979), Action-Reaction (1980), Survivors (1982), and Time/Damage Live 1978 (2010). One of the first Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
bands playing that style of music, The Diodes helped foster the scene in the city.
History
Along with manager Ralph Alfonso, The Diodes opened the first Canadian punk nightclubNightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in 1977, called Crash 'n' Burn, where many of the city's punk bands at that time played. The first band to play the club was The Nerves
The Nerves
The Nerves were a mid-'70s American power pop trio based in Los Angeles, featuring guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins. All three members composed songs and sang. They managed an international tour in the U.S. and Canada, including dates with The Ramones, and...
, on a bill with The Diodes. The club was closed at the end of the summer of 1977 due to complaints by the Liberal Party of Ontario (the principal tenants of the building). The club was the subject of a movie by experimental
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
filmmaker Ross McLaren
Ross McLaren (filmmaker)
Ross McLaren is a Canadian artist and filmmaker, based in New York City.-Biography:McLaren was born in 1953 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and graduated with honors from Ontario College of Art, where he also did post-graduate work.-Advocacy:...
Crash 'n' Burn. Footage of the club also exists in the CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
archives because it was the subject of a TV special in 1977. The band put out their first record at this time, a single featuring Bruce Eves and Amerigo Maras of the Centre For Experimental Art and Communication. Mickey Skin of all-girl punk band, The Curse, spews profanity on one side; the Diodes provide musical backing on the other. It was released on the Crash and Burn label. One side was called "War," the other "Raw," and was one of the first punk records to come out of Toronto. This single was actually an issue of the CEAC Newsletter (published by the Centre For Experimental Art and Communication, the owners of the building that housed the Crash 'n' Burn club).
In the January 9, 1978 issue of Maclean's magazine, the Diodes were featured on the cover and included in the article, "The Class of '78: Introducing the New Elite." They were touted as the Canadians "we'll soon be talking about." Others included in this elite group included Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
and Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
.
The band brought up punk acts from the east coast of the U.S. to share the bill, such as The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. Among the first wave of early punk bands, the Dead Boys were initially active from 1976 to 1979, briefly reuniting in 1987, 2004 and 2005.-Formation and 1970s punk rock era:...
, and joined Toronto punk bands The Viletones
The Viletones
The Viletones were a Canadian punk band from Toronto, led by Steven Leckie, a.k.a. "Nazi Dog" or "Dog" on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, on guitar/vocals; Chris Paputts, a.k.a. "Chris Hate" on bass guitar/vocals and Mike Anderson, a.k.a. "Motor X" on the...
, Teenage Head
Teenage Head (band)
Teenage Head is a Canadian rock group from Hamilton, Ontario and was one of the most popular Canadian punk rock bands during the early 1980s....
, and The Curse to perform in the United States at CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
. The Diodes toured the U.S. east coast during the blizzard of 1978; performing in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and other cities. On January 20, 1978 they opened for the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
and Runaways
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
at the Aragon Ballroom
Aragon Ballroom (Chicago)
The Aragon Ballroom is the name of a ballroom in Chicago, Illinois.Located on West Lawrence Avenue approximately five miles north of downtown in the Uptown neighborhood, it was built in 1926 and designed in the Moorish architectural style with the interior resembling a Spanish village and named...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to an encore. In the early 1980s, the band performed concerts in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco. They also toured across Canada with U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
and Split Enz
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...
.
In 1981, John Catto and Paul Robinson moved to London, England to launch a short-lived version of The Diodes with a new rhythm section consisting of bassist Steve Robinson (ex-Barracudas) and drummer Richard Citroen (ex-Loved Ones). An album of new material was recorded, but remains unreleased. This version of The Diodes toured Ontario in 1982, to promote the group's 4th album, Survivors, a compilation of unreleased outtakes, demos, and live recordings (from the first two albums and live with John Hamilton on drums, plus demo recordings with Mike Lengyell on drums).
Upon returning to England, the group metamorphosed into High Noon (consisting of John Catto, Paul Robinson, Steve Robinson, David Buckley (ex-Barracudas, backing vocals), and drummer Rick Zsigmond) in 1983. High Noon lasted until 1985 and were regulars playing around the London scene including headlining The Embassy club and the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
on Wardour Street
Wardour Street
Wardour Street is a street in Soho, London. It is a one-way street south to north from Leicester Square, up through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street.-History:...
. The band also recorded sessions which remain unreleased. High Noon peaked playing an Anti Heroin charity gig at The Moonlight Club in West Hampstead supported by The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
which culminated in a Jam session including High Noon, The Stone Roses, and Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
playing the songs, "Substitute" and "The Kids are Alright
The Kids Are Alright (song)
"The Kids Are Alright" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the seventh track on the group's first album, My Generation . It was not released as a single until more than six months after it first appeared on the LP, first in the United States, and in the UK the following...
". The group gradually disbanded with each member going his own way, and singer Paul Robinson and guitarist John Catto remaining in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
"Tired Of Waking Up Tired" was listed at #23 in the book, The Top 100 Canadian Singles, by Bob Mersereau, published by Goose Lane Editions, Oct. 2010.
On July 2, 2011, The Diodes were voted "Best Toronto Band. Ever" in a contest run by The Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
. Readers voted for them over the course of a month, beating out such peers as Rush
Rush
- United States :* Rush, Colorado* Rush, Kentucky* Rush, New York* Rush, Ohio* Rush City, Minnesota-People:* Rush, a nickname for Canadian mixed martial artist Georges St...
, The Tragically Hip, Martha & The Muffins, and others.
Reunions and new releases
In 1998, Sony Music released Tired of Waking Up Tired: The Best of The Diodes on CD , and in 1999, the band reunited in 1999 to perform one song on The Mike Bullard ShowThe Mike Bullard Show
The Mike Bullard Show was a Canadian late-night talk show which aired weeknights at 12:05 AM on Global from November 24, 2003 to March 11, 2004. The show was hosted by comedian Mike Bullard and taped at the Global Theatre in Toronto, Ontario...
to promote that CD. On May 24, 2007, The Diodes (Robinson, Mackay, Catto) played the Cavern Club in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
as part of the International Pop Overthrow Festival. On May 25, 2007, they did an afternoon concert at Lennon's Bar in Liverpool, also as part of the festival. On June 9, 2007, the original lineup from the first album (Robinson, Mackay, Catto, Hamilton) reunited for 30th anniversary concerts for the NXNE festival. They performed a free afternoon concert at Dundas Square
Dundas Square
Yonge-Dundas Square is a commercial junction and public square, situated at the southeast corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto...
and a midnight show at Sneaky Dees. A live vinyl album of a 1978 concert, Time Damage was released on Rave Up Records (Italy) in February, 2010. Action-Reaction is now on iTunes on Bongo Beat Records (including bonus tracks from the Survivors album) and the physical cd will be out Nov, 2011.
The original 1977 line-up (Robinson, Catto, Mackay, Hamilton) re-united again in 2010 for touring and recording. They performed at The Horseshoe (Toronto), Call The Office (London), Starlight (Waterloo), This Ain't Hollywood (Hamilton), Road to Ruins Festival (Rome, Italy), Pop Corn Club (Venice, Italy), and The Sound Of Music Festival (Burlington, Canada; with The New York Dolls).
A documentary about the band Circa 1977:The Diodes was directed by Aldo Erdic and premiered at NXNE 2010.
Members
- Paul Robinson - vocalist
- John Catto - guitarist
- Ian Mackay - bassist
- John Hamilton - drummer
- Mike Lengyell - drummer
- David Clarkson - bassist (on "Raw"/"War" single only)
- John Corbett - bassist (not on any recordings)
- Bent Rasmussen - drums (not on any recordings)
- Steve Robinson - bassist (not on any recording)
- Richard Citroen - drums (not on any recordings)
See also
- List of musicians in the first wave of punk music
- Crash 'n' Burn
External links
- The Diodes' current record label, Bongo Beat
- The Diodes Myspace profile
- A Canadian Punk Revival - article including information about The Diodes
- Profile of The Diodes on Jam! Showbiz
- John Catto on myspace
- High Noon
- Action Reaction on iTunes
- Circa 1977: The Diodes movie by Aldo Erdic
- Circa 1977: The Diodes on the Internet Movie Database IMDb
- Diodes Facebook page
- Diodes Best Toronto Band Ever
- Top 100 Canadian Singles