Thursday, March 24, 2005

Workin' For The Industry


Excellent Yeti Live Session on BBC Collective

Finally, Something Musical To Report On:

BABYSHAMBLES have headed into the studio in WALES to start work on their debut album. Pete Doherty and the band left London on Sunday (March 20) to move into the Twin Peaks studio in the Brecon Beacons. The star is cutting himself off from the outside world in the remote studio previously used by Manic Street Preachers and Catatonia. A source close to the band told NME.COM, "They've only been in there a day."

Babyshambles are working on the record with The Clash's Mick Jones and producer Bill Price, known for his work with The Clash, Sex Pistols and on the last Libertines album. Doherty was given permission to go to Wales after re-arranging his strict bail conditions in relation to charges of alleged blackmail and robbery. The band are expected to be in the studio until Doherty must return to Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 18 to enter his plea. Babyshambles' debut album is expected to be released this summer.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Where Pete's Policemen Walk The Beat



Pete on the right side of the law for once:

'TROUBLED rocker Pete Doherty treats cops to an impromptu midnight show as they call to check he is observing his 10pm curfew. Pete, 26, popped out of his flat clutching a guitar and began playing for the surprised officers, who burst out laughing. The star, who is battling a drug problem, has to be in by ten under bail conditions for a robbery charge. His model lover Kate Moss, 31, was in the East London flat at the time. A source said: "The police arrived at 12. Pete, as ever, was a bundle of fun. He played them a couple of Babyshambles songs. "The officers thought it was hilarious. He went on serenading Kate late into the night."'

(thanks Marta for the link)

Check out this hot new fansite

In other news, Pete's hotmail account has reportedly been broken into and shut down. So you'll just have to find somewhere else to send your love letters and adolescent poetry. Just kidding... Maybe.

Keep your eye on this page for great downloads (thanks style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Jimmy)

More NME News:

Doherty is set to feature on the new Wolfman & The Side Effects single--fighting. 'Ice Cream Guerrilla' is due for release on April 25 and will feature the song 'Wolfman' --a live Babyshambles favourite--on the B-side. A source close to the band has revealed that the recording will also include the sound of a scuffle breaking out between Doherty and Wolfman.

He said: "Wolfman wrote the track and has been playing it live for the last 2 years. The lyrics used to go: "Wolfman you give me the hump man, you come in like a swamp man, I jump when you say jump man". "The day the track was recorded the lyrics were changed to: "Wolfman you used to be my friend man, you really are the end man, you're fucking up again man."

"When Pete heard the new lyrics and realised they were about him--the fight broke out."

Thursday, March 10, 2005

The Man Who Would Give Ring?



Pete and Kate Engaged?
KATE MOSS is back with troubled lover PETE DOHERTY--and sporting a ring on her engagement finger. Kate showed off the band for all to see and sparked rumours that junkie rocker Pete has popped the question.

Guardian Article On Pete's Poetry

Pete Doherty makes a surprise appearance this weekend: using his own blood to create a painting for the cover of a free literary magazine. Currently observing a strict curfew as part of bail conditions for an alleged robbery, the unpredictable former lead singer of the Libertines has donated the striking image, along with a poem and a short piece of writing, to Full Moon Empty Sports Bag. It marks a prolific week for the 25-year-old, who has also read poetry on BBC radio, performed at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, London, with his new band Babyshambles and shaved off his hair. A regular contributor to Full Moon, one of a new generation of intelligent urban magazines springing from east London's literary scene, Doherty also suggested the theme of the latest issue: the self-destructiveness of fame.

(thanks to Graham for the link)

Here are those poems, as found on the .Org Forum:

Untitled

Waking up alive in London beaches of muddy iron filings
Bubbled under
Puddles of rain
Soaped wet water
Fitzrovia splashes in the dips
Of her curbs as I slip a folded fifty
In to a clammy glove
And skip
Off the pavement by the
'Kebabish City'
lick lick fry chick chat
does fixing up rot your teeth?
What about mine
In the sweet by and by my crooked smile
from one too many sad goodbyes no longer says hello
(the west end is piles of rusting pedals and blank metal stares)

Nearly all of a sudden

Almost all nearly all

'I've already put that down.' This last line repeated by muffled red Sally who takes the typist's chair and with that very same thing as that view of which wrote a letter that made me feel the opposite of better some years ago when I first met her. I say "up the morning".

The days are dripping with blood and hungry without hunger. What meagre meals I do scoff are peppered with bullet holes and garnished with Christ-knows-what. Oh you my book, so new take me deep inside you, deep into your trusted heart and hear me scream and speak sorrow for it is all I can do to hold the pen to the page... the day staggers in to the shabby hotel room, breathless and dripping with blood aright. Start again. Dripping in blood are the days changing in to evening wear and so London is a night time pipeline red alert and dead dirt in the sticky spoon bubbles up a sweet ancient perfume steamed form the spoon and as the stopper props up the droper the drop the shot, that will pop rock a'flame and rolling bones in a sharp dressed ghost's freefall through the peaceful minutes at the beginning of the night.

Moments that break a young man's heart.

Number one: somehow I would never play for QPR and therefore never score QPR's winning goal in the FA Cup Final (a brick wall is my closest companion, friend, the only witness to me clenching a season of domestic and European silverware maybe wegerte style) beat 14 men and then running rings round 11 men and then lets see in off the bar so it somehow wedges in the angled netting of the top left hand corner of the onion bag 'from the moment it left his foot'

And now we return to the olivelli hotel, store street, wcl. It's of course, upon this page I mean to say I write is the place I might still be honest with you whoever who are if indeed anyone is reading this. Hello? 'op yurs yiz borstaye 'rare' my throat dry like gaffa tape a gaping bracket like a hole in the road that trucks pull up and dump loads of food, fags and iced tea in to every couple of minutes. These days I have axed the smoking middle man and spike right from the bloody heart of things flooding up the hole in my soul that someone seems to be on the latch by way of that 20 second catch (the need to fill the hole comes from the hole……that comes from knowing that there is a need to fill a hole that...)

Whether a poem be 'true' (as true as a poet be true) or a poem be 'good' (as good is critically understood) is down to the poet’s concern for that which he craved in to wood and the words that he wrote with the red of his blood.

deeper than bloody hell. Open like the (blotch of me veins scotch). Oh the obscenity of the sea though I pursue innocently the city’s whims teeth cleansed for the first time in weeks must get my act together the pair of us my sweet? My tongue flavoured gossips of the scaggy raggy jagged underworld we inhabit. My oh my all living dead like we wander the wards of my oh my.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

It's Just His 19th Nervous Breakdown



Another Pete breakdown in Stoke

"Just got back from this afternoons gig in Stoke. What a fucking disgrace, im suprised nobody's posted anything. Pete was fucked, spent almost the entire sat (all 5 or 6 songs) sat on the floor next to the drummer. Seemed to forget words to songs and just wasnt with it at all. Band tried to sort him out but to no avail, I felt sorry for Pat and Drew. I thought he was sorting himself out?, the final nail in the coffin for me im affraid, that is the last babyshambles gig i am off to. The worst thing was, most of the crowd seemed to really enjoy it and were still shouting 'we love you Pete' after he had fucked off. Pathetic"

Guardian piece on playing more than one show in a day

But then the twice-in-one-night performance plays the same part in rock'n'roll as it does in the kiss-and-tell. In the music industry, just like in the tabloids, it goes without saying that more is always more, never less. And, of course, if two times is good and three times is great, four times is even better.

This, absurdly, is what Pete Doherty's Babyshambles somehow managed on New Year's Eve with shows in Birmingham, Stoke, Oldham and Manchester. This is the band who've caused at least one riot by their inability to get it together enough to play even once, and yet they pulled it off. What better way to show you're not the flake-out that everybody thought than by bombing up and down the motorway in the middle of the night? Unless by pulling a supermodel with a unduly literal take on what "dangerous" means, (it's supposed to be a teen magazine's euphemism for messy hair and "flashing" eyes rather than a mundane medical diagnosis). But I digress.

MP3 of Pete on Radio 4's "Bespoken Word"

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Was It The Liquor Or Was It My Soul?



Some lovely pictures from the 100% Better Club

Guardian Piece By Max Carlish, Pete's Accuser (thanks Graham)

"The first time I met Pete Doherty was in a gungy, grungy nightclub in Leicester. I'm not a pop man, I'm a documentaries man. I helped produce an Emmy and Bafta-award-winning television series about the Royal Opera House. But I had seen a photo of Pete in a newspaper pretending to smoke crack and had read about his genuine addiction, and he fascinated me."

Poetical Pete

PETE DOHERTY is to appear on BBC RADIO 4's 'BESPOKEN WORD' programme, performing music and poetry. The Babyshambles singer will feature on the March 3 show playing a specially adapted version of 'Killamangiro' and reading war poet Siegfried Sassoon’s 'Suicide In The Trenches'. 'Bespoken Word' producer Graham Frost was impressed by Doherty's poetry posted on his website babyshambles.com, and the star was asked by fellow musician Salina Saliva from the band Saltpeter to go on the show.

She said: "Whilst making the second 'Bespoken Word' series I was asked who I would most like to interview and introduce. For me it had to be Doherty, the tastiest poet in town. We all know him from before, when it was more about his poetic voice, lyrics, his spirit and work before and beyond the tabloid headlines and here I believe we have captured some of that," Saliva added.

Doherty famously recited 'Suicide In The Trenches' alongside former bandmate Carl Barat when The Libertines picked up the Best British Band gong at the NME Awards 2004. 'Bespoken Word' featuring Pete Doherty will air on March 3 at 11pm.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

What's The Difference Between New Labour and Tory?



Simple, Tory leader Michael Howard no like Pete:

PETE DOHERTY has been attacked by TORY leader MICHAEL HOWARD.

In the latest example of the Babyshambles singer's increasing notoriety, the Conservative MP has said that it is surprising that the star is dominating the newspapers despite his recent drug problems. "Here you have a man who takes drugs and gets locked up - yet ends up on the front pages," said Howard. Howard is urging pop stars and celebrities to be positive role models to children as he outlined his party's policies on drugs, reports BBC News.

"Today, more than ever, we need responsible role models for our children--professional athletes prepared to say drugs are wrong, pop stars willing to say drugs aren't cool, actors who make clear that drugs ruin lives," he said. "Because we all know that youngsters are more influenced than ever before by the celebrities they see on TV, the musicians they listen to and who are featured in magazines."

The politician added that the media should not glorify drug use. "Some in the media give the impression that drug-taking is cool - is it any wonder that children believe this?" asked Howard. "I think many parents will have been rather surprised by the celebrity coverage given to Peter Doherty over the last month."

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Down In Albion, A Bandmate Black And Blue



Onstage Punch-up at the Brixton Show:

Rock singer Pete Doherty has been involved in a fight with his band's guitarist at their biggest gig to date. Babyshambles played for 5,000 fans at London's Brixton Academy on Tuesday. The former Libertines singer traded blows with guitarist Patrick Walden. They were separated and bundled off stage before returning to end the set. The show was earlier held up due to audience overcrowding. On Monday Doherty faced blackmail and robbery charges in court, which he denies. He is out on 50,000 GBP bail and the judge agreed to extend his 2200 GMT curfew deadline by two hours so he could play the Brixton gig.

Frenzied reception

Babyshambles, which he formed after his acrimonious departure from the Libertines, played a warm-up show at The Garage, north London, on Monday. On Tuesday, Doherty and his three bandmates were introduced to the crowd by Mick Jones, the former Clash guitarist who produced the Libertines' second album. Babyshambles took the stage to a frenzied reception at 2200 GMT, launching into their last single, Killamangiro, which reached number eight in December. But the group had to stop during the next song to persuade fans not to push forward and allow security guards to pull people out of the crush. Doherty appealed to fans to calm down, saying: "There's a few people getting hurt down the front, you've got to move back."

The music resumed minutes later but after several more songs, the singer appeared to accidentally disconnect Walden's guitar, leading the pair to trade kicks and punches. Bouncers stepped in and the band left the stage, but returned after five minutes and finished their 50-minute performance with no further trouble. Doherty, 25, had to be home by midnight to observe the curfew, which is one of the conditions of his bail.

On Monday, the judge agreed to allow him to perform on condition that requests for changes to his bail terms were "not too regular an occurrence". The singer was arrested with fellow musician Alan Wass on 2 February after an alleged dispute with documentary-maker Max Carlish at a London hotel. They are next due in court on 18 April.

Thanks to Matt For The Link

Sunday, February 20, 2005

You May Wake Up One Day In The Last Chance Saloon



New York Times Article on Pete (registration required):

But in addition to his musical talent, Mr. Doherty demonstrated an effortless knack for getting himself in trouble. In June 2003 he entered the first of many stints in rehab, only to walk away days later. In September 2003 he spent more than a month in Wandsworth Prison for burglarizing Mr. Barat's apartment. Last year he received a four-month suspended sentence for carrying an illegal knife. The Libertine's self-titled second album - recorded with security guards in the studio to keep Mr. Doherty and Mr. Barat from coming to blows - went straight to No. 1 in Britain and won critical acclaim in the United States in September. But by then Mr. Doherty had been kicked out of the band.

Babyshambles, the band he started next, looked ready to repeat his former success. But it didn't quite work out that way. During Babyshambles's British tour late last year, Mr. Doherty's drug use led to canceled shows, backstage overdoses, fights with hecklers and fan riots.

Can Slash Save Pete Doherty?

To the horror, I'm sure, of the schmindie purists who hang out there, west London's Rough Trade record shop has just been discovered by packs of teenyboppers in search of Pete Doherty CDs and T-shirts. Therein, an urgent question: now that NME's Coolest Man of 2004's influence extends to schoolgirls, how long before his original fans abandon him? After all, what self-respecting indie type wants to share their hero - even if he is a certifiably bohemian junkie - with little kids? But if he does manage to survive this loss of cred, and stops his life unravelling further, he has a future ahead of him. Just ask Slash.

Carl On Pete And The Future


BBC Gossip From The NME Awards



Pete's current band, Babyshambles, lost out in the Best Live Act category to The Libertines but when Carl went to pick up the award he made an impassioned speech. Backstage he told us that despite the media circus he was really looking forward to seeing Pete again:

"I was hoping to see him tonight - I've spent three days in a sort of cold turkey state myself, expecting to have this reunion. It would have meant so much to me, it would have meant more than the world. Of course, this would have been the wrong time and the wrong place, but it just seemed inevitable that we would be forced together. I will say that the fact that Pete isn't here, is for such very, very fine reasons, because he's getting better and he's not yet well enough to be here."

"My heart goes out to him, and I defy anyone that thinks or says otherwise."

Saturday, February 12, 2005

You'll Never Fumigate The Demons...No Matter How Much You Smoke



Pete's been clean for 8 days...but can he stay that way?
See the report on Spirit of Albion

And here's a good article from John Harris on the effects of crack smoking:
Pipe Down

"These days, barely a week goes past without another crack-meets-music story impacting on the headlines - and most of them, of course, involve that wretched, broken talent Pete Doherty.

Crack is "gorgeous", he told the tabloids this week, before adding that he wanted to kick the drug so as to cement his heartwarming relationship with Kate Moss. It's not just him, though: in that corner of the universe reserved for musical small fry, there is the Others' Dominic Masters, who has claimed to use the drug as a means of 'winding down'"

Not only does the article call Pete a "broken talent"...but it compares him to Suede's Brett Anderson...now that's a low blow!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

They Have A Way To Make You Pay



Pete is out:

PETE DOHERTY is free from PENTONVILLE PRISON on bail after six nights behind bars, police have said. The star has been in the London jail all weekend, and was widely expected to be released yesterday (February 7) on GBP 150,000 bail. However, following complications with the payment, the former Libertine had to spend another night in the prison.

Speaking earlier today, Doherty's manager James Mullord explained the delay. He said: "We just had problems coming up with a personal security of someone who had GBP 100,000 in their bank account--trying to fudge it did not work...hopefully he will be cleaner now than when he went in because he's been in there six days now."

NME.COM understands that Doherty will be taken straight from prison to a drugs rehabilitation centre. Last week, the singer was granted bail with curfew restrictions at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court after being charged with robbery and blackmail. Doherty, 25, was arrested following an alleged incident in a London hotel on Wednesday night (February 2) and has been in custody since. Musician Alan Wass, 23, also of north London, appeared in court accused of the same offences. Magistrates imposed a range of bail conditions on Doherty including a curfew between 10pm and 7am, except when he attends a drug rehabilitation centre. He was told he would not be able to leave his home without being accompanied by a security firm.

The star must also surrender his passport and report daily to a local police station. Doherty was arrested after police were called to an Islington hotel in response to claims that a man had been assaulted. A man in his thirties was later taken to University College Hospital, London, with facial injuries, before being discharged. A lawyer representing Doherty and Wass said the pair strenuously deny the charges.

In other news, like our kid King Monkey, Pete had a go with this generous tart:

Read all about it here.

Unfortunately, the full length version of the Newsnight interview has been taken off the BBC's schedule. The Observer has information here.

Another Pete Interview

And Babyshambles.net had this to report:

As expected, Baby shambles will definitely not be playing the NME show at Brixton this Thursday (10th) as Peter will be in rehab. The headline gig at Brixton on 22nd February is still going ahead.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Will He Hear The Jailer Rattling The Key?



We'll See:

PETE DOHERTY has been charged with blackmail and robbery following his arrest earlier this week. Doherty has been held in a north London police station throughout the day after an alleged incident in a hotel in the city. A lawyer acting on behalf of Doherty, and a second man, announced this evening that both will face two charges.

He said: "(Pete) has been charged with two offences, one of blackmail, and one of robbery. They will be appearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court tomorrow morning (February 4) and they've been remanded in custody by police."

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Prison For Pete?



It Appears So

PETE DOHERTY has been arrested on suspicion of assault and robbery.

Doherty remains in custody this morning in London (February 3) after being arrested after an alleged incident at the Rookery Hotel in Clerkenwell. According to press reports, the arrest followed an alleged altercation with documentary maker Max Carlish. Carlish was taken to hospital, where he was treated for a black eye before being released. Carlish has been identified as the person who made a documentary about Doherty, which included scenes of hard drug use. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said: "Police were called to a hotel in Peters Lane, London EC1, at 6.20pm yesterday following a report of a man being assaulted. "A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and theft. He was taken to a north London police station and remains in custody." It has been reported that a second, unnamed musician was arrested later in the evening on suspician of robbery.

Carlish has told the BBC he doesn't want to press charges. He said: "I'm feeling bloody battered, but I'm bowed and I feel sorry for Pete. My heart goes out to Pete, he has screwed up big time now. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if in three weeks time he's hanging on the end of a rope in a jail cell somewhere. I do not want that to happen, so I'm not going to press charges. "Pete may be thinking 'I can't stand Max now', but I still love Pete and I want the best for him. If that involves me giving him money so he can go into rehabilitation, the money I've earned from the Mirror and the people who are waving cheques in my face, then so be it." According to the London Evening Standard a police doctor examined Doherty after his arrest, who said he had been high on drugs.

Monday, January 31, 2005

The Man Who Would Be Tabloid King

Some More Tabloid Nonsense:



The Mirror
"Last night the Sunday Mirror was exclusively told how Doherty encouraged a girlfriend to turn to prostitution to help fund his habit. The 21-year-old blonde - whose name we are protecting - became so hooked she had sex with other men to help fund Doherty's habit.

The tawdry story was revealed by social worker Cherilyn Russell, 33, who spent two months hanging out with Doherty at a flat above a Ladbrokes bookies in Stepney, East London."

News Of The World
Those closest to multi-millionaire Kate know she's no angel and loves to party hard. But they're terrified Doherty--who spends up to 1,000 pound a day on heroin and crack cocaine--will send her crashing off the rails.

So far stubborn Kate, 31, has defied them all, including mum Linda, best pal actress Sadie Frost and ex-lover Jefferson Hack, who is threatening to go for sole custody of their two-year-old daughter Lila Grace if she doesn't see sense.

Oh, and in other news, Gemma left Babyshambles:

BABYSHAMBLES drummer GEMMA CLARKE has revealed why she quit the band. Yesterday (January 27) NME.COM revealed she'd walked out on the group prior to the recording sessions on the group's debut album. She's been replaced by Adam Ficek (ex White Sport).

In a letter to Pete Doherty seen by NME.COM , Clarke has said she wants to make it "very clear" as to her reasons for leaving, blaming a breakdown in relations with the band's management. She wrote: "I will not continue to work under the management that you have chosen for the band... I love you, the music, Patrick, Dru and Babyshambles. Please be safe and be careful. You are a great artist and have been a massive inspiration to me. "Thanks for the experience and for a great time - keep safe and don’t forget to call me...good luck for the future."

(Special Thanks to Marta For Sending Links)

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Lucky Bastard



PETE DOHERTY - 'I'VE FOUND LOVE WITH KATE MOSS'

PETE DOHERTY has broken the silence on his rumoured relationship with KATE MOSS.

The Babyshambles man confirmed that he is smitten with the model, telling ITV's Orange Playlist "It's been the best week in a long time because I've really found love with Kate".

The former Libertines star explained in an interview to be screened next month that he's optimistic about his new relationship's chances.

"I think it will last...she is good for me because she has a beautiful soul and I think I can trust her," said Pete. "I believe her when she says she loves me and I know I mean it when I say I love her."

The pair were revealed in Sunday newspapers to have had a tattoo of each other's initial done, while The Sun reported Kate had taken Pete to have a pub lunch with her parents.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Babyshambles Album Update!



From Babyshambles.net

Baby shambles to start recording in February - 20 January 2005

Baby shambles are due to go into the studio on 3rd Feb to start working on the next single and their debut album. Until the songs have been recorded we don't know when the album is likely to be released, but as soon as we have more information we'll let you know!

The choice of song for the next single release is still undecided, but there are rumours it will probably be either Albion or Forever (aka Fuck Forever).