Formed: Los Angeles, California, USA
Above: Photo from Search & Destroy #10.Great punk band formed on July 4th 1977, with a lineup of Johnny Stingray (guitar), his girlfriend (drums), his girlfriend's little brother Kid Spike (vocals), and bass player D.O.A. Dan ("an acne-scarred lunatic with more than a few loose screws", according to Stingray). They rehearsed under the Pussycat Theater on Hollywood Blvd, which was run by Brendan Mullen, an entrepreneurial Scotsman who transformed the rehearsal spot into The Masque.
By the time they recorded the Neutron Bomb 7" in late '77 Charlie Trash was behind the drum kit, but by the time the single was released in 1978 "a lame power grab on part of the rhythm section" reduced the band to just Stingray and Spike, who soldiered on nonetheless.
Paul Roessler (The Screamers) and Bruce Barf (pre-Wall of Voodoo) were enlisted to help out with shows, before Stringray and Spike settled on being a power trio, with a black woman called Maddog on drums. (I only mention her gender and skin colour because her name is non-gender specific, and it was unusual to have women drummers at the time, especially black ones playing in punk bands.) This lineup recorded the Slow Boy 7" in 1978 and three songs for the Tooth And Nail compilation in 1979.
The band folded in Spring '79, with Spike joining the slightly boring The Gears, Maddog drifting into even greater obscurity and Stringray forming KAOS.
The Controllers reformed briefly in 1996.
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles / Albums
 |
 |
|||
| Neutron Bomb (7", 1978) |
Slow Boy (7", 1978) |
|||
Extraneous Releases |
||||
 |
||||
| The Controllers (LP/CD, 2000) |
Another Sunny Day (CD, 2006) |
Punk 45 (7", split with The Pagans, 2013) |
||
Various Artists
What Records? US 7" 1978 (What Records?): (The Original) Neutron Bomb
Tooth And Nail US LP 1979 (Upsetter): Another Day / Electric Church / Jezebel
What Is It. US LP 1982 (What Records?): Neutron Bomb / Killer Queers
Killed By Death (Rare Punk 77-82) US LP 1989 (Redrum): (The Original) Neutron Bomb
What Stuff US LP 1990 (Iloki): Neutron Bomb / Killer Queers
Bloodstains Across California US LP 1993 (Bloodstains): Slow Boy
Punk Anderson's Favourites Germany 2xCD 1995 (Starving Missile): Jezebel
