The Libertines

The band played their last show in Paris without Pete Doherty. The group still survives today, primarily because of the leadership of Graham Knight. The Libertines officially disbanded at the end of 2004. An attempt to fit into the UK's move to "progressive" music met with limited success. In the interview with Kirsty Wark, Doherty talked openly about his addictions to heroin and crack cocaine, stating that "I'm not a nihilist, I don't want to die", and talked about the breakdown of his relationship with Carl Barat. When pianist Junior Campbell left the band to become a "one hit wonder", Marmalade began a series of line-up changes including the loss of drummer Alan Whitehead and suffered poor publicity from the UK's News of the World. The piece featured Doherty's first-ever major television interview as well as an acoustic performance of "Music When the Lights Go Out". The band was managed by Peter Walsh, a 60s and 70s pop entrepreneur whose portfolio also included artists like the Bay City Rollers, Billy Ocean, the Troggs and Blue Mink.

On 21 December 2004, a 12 minute feature on Pete Doherty was broadcast on BBC2's current affairs programme Newsnight. They toured extensively and even gave rise to a cocktail - the Marmaladdie. Carl Barat told NME that he plans to leave the Libertines at the end of 2004 if Pete Doherty doesn't clean up from his on-going drug problems. The harmony-based band went on to produce a string of early 1970s hits including "Reflections of My Life" and "Rainbow", using the lead vocals of Dean Ford and the higher harmonies of bass player Graham Knight. In September 2004 given a community service order after being found with a flick knife in his car, a "welcome back" looked unlikely. Their first hit record was a cover of the Beatles' "Ob-la-di", predictably performed in orange suits, which went to #1 in the UK charts. However he recently formed his own band, Babyshambles and has failed to kick his drug habit. Marmalade were a Scottish pop group, highly successful during the early 1970s.

After serving one month in jail he rejoined the band in October 2003, However In June 2004 he was kicked out of the band again because of narcotic problems, but the band has promised that "When he cleans up his addictions he will be immediately welcomed back into the band" [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3852977.stm). The remaining members toured without him in August and September. Peter Doherty became estranged from the band, and was convicted of burglary of bandmate Carl Barat's flat in September 2003. Despite their success and critical acclaim (especially in the UK), the band has fallen upon difficult times of late.

In their attitude they are almost always compared to The Sex Pistols due to their chaotic and energetic live peformances and, either refreshingly or depressingly depending how you see these things, Pete Doherty's instability and nihilistic, self destructive behavior. Many of their lyrics refer to elements of British life, use English/cockney slang and are delivered in a style reminiscent of Joe Strummer (though Pete Doherty is by no means an unoriginal vocalist). The band has been compared to many classic British rock n' roll bands, as their angle on rock n' roll is uniquely English. Their sound is often compared to the sound of The Jam, The Kinks' early records as well as The Clash's first album and early singles. It was followed in 2004 by their second album, simply entitled The Libertines.

The single's success was followed up by the album Up The Bracket, produced by punk icon Mick Jones, formerly of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite. Their debut single, "What A Waster" (2002), produced by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, was immediately seized upon by the English press for its liberal use of profanity and English colloquialism. The line-up consists of Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar), Carl Barat (vocals/guitar), John Hassall (bass) and Gary Powell (drums). The Libertines were a critically acclaimed British rock and roll band noted for their chaotic live outings and uniquely English take on punk rock.

The Libertines (2004). Up The Bracket (2002).