First off, connect the 4 position correctly to your LED strip.
Second, disconnect from your batteries by removing the snap on two prong tab to the battery holder. Its the piece that is on the other end of the wire from where you soldered to. That should be removable. What you want to do is remove it so that you can temporarily reconnect it backwards, but just momentarily, to see if it lights up. If it does, you've soldered the wires backwards.
---------- Post added at 05:06 ---------- Previous post was at 04:57 ----------
your batteries may also be the problem, you have (8batteries *1.5V) = 12V but at 150mA you will only get (12V*.15A)=1.8W from those batteries. the output of your ac to dc adapter will give you up to 12v at 1000mA(1A) = 12W. You IR controller can source up to 12V at 6A so 72W. But the most you can get is the 12W from your wall adapter. So I doubt the lights are pulling 72W, or even 12W, but 1.8W is probably not enough to power it.