King Mob
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King Mob was a radical anarchist group based in London during the 1970s. It was a cultural mutation of the Situationists and the Motherfuckers street gang. They sought to emphasize the cultural anarchy and disorder being ignored in Britain. They derived their name from Christopher Hibbert's 1958 book on the Gordon Riots of June 1780, in which rioters daubed the slogan His Majesty King Mob on the walls of Newgate prison, after gutting the building.
The King Mob group allegedly planned a series of audacious actions, including blowing up a waterfall in England's Lake District, painting the poet Wordsworth's house with the words, Coleridge Lives, and hanging peacocks in London's Holland Park. However, none of the aforementioned plans was executed. However, one action that was carried out was inspired by the New York–based Black Mask's "mill-in at Macy's". King Mob appeared at the Selfridges store in London with one member dressed as Father Christmas and distributed all of the store's toys to children. Subsequently, members of the London constabulary forced the children to return the toys.
King Mob appreciated pop culture and distributed their ideas and political ideas through various posters and through their publication King Mob Echo, which celebrated killers like Jack the Ripper, Mary Bell, and John Christie. One King Mob flyer in particular celebrated Valerie Solanas' 1968 shooting of Andy Warhol and included a hit-list of: Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Mike Kustow, Richard Hamilton, Mario Amaya (who was later shot by Solonas), David Hockney, Mary Quant, Twiggy, and "it" editors Miles and Marianne Faithfull.
Graffiti attributed to King Mob was observed in many places, including the memorable slogan "Same thing day after day - tube - work - dinner - work - tube - armchair - TV - sleep - tube - work - how much more can you take? - one in ten go mad - one in five cracks up", which was painted on the walls of the London Underground, or "tube," between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park stations. Another graffito attributed to King Mob stated, "I don't believe in nothing - I feel like they ought to burn down the world - just let it burn down baby."
They are also responsible for various attacks on art galleries and for organizing a battle between local skinheads, who they considered "the working class avante-garde," and "greasers" in central London.
Other uses
- King Mob is a central character in The Invisibles, a 1990s comic book series written by Scottish writer Grant Morrison.
- Kings Mob Productions is a New York–based independent film company.