Mark Wilson was the main writer, vocalist and guitarist with Curtis Youe on bass guitar and backing vocals. Graham Fallows played the drums from the bands foundation in 1978 until late 1980, then Adie Tompkins and Tim Hutton were also tried out, until eventually Josef Porter from Zounds joined up until the group disbanded in late 1983. Wilf (sadly no longer with us) though not a member of the band was always present with some of the best artwork of the time. The pages on Myspace and Facebook are the nearest thing to having an official site for The Mob on the world wide web.

Another site worth checking out is Kill Your Pet Puppy who have always had a very healthy relationship with the band, two interesting Mob posts are on this website and are linked to below:

http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=4250 - The Mob ATM records post

http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=4057 - The Mob Crass records post

All the records released on the All The Madmen record label are uploaded onto the Kill Your Pet Puppy blog and they may be listened to via the links on the HISTORY OF ALL THE MADMEN RECORDS - 1978 - 1986 text half way down this info page.

Mickey Penguin x

THE HISTORY OF THE MOB

The Mob formed in a village near Yeovil in Somerset, England, around the beginning of 1978. The band at this time consisted of Mark (guitar, vocals and songwriter), Graham (drums), and Curtis (bass and backing vocals). All of the members of The Mob had previously been in a band called Magnum Force while at school together…

The Mob played local halls and did not go too far out of the west country region during this early time in the band’s history.

A lot of the early gigs were attended by local meatheads, and there was quite a bit of hostility shown from some members of the audience towards the band and their friends, which sometimes ended in violence. This aggression was common all over England during and after punks ‘heyday’ specifically in small towns and villages. The Mob blagged a slot on the 1978 Stonehenge free festival, a festival which the band supported and had attended before the punk explosion of 1977. The Mob performed at this free festival throughout the following years until the band’s breakup in 1983.

The following year in 1979, the band’s gigs opened up quite a bit, the band went on the road with Here and Now who drew a different audience than the ‘bored youngsters’ that would cause trouble in youth clubs in and around Yeovil. The band also experienced playing their first European gigs with Here And Now. Both these bands performed together in Holland towards the end of 1979 which was useful for The Mob as they got to know the members, and the hangers on, of the free festival scene. The Mob performed for a second year at the Stonehenge free festival during the summer solstice.

At this time there was a small explosion of various like minded individuals in the local area who had started bands and began to organise their gigs with The Mob. Some of the friends included Geoff, who had the original All The Madmen fanzine based at his parents house, where most of the friends would hang out without too much grief from Geoff’s parents.

The record label name, soon to be born, was a continuation of the fanzine name. The fanzine was dying down a bit by 1979-80. The members of The Mob, Debbie (who went on to form My Bloody Valentine in the mid 1980’s) and Christine from The Bikini Mutants were also regular friends and visitors to Geoff’s parents house along with Wilf who supplied the artwork for a lot of the releases on the All The Madmen record label and all The Mob’s vinyl output in particular.

The Androids Of Mu were also close to The Mob at this time.

http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=4250

The band’s first single ‘Crying Again’ 7″ was recorded in the winter of 1979 at Crypt Studios in Stevenage, by Here And Now’s soundman, and resident Street Level Studios engineer, Grant Showbiz.

The record was released on Geoff’s All The Madmen record label, with the help of Max who saved up a fair bit of cash to put the single out in the early months of 1980.

The next single, the ’Witch Hunt’ 7″ was recorded in the summer of 1980 at Spaceward in Cambridge, and had a much bigger impact, reaching further out via the network of fanzines growing up in the rise of Crass and bands of that scene. Also John Peel played it a bit, and therefore this single was just about everybody’s first experience of The Mob specifially if you were outside the band’s immediate local area.

At the start of ‘Witch Hunt’, there is a blood-curdling scream, this scream was used on the ansa-phone message when ringing up Geoff’s house in Larkhill Road from then on!

More local gigs followed, also a small ‘free’ tour in the vein of what Here And Now were promoting a year earlier. This tour was called Weird Tales and included The Mob, The Astronauts, Zounds, Andriods Of Mu plus any local bands that happened to be in the area the tour had got to that day. The band’s got paid by passing around a hat during the gigs…

A few tracks still exist on tape of this era, mostly on Kif Kif’s cassette label Fuck Off tape label, ’Tribute To Bert Weeden’ and a little later on ‘Folk In Hell’ being two of them worth listening to.

The band played the Stonehenge free festival in 1980, unfortunately this was the year when some trouble brewed up during the day from some violent biker gangs who did not have the patience to listen to ‘punk’ music and specifically Crass who were to play there set later on in the evening. The Snipers and The Mob got off lightly, but when The Epileptics (soon to be renamed Flux Of Pink Indians) were performing the trouble started and many people were hurt in the clashes. Zounds, Poison Girls and Crass did not even get to perform as the promoters and the sound guy, Grant Showbiz, could not guarantee the safety of these bands or the punks who had come to see them perform. Ironically both Crass and Poison Girls successfully played this same festival the year before in 1979 with no trouble whatsoever. The difference between both years, according to Mark Mob, was that hundreds of 'Kings Road' fashion punks turned up in 1980. This is what seemed to upset the biker gangs.

In the beginning of 1981, Mark and Curtis moved up to London into the squats of Brougham Road, Graham had decided to stay in Yeovil so the band were in need of a new drummer. After previously trying out Adie (from Null And Void) and a guy called Tim Hutton (from Zounds), they recruited fellow Brougham Road resident Josef Porter (from Zounds, Null And Void and Entire Cosmos).

On the back of the popularity of the ‘Witch Hunt’ single, and with the new drummer in place, the band got together to record some tracks to be released on cassette format. The tape was recorded in Josef’s bedroom in Brougham Road, Hackney and was eventually entitled ‘Ching’. This very basic bedroom recording was sold at gigs and through mailorder to people writing to the band.

http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=4057

The Mob caught the attention of Penny Rimbaud, drummer and writer for the seminal anarcho-punk band Crass, who recruited them for a recording of a single on Crass Records.

‘No Doves Fly Here’ 7″ is not quite like anything else the Mob ever recorded. This is partly because of the tune’s violently slow pace and vivid anti-war lyrics. It’s also due to the production tweaks added later by Rimbaud at Southern Studios in North London, including his famous sound clips and a very prominent synth track that the band hadn’t expected. At the time when the soon to be released record was sent to The Mob, the sound effects annoyed the band members to various degrees. There are test pressings of the original drum and bass version around, which sounds decent enough, but I think what Penny tried to do does add emotion to the tracks, and the tracks sound better for the tweaking. That is just my view though, and I must add, I also like and respect Penny very much!

The intense power of the song, combined with Crass’ better distribution via Rough Trade, ensured this release to be in the top 5 of the then independent charts for several weeks.

The Mob played a Streetlevel music festival in 1982 at a playground on Hampstead Heath, this performance was witnessed by Min and several other notible Kill Your Pet Puppy collective members. The first time the band and the fanzine contributors had crossed paths.

The band also performed at the infamous ZigZag squat gig in December 1982, along with some of the best in the anarcho-punk scene including Omega Tribe, Faction, D.I.R.T, Null And Void, Lack Of Knowledge, The Apostles, Conflict, Poison Girls, D & V, and Crass themselves. This gig was partly organised by members of the Kill Your Pet Puppy collective.

In the autumn of 1982, The Mob recorded some tracks at Spaceward with the financial help of Kill Your Pet Puppy collective members, Alistair Livingston and Mick Lugworm. The product was released by All the Madmen records early on in the spring of 1983 with the backing of Geoff Travis of Rough Trade, who saw the potential in dealing with this band / label for his organisation.

The ‘Let The Tribe Increase’ album was a milestone for The Mob, and for the anarcho scene that the band had been lumped into against their wishes. The band never wanted any labels pushed onto them, although the band members had respect for all the individuals that they crossed paths with, bands, writers, activists etc. The album is considered a ‘classic’ by many 1000’s of people around the world, and rightly so.

The release came with stunning artwork from Wilf (borrowed if we are to be polite, from Alternative TV’s second album ‘Vibing Up The Senile Man’ – The ATV album nobody liked, because the tracks were not fast and did not have enough fuzz boxes on them) and a huge poster…

The original artwork by Wilf that was considered would have been too expensive to print so the band went for the cheaper two colour option instead.

The album hit the top 3 in the independent charts with the help of the fanzine writers and the music weeklies of the time which in no small way was down to Alistair Livingston and Tony D from Kill Your Pet Puppy fanzine pushing the album whenever and wherever they could, including getting a cover and centre spread of Punk Lives magazine which had quite a large circulation at the time. Also The Mob who had previously been playing to such colourful audiences at the Wapping Autonomy Centre, the Centro Iberico, Meanwhile Gardens and a host of other ‘off the circuit’ venues throughout the last couple of years helped to push the record.

Furthermore bands like Blood And Roses, Sex Gang Children, Southern Death Cult and Brigandage were getting positive publicity at the time, and The Mob were generally regarded as a similar sort of band attitude wise, esp in the better fanzines like Kill Your Pet Puppy and Vague, as well as the music weeklies like the N.M.E.

The final Mob release was the ‘Mirror Breaks’ 7″, again recorded at Spaceward and released in the summer of 1983. Musically it was one of the prettier songs that the band had attempted, but with the same feel and some of the best lyrics of any Mob song in the set at the time.

This last single was selling very well, as was the album, what better time to knock it all on the head, and get something else done than during the pinnacle of the band…!

Mark Mob decided a couple of months after a European tour in the winter of 1983, to put down his guitar, put his teepee in the truck, and roam around the countryside, originally with the Peace Convoy, then settling at Pooh Corner for several years, later still settling down near Bath with his family.

The Mob bowing out at the top of the band’s popularity was a sensible thing to have done, and the band’s legacy is greater for it.

In 1984 Josef and Curtis continued performing together with Blyth Power until those old friends split up late 1986.

Josef carried on Blyth Power for many years with different line ups, and they still play a few times a year. Curtis has settled in Wales and has became a chef. He hopes to own his own restaurant sometime in the future. Josef is now in charge of testing models (airfix toys not girls) for a magazine. Josef’s ‘dream’ job. Mark has a van parts business, buying and selling scrap metal. He spends a fair bit of time in his second home in Morrocco. Wilf, the artist of all the record sleeves and much more than that, a close friend to all the band, passed away in the late 1990’s.

All the Madmen records continued though out under Alistair Livingston’s guidance after Mark Mob had disappeared in 1984. He helped release the Astronauts album ‘All Done By Mirrors’ in late 1983, the Flowers In The Dustbin 12″ and the Zos Kia 7″ in 1984 featuring Min.

Rob Challice from Faction, took the record label over in 1985 and released a whole heap more material by Blyth Power, The Astronauts and Thatcher On Acid until early 1988, when All The Madmen records closed it’s doors for the last time.

Mickey Penguin x

THE MOB’S VINYL DISCOGRAPHY

MOB01 - Crying Again / Youth - recorded at Crypt, Stevenage by Grant Showbiz - recorded 1979 released 1980 - All The Madmen Records

MAD02 - Witchhunt / Shuffling Souls - recorded at Spaceward, Cambridge by Mike Kemp - 1980 - All The Madmen Records

321984/7 - No Doves Fly Here / I Hear You Laughing - recorded at Southern Studios by Penny and John Loder - 1981 - Crass Records

MAD04 - Let The Tribe Increase LP - recorded at Spaceward by Ted and The Mob - recorded 1982 released 1983 - All The Madmen Records

MAD06 - Mirror Breaks / Stay - recorded at Spaceward, Cambridge by Joe Bull and The Mob - 1983 - All The Madmen Records

MAD13 - Reissue 12" Crying Again / Youth / Gates Of Hell* / No Doves Fly Here* / Whats Going On* * Live recordings - 1986 - All The Madmen Records

CFC02 - Live At LMC Camden 1983 - split live recording with The Apostles - 1986 - Cause For Concern Records - THIS IS A BOOTLEG PUT OUT BY LARRY PETERSON AND IS A RECORDING MADE IN THE CROWD, NOT THE MIXING DESK...

Obviously all this vinyl stock is long gone, and you will have to search for it in specialist record shops dealing with decent secondhand stock, or you could try ebay to see if anyone is selling there old copies worldwide.

* New CD of very old recordings (some Streetlevel tracks / The Ching sessions recorded in Josef's bedroom at Brougham Road / live tracks) avaliable now on Overground Records as is the remastered and nicely packaged 'Let The Tribe Increase' LP. Both these CDs are official releases and details are below.

Mickey Penguin x

LET THE TRIBE INCREASE - OFFICIAL CD RE-RELEASE ON OVERGROUND RECORDS

THE MOB

‘Let The Tribe Increase’

14 track CD: 49 minutes:

Label: Overground

Cat. No. OVER 122VP CD

Barcode: 604388719020

Release Date: 6th April 2009

In many ways The Mob were the archetypal anarcho punk band. Formed in Yeovil, Somerset in 1979 the band soon spent their time permanently on the road in a convoy of trucks before squatting in Brougham Road, Hackney – a street of houses that accommodated many punk and counter-culture types. Until their demise in 1983 they remained an integral part and a huge influence on the anarcho, traveller and free festival scenes.

Their first release was the 1979 ‘Crying Again’ single on their own All The Madmen label. 1980 saw another single the hugely popular and haunting ‘Witch Hunt’, followed later in 1981 by the ‘Ching’ cassette, soon followed by their now legendary Crass single ‘No Doves Fly Here’, both taking anarcho punk into new musically unchartered waters.

1983 saw the release of their now legendary album ‘Let The Tribe Increase’, an album that saw them moving away from the constraints of the punk sound as they continued to push the musical boundaries. This trend continued in their epic single ‘The Mirror Breaks’.

The Mob’s involvement with the counterculture saw them playing gigs with archetypal hippies Here & Now and Androids of Mu as well as being actively involved in the Persons Unknown and Centro Iberico anarchist centres and the Black Sheep Housing Co-operative.

Eventually The Mob dissolved with Joseph Porter and Curtis founding Blyth Power.

‘Let The Tribe Increase’ includes the full album, both tracks from the ‘Mirror Breaks’ 7” and a previously unheard demo version of ‘Stay’, all professionally remastered. Packaged in a 12-page booklet it contains a band history and the events that surrounded the recording of the album by Kill Your Pet Puppy fanzine editor Alistair Livingston.

Track Listing:

Another Day, Another Death/ Cry Of A Morning/ Dance On (You Fool)/ Prison/ Slayed/ Our Life Our World/ Gates Of Hell/ I Wish/ Never Understood/ Roger/ Witch Hunt/ Stay (demo)/ The Mirror Breaks/ Stay

THE MOB MAY INSPIRE REVOLUTIONARY ACTS CD

Catalogue number

OVER115VPCD

Release date

26/11/2007

Format

CD

Label

Overground

Disc 1

1. Gates Of Hell 2. No Doves Fly Here 3. What's Going On 4. Slayed 5. White Niggers 6. I Wish 7. Youth 8. Never Understood

9. I Hear You Laughing 10. Crying Again 11. No Doves Fly Here 12. When The Mirror Breaks 13. What's Going On 14. Violence 15. No Time 16. Clown 17. Another Day Another Death 18. Raised In A Prison 19. Gates Of Hell 20. Witch Hunt

In many ways The Mob were the archetypal anarcho punk band. Formed in Yeovil, Somerset in 1978 the band soon spent their time permanently on the road in a convoy of trucks before squatting in Brougham Road, Hackney – a street of houses that accommodated many punk and counter-culture types. Until their demise in 1983 they remained an integral part and a huge influence on the anarcho, traveller and free festival scenes.

Their first release was the 1980 Crying Again single on their own All The Madmen label, followed later that year by the Ching cassette which is included here. 1980 saw another single the hugely popular and haunting Witch Hunt, soon followed by their now legendary Crass single No Doves Fly Here both taking anarcho punk into new musically unchartered waters. Included here is the original recording of that single prior to being reworked by Penny Rimbaud of Crass.

1983 saw the release of their now legendary album Let The Tribe Increase, an album that saw them moving away from the constraints of the punk sound as they continued to push the musical boundaries. This trend continued in their epic single The Mirror Breaks.

Eventually The Mob dissolved with Joseph Porter founding Blyth Power.

May Inspire Revolutionary Acts compiles all the material that wasn't on their discography Let The Tribe Increase CD. These include their highly collectable Ching cassette, unreleased versions of Crying Again and No Doves Fly Here, tracks that appeared exclusively on the impossible to find A Tribute To Bert Weedon cassette and three live tracks.

Packaged in a 12-page booklet it contains a detailed explanation of the sources of the recordings and sleeve notes by Kill Your Pet Puppy fanzine writer Alistair Livingston.

SOMETHING WRITTEN BY AN OLD FOLLOWER OF THE MOB

There was something uniquely English about The Mob which to this day is difficult to define. A loose, understated eccentricity. A strangeness, fuelled by their association with free festivals and LSD. I can remember the Porky Prime Cut messages scratched on the inner groove of their records: ‘Acid Punks’, ‘Take a trip down’ etc. Unlike most of the Crass-type bands, The Mob never offered any solutions or calls for action. They simply described how things were and how they felt. While Crass et al attempted to inspire through anger, The Mob inspired through being very truthful. While some put forward pacifism as an answer and others direct action, The Mob offered no answers at all and in this respect they were just like us because we also had no real answers. We all knew the world was wrong but none of us really knew what to do about it. It is this aspect of The Mob that makes them very important in the scheme of 1980’s anarcho punk rock. They were the same as us. They were closer to us than most other bands, closer I imagine than they ever really knew. Though the music they played was relatively simple, the sound the band made was very big and it translated well from small squatted venues to more sizeable and established venues, from small audiences to larger free festival audiences. Equally important of course, the sound translated well to each listener alone in their homes. I always thought they could have been a hugely successful band in the sense of reaching out to a much wider audience. They were getting better all the time, their last single ‘The Mirror Breaks’ was even covered a few years later, after the band had ceased recording or performing live, by an indie band from Glasgow, The Close Lobsters, for that band's John Peel session. For some reason, however, they called it a day but in doing so they passed into legend.

John Serpico (Bristol, England)