The Controllers were an American

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based punk rock band, who were formed in early 1977. The original members were Kidd Spike (guitar/vocals), guitarist/vocalist Johnny Stingray, and Gaye Austin (drums). Later members included Hillary Dillary (drums), D.O.A. Danny ( Dan Davis, bass), Charlie Trash (drums) and Mad Dog (a.k.a. Karla Duplantier, drums). The Controllers were part of the rapidly growing Los Angeles punk rock scene in 1977, even becoming favorites at

Brendan Mullen Brendan Mullen (October 9, 1949 – October 12, 2009) was a Scottish nightclub owner, music promoter and writer, best known for founding the Los Angeles punk rock club The Masque. Through Mullen's support at various nightclubs in Californ ...

's underground club

The Masque The Masque was a small punk rock club in central Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California which existed from 1977 to 1978. It is remembered as a key part of the early LA punk scene. History The Masque was founded by Scottish-American rock ...

. They were the first band to play an advertised show at The Masque and the last to play there in any form in 1996 at a record release party held by

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old ...

. Their debut releases, in 1978, was the "Neutron Bomb" single on the seminal punk label, What Records? A different version of the song, "(The Original) Neutron Bomb", appeared as part of a 1978 three-song compilation EP on What Records? along with songs by The Eyes and The Skulls. They released the "Slow Boy" EP in 1979 on Siamese Records before the band's demise. Retrospective releases include the album ''The Controllers'', issued in 2000 by

Bacchus Archives Bacchus Archives is a record label that has often released previous unreleased recordings. Some of the recordings it has released, includes recordings by artists such as The Controllers, Evan "Funk" Davies, The Dils, Peter Miller and Bob Thompso ...

, and ''Another Sunny Day'', issued by Artifix Records in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Controllers, The Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles