All the Madmen Records

Lore & Background

Following the reactivation in 2011 of The Mob, the label was relaunched in 2012 as All The Madmen Records Ltd; a collective trading company. As of 2016, All the Madmen Records is housed in Rockaway Park, a commune based in Temple Cloud, Somerset. All the buildings on the Rockaway Park grounds were designed and built by Mark Mob (Wilson) and contain large percentages of recycled materials that were sourced from various places.

Reader's Guide

The discography begins with REV 1 The Review – England's Glory 7" (1980) and includes releases by The Mob, Andy Stratton, The Astronauts, Flowers in the Dustbin, Zos Kia, Blyth Power, Clair Obscur, Thatcher on Acid, We Are Going To Eat You, Dan, Andy T., Kill Pretty, Steve Ignorant and Paranoid Visions, Virus, Hagar the Womb, Dogshite, Dead Cult, Steve Lake and Slow Erosion, Blue Midnight, and others, up to MAD33LP Part1 – Pictures of Pain (2014).

Did You Know?

• The label was originally founded in 1979, not 1980.
• The first release listed in the discography is The Review – England's Glory 7" from 1980.
• The label was relaunched in 2012 as a collective trading company after The Mob's reactivation in 2011.

Origins & DIY Roots

All the Madmen Records was established by the band The Mob in Yeovil, England, before the operation eventually relocated to London. The label received a crucial financial boost when the proceeds from The Mob's 1983 album Let the Tribe Increase were channelled back into the enterprise, allowing it to grow beyond a purely informal arrangement. Importantly, the label was not the sole project of one individual; it was co-organised by members of a wider creative collective, the same group that published the Kill Your Pet Puppy zine. This overlap between recorded music and independent print culture gave the operation a distinctly collaborative, community-driven character from its earliest days. Rather than functioning as a conventional commercial venture, it operated as an extension of a tight-knit network of musicians and writers who shared both a geographic base in Somerset and a commitment to self-managed production. The Yeovil origins placed the label firmly within the British independent scene, far from the major-label machinery of London, and that grassroots identity would continue to shape its output and ethos for decades to come.

Relaunch & Collective Structure

After a period of inactivity, the label experienced a significant rebirth. The reactivation of The Mob in 2011 set the stage for a formal relaunch of All the Madmen Records in 2012, at which point it was restructured as All The Madmen Records Ltd, operating specifically as a collective trading company. This corporate reorganisation signalled a shift from the informal, zine-adjacent operations of the early 1980s to a more structured entity capable of sustaining ongoing releases. The collective trading company designation was not merely a legal formality; it reflected the label's long-standing commitment to shared ownership and collaborative decision-making, principles embedded in its identity since the Kill Your Pet Puppy zine era. The 2012 relaunch also marked a new chapter in the catalogue, with fresh releases from artists such as Kill Pretty, Andy T., and The Astronauts appearing under the revived imprint. The continuity between the original Yeovil-era releases and the post-2012 output demonstrated that the label's independent spirit had survived more than three decades of change, carrying forward its collaborative ethos into a new generation of musicians and listeners.

Discography & Musical Range

The catalogue of All the Madmen Records spans a remarkable breadth of artists and formats, stretching from 1980 through at least 2014. The earliest releases, including The Review's England's Glory 7-inch and The Mob's Youth and Witch Hunt singles, all date to 1980, establishing the label's presence from the very start. The mid-1980s saw a particularly prolific run, with releases from The Astronauts, Flowers in the Dustbin, Zos Kia, Blyth Power, Clair Obscur, and Thatcher on Acid appearing across 7-inch singles, 12-inch EPs, and full-length LPs. Blyth Power alone contributed multiple entries, including the Wicked Women, Wicked Men and Wicket Keepers LP. The post-2012 catalogue continued this diversity, featuring Steve Ignorant and Paranoid Visions, Hagar the Womb, Dead Cult, and Virus among others. Formats ranged from 7-inch vinyl to CD releases, and the label's numbering system—shifting from MAD to MADLP to MADCD to MAD—tracked its evolution across decades. This breadth of artists and formats underscores the label's role as a genuine platform for independent music rather than a vehicle for a single act.

Rockaway Park & Physical Home

As of 2016, All the Madmen Records found its physical home in Rockaway Park, a commune situated in Temple Cloud, Somerset. This location was far more than a simple office or warehouse; it represented a fully realised living and working environment. Every building on the Rockaway Park grounds was designed and constructed by Mark Mob (Wilson), a figure clearly central to both the label's musical output and its physical infrastructure. The construction of these buildings incorporated large percentages of recycled materials, which were sourced from various locations, reflecting an environmental and practical sensibility that aligned with the label's independent, self-sufficient ethos. The choice to base the operation in a commune in rural Somerset, rather than in a major city, echoed the original Yeovil roots and reinforced the label's identity as something outside the conventional music-industry geography. Rockaway Park thus became both a workplace and a statement of values: collaborative, resourceful, and deliberately removed from the commercial centres that dominated the wider music scene.