I was the drummer in the Punk Rock band The Controllers in 1977-78. The Controllers were the first Punk band to gain any kind of positive audience reaction in the early Punk scene. After The Germs, The Controllers were the second band to record on Chris Ashford's What? label. The way The Controllers drove crowds wild reminded me of when I saw Jerry Lee Lewis entertain in a tent in Louisiana in 1960.
I did not feel completely comfortable in the 77 Punk scene. I was much taller than the other girls, and despite their affectations, I was the only college graduate there. In fact, I feel that it was my height that led to my release from The Controllers. My husband, DOA Dan left subsequently out of loyalty to me.
The Masque was a very dangerous place, so the Bags fled with their tails between their legs. The Masque scene was composed of very tall men (and myself) like The Skulls and The Controllers. The others were very small and angry men and women. I say men and women because everyone else was in their mid to late twenties. I remember one irritating little man who smashed the toilets in the girls bathroom, and wrote terrible things about Bobby Pyn on the walls. The Germs were very artistic; everyone else was just ambition.
Brendan Mullen relied on the muscle of The Skulls and The Controllers for security, and now he stabs us in the back! The Masque would not have lasted five minutes without us. Most of what you read about The Masque is written by very small, little people from Slash and Flipside fanzines who were too afraid to show up at The Masque. "He who controls the past controls the future."

The Controllers were the first and the last band to play the legendary L.A. punk rock club The Masque. Formed by Johnny Stingray and Kidd Spike in the late spring of 1977. Like most of the early California punk bands their original releases have become collectors items. Kidd Spike also played with The Gears and Johnny Stingray formed KAOS. Ex-members of The Controllers and The Skulls played together in Skull Control between 1991 and 1997. If you like PUNK both in music and attitude you need THE CONTROLLERS in your Life. I mean it, man, they are a really great band!