The Controllers are an Soul/R&B band consisting of Reginald McArthur (baritone lead), Ricky Lewis (tenor lead), Larry McArthur and Leonard Brown. The Soul Controllers, as they were then called in the beginning, recorded their first single, called "Right On Brother, Right On". It became a regional hit while they were still attending Fairfield High School.
In 1976, the group came to the attention of Juana Records, their first single on Juana charted, but with "Somebody's Gotta Win, Somebody's Gotta Lose", really established them. The song, is a ballad lasting over eight minutes on the album, climbed to #8 on US Billboard R&B chart. A follow-up ballad, "Heaven Is Only A Step Away" climbed to #37 R&B, but despite the release of two more albums on Juana, the group failed to find another major single success. In 1983, the group signed with a San Francisco based manager, the now late Jimmy Bee, and got them a recording contract with MCA Records. Their first release on MCA "Crushed" (which featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica) returned them to the charts, reaching #30 R&B, in 1984 and two years later, "Stay" climbed to #12. These hits led to a series of appearances on Soul Train and performances at the Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall. During this time, the group also performed on MTV, BET's Video Soul and on HBO.
On the album “For The Love Of My Woman” there is some marvellous deep soul and above-average up-tempo songs from the sorely overlooked Controllers. However MCA couldn’t give The Controllers the promotion they deserved, therefore they did not score high on the charts, but the content they delivered was excellent. This album has some excellent love tunes, notably "My Secret Fantasy" and "Sleeping Alone" as their most popular songs.
01. Sleeping Alone 4’37 (Victor Burks)
02. Play Time 4’56(Sam Dees-Janet DuBois)
03. Knocking At Your Door 4’29 (Charlie Singleton)
04. For The Love Of My Woman 4’28 (Ron Tyson-Norman Harris-Ollie Woodson)
05. Keep In Touch 4’32(Gary Taylor)
06. No One’s Ever Loved Me More 3’52 (Dan Schneider)
07.Love is On Our Side 3’52 (Ron Boustead-Gregg Karukas)
08.My Secret Fantasy 4’36 (R. Benatar-G. Senogles-K. Pinto)
Produced by Ralph Benatar and Galen L. Senogles for Sheika Productions. Executive Producer: Jimmy Bee
(p) 1987 MCA Records
Label: PTG Records Cat. no: PTG 34129 Ean : 8717438197296