The Diodes were a Canadian punk band in the heyday of punk from 1977 through 1980.

One of the first Toronto punk/new wave groups, the Diodes were responsible for fostering the scene in this city. They opened the first punk club in 1977, called Crash and Burn, where all of the cities' punk bands at that time played. The club was the subject of a movie by experimental filmmaker Ross McLaren called, appropriately, Crash and Burn , one of the few documents on film of this period in time, and an important punk film.

The band put out their first record at this time, a split single with all-girl punk band The Curse , self-released on the Crash and Burn label. One side was called "War", the other "Raw", one of the first punk records to come out of Toronto.

The club was closed in controversy when it was discovered that the landlords had received some government assistance and were renting space to punk rockers, prompting outraged press attention. Undaunted, the band continued to play, bringing up punk acts from the east coast of the U.S. to share the bill with, such as The Dead Boys, and arranging tours of Toronto punk bands like The Viletones, Teenage Head and The Curse to perform in the States at CBGBs and other punk clubs. They released three albums - Diodes (1977), Released (1978) and Action-Reaction (1979) - and these three albums, their touring and the attention from the press put Toronto on the map along with London and New York City as the three hubs of alternative, punk, and new wave music as we know it today.

They later released an album of their greatest hits from those late-70's years, and these include "Tired of Waking Up Tired", "Noise", "Jenny's in a Sleep World", "Headache" and "Child Star". Though this album only contains songs from Diodes and Released, there are also several great energetic songs on the Action-Reaction album as well, including the title track, "That Was the Way it Was" and "Catwalker".

Their final album, Survivors, came out in 1982, a compilation of B-sides. After that, the group gradually disbanded with each member going his own way.

Members

• Paul Robinson - vocalist
• John Catto - guitarist
• Ian MacKay - bassist
• John Hamilton - drummer
• Mike Lengyell - drummer

See also

List of musicians in the first wave of punk music