On the obituary of Chris Gray, The Guardian (8 July 2009) by Dick Pountain.

Pountain’s obituary does not add anything that we did not know about Chris Gray, except maybe about his dad’s part in the second world war in Kashmir. But what Pountain does is add more confusion, he cannot say anything critical about the Motherfuckers, who were a ghastly group , but he calls them “a street gang with an analysis”. And we have seen what kind of analysis they provided, setting birds of prey in china shops. Poor birds – they treated you like men! And Pountain fails that it was exactly that involvement with these Mothers that led to Chris Gray’s downfall. He should have known better. Those who followed him in the King Mob swamp did not fare batter. I have known a few over a short period of time. I remember bumping into Dave Robbins who died a few years ago. It must have been in the early eighties, we had just published Gianfranco SANGUINETTI’S On Terrorism and the State (still available from Chronos Publications), and Dave asked me:” How is the SI doing?” An incredible question especially when you think that the SI had been dissolved into eternity in 1972. This encounter took place outside what was Dillon’s now part of the Watershed conglomerate. I never saw Dave Robbins again. Dick Pountain I met in the offices of the magazine INK.

We had written a text about Ireland; it was at the time of Bloody Sunday. There was a heavy demonstration not far from Downing Street. We had to discuss the text line by line with Pountain & Robbins. They questioned every sentence. They did not like our criticism of the two IRAs. As long as we criticized the Loyalists and the British State we were ok. But when we included the other side, it wasn’t kosher. I always have an image of Dick Pountain clutching the French review internationale situationniste, as if he was holding the Bible. Eventually Colin Carsten left INK, Pountain and Robbins to their fate. Pountain ended up working for the billionnaire publisher and so-called poet : Felix Dennis who made his name with the OZ trial, as for D. Robbins he was some sort of sociologist and he wrote  Knuckle Sandwich about street gangs and violence. I never saw Dick Pountain again , except from afar around Notting Hill Gate. It is very sad that Chris Gray got involved with the Rajneesh mess. Many seek salvation, but it seems only a critique of this world can offer some hope of a better life for oneself and for future generations. The treadmill of capital  awaits us all. Its value hunger is insatiable. That is why  we need to understand the way this society works in order to change it.

written by Michel Prigent as part of The memoirs of a situationist drummer (a work in progress).