For drug-addled rock star Pete Doherty, who has dipped beneath the media radar since his relationship with Kate Moss fizzled out, the coverage afforded his 14-week jail sentence must feel like the good old days have come back, writes KEVIN COURTNEY
IT WAS ALMOST like those heady times of 2004 and 2005 all over again. There was famously dissolute rock star Pete Doherty, looking rakish and slightly wasted, being carted off to Wormwood Scrubs to start a 14-week jail sentence for violating the terms of his probation. Outside the West London Magistrates' Court, fans and paparazzi gathered to witness the star's latest scrape with the law. Having somehow avoided jail for the past four years despite numerous court appearances, Doherty was finally handed a custodial sentence. For Pete, it must have felt like the good old days had come back.
Ever since Doherty's high-profile relationship with Kate Moss fizzled out, the former Libertine and current leader of Babyshambles has dipped beneath the media radar. Time was when the singer-songwriter could command front-page news simply by not showing up at a gig. During Doherty's mid-Noughties heyday, when Babyshambles were the band du jour for discerning indie-heads, the tabloids couldn't get enough of the army brat from Hexham, and ran endless stories about the singer's antics in and out of the studio, with frequent leader articles tut-tutting his drug use and calling for drastic action to save him from himself. Every time he entered rehab, he was escorted by a press posse, and every time he left rehab (usually on his own recognisance, barely days into his treatment) there would invariably be a media welcome wagon waiting outside.
Doherty might have gone unnoticed by the tabloids if he didn't just happen to be dating the world's most famous supermodel, Kate Moss. When snapshots surfaced allegedly showing Moss taking cocaine in the studio where Babyshambles were recording, the media furore reached unprecedented levels, and Moss, who had become the face of H&M and numerous other fashion houses, faced losing millions in cancelled contracts. Doherty was held up as the demon rocker of Whitechapel, a drug-addled jack-the-lad who led innocent young supermodels into a life of grime, and whose influence on impressionable teenagers set the "just say no" campaign back 20 years.
Pete Doherty didn't burn out as predicted, but media interest in him reached saturation point, and once Moss went off the scene, the press turned their disapproving eye on another rock'n'roll casualty, Amy Winehouse. This week, though, Winehouse has temporarily had to take a backseat while Doherty enjoys a late stint in the limelight, but you get the feeling that, unless Doherty hooks up with Britney or Angelina Jolie, his time in the sun is destined to be short-lived.
DOHERTY FITS THE model of the perfect rock idol: rake-thin, raffish and dapper, with a fashionable drug habit and chic friends, he could have come straight from rock star central casting. The only thing missing from the equation is the memorable music. Doherty's band Babyshambles have hardly set the world alight - although his former band The Libertines were hailed as worthy successors to The Clash, his current outfit seem hobbled by their leader's lack of focus.
Their debut album, Down in Albion, released around the time of "Mossgate", was a crashing disappointment, filled with vapid songs that seemed to vanish into thin air like a puff of crack smoke. While their contemporaries fired off hit tunes and singalong anthems, the members of Babyshambles spent much of their time twiddling their thumbs while their leader flounced in and out of courtrooms, rehab facilities and various dens of iniquity. Being a member of Babyshambles must have been a frustrating job - the band have missed many crucial gigs and prestigious support slots due to Doherty's no-shows; they've also had to peep between their fingers as a plainly out-of-it Doherty made a forgettable guest appearance with Elton John on Live 8.
Despite it all, however, the band are rallying behind their unreliable leader. Bandmate Adam Ficek said: "I hope we can really look positively on this, and when he comes out he can learn from the mistakes he's made and we can persevere with the path that Babyshambles was treading before."
Some of Doherty's fans are less forgiving, having had their faith sorely tested over the years. Doherty's incarceration means he will miss what would have been his biggest-ever solo show - at the Royal Albert Hall on April 26th. If he sees out his full sentence, then Babyshambles will have to cancel another crucial date - at this year's Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset. But it's doubtful if Doherty will have to serve the full term - he'll most likely be out within a month.
All this rebellion and self-sabotage would be great fodder for Freudian psychologists. Pete Doherty was born into a privileged life in Hexham, Northumberland 29 years ago. His dad, Peter John Doherty, was an officer in the British army, and young Pete and his two sisters, Amy Jo and Emily, lived in various garrisons around the UK and Europe. At school, Pete was a star pupil, passing his A-levels with flying colours. He also showed great promise as a poet, winning a poetry competition at 16 and getting a trip to Russia as a prize. He was a fan of Queens Park Rangers, and wrote a fanzine for the club, All Quiet on the Western Avenue, but footie fans were bemused by the poetry and literary references Doherty tossed in. Doherty and his dad shared a common passion - for the comedian Tony Hancock. But Doherty snr, a strict military man, was none too happy with his son's wayward path - he reportedly cut off all ties with Pete in 2005. His mother, Jacqueline, remained devoted to her boy, and published a book, Pete Doherty: My Prodigal Son, in 2006.
Doherty studied English literature at University, but dropped out after a year, moving into a flat in London with his best friend, Carl Barât. The pair played acoustic gigs around London before forming The Libertines and signing to Rough Trade. With influences including The Clash, The Stooges and Buzzcocks, and an incendiary debut album, Up the Bracket, produced by The Clash's Mick Jones, The Libertines made an immediate impact on the music scene. Their Beatles-esque military garb got them noticed, the music earned comparisons to the great punk bands of the past, and Doherty's drug use gained the band just the right amount of notoriety.
FOR BARÂT, HOWEVER, the drugs certainly didn't work, and Doherty found himself increasingly ostracised by the other band members. He was eventually kicked out, and told he could come back once he cleaned up. Instead, Doherty broke into Barât's flat, and ended up with a conviction for burglary, serving two months in Pentonville prison. On his release, Doherty patched things up with Barât and rejoined The Libertines, and work began on the band's second album. But there was no going back. Even a visit to a radical detox centre in Thailand, which reputedly made prison seem like a holiday camp, failed to get Doherty clean - he left after three days and immediately headed for Bangkok to score drugs. By the time the album was ready to be released, Doherty was out of the band again - but this time he would not be returning.
Doherty was never stuck for a gig - at this stage, he had become a sort of punk guru for London's loaded set, and he attracted a fiercely loyal and worshipful breed of fan to his numerous guerrilla gigs in various venues and spaces, sometimes even in his own flat. He also had a UK top 10 hit, For Lovers, recorded with his poet friend, Wolfman, and his new band Babyshambles were scooping up The Libertines' residual adulation. The cult of Pete had begun.
THIS JOURNALIST interviewed the troubled singer prior to the release of Babyshambles' debut album, and caught a fleeting glimpse into Doherty's world. It was at the height of the Kate Moss furore, but Doherty's record label was hoping to draw attention away from the scandal and shift the focus onto the music. Fat chance. We met in a hotel in Brick Lane, but the interview was conducted in a dingy squat in nearby Whitechapel. I entered a poky, darkened hallway filled with records, books, notebooks, folders and sketchbooks, the walls covered with graffiti, cut-out pages and photographs, drawings and paintings. It was a sort of shrine to Doherty's random, ramshackle creativity - many of the scribbles and squiggles would probably form part of The Books of Albion, Doherty's assorted writings, which were published last year.
Doherty sat on a threadbare couch, smoking and strumming an out-of-tune guitar, and sipping gin tea, served by a lady named Mrs Rabbitte. For the next surreal hour, I sat attentively while Doherty spoke in rambling tones about his love for Kate Moss, his passion for poetry, and his feelings about his former friend Carl Barât and the "papar-nazis" who were hounding him at that time. He sang songs from Babyshambles' new album, songs he was in the process of writing, songs by his heroes The Smiths and The Beatles, all of them with a slurred voice and sloppy strumming. When I emerged into the daylight an hour later, I felt like Alice in Wonderland coming back out of the rabbit-hole.
It turned out that I had caught Pete at a good time. Later that evening, a journalist from the Guardian was due to interview him back at the hotel; by then, Doherty had abandoned the guitar, and was daubing the walls of the hotel room with his own blood.
Late last year, Babyshambles released a well-received EP, The Blinding, followed by a second album, Shotter's Nation, which, if not a stone classic, at least indicated that Doherty was heading in the right direction. He still commands huge respect in the music biz, although his gigs attract a coterie of fans who are less concerned with the music than with the druggie, outlaw trappings. With all the Kate Moss kerfuffle behind him (she is currently dating Jamie Hince from rock band The Kills), Doherty has enjoyed a short break from the tabloids, but this week's events have put him right back in the media melee, and are a sobering reminder that Doherty's drug days are still far from behind him.
"Rake-thin, raffish and dapper, with a fashionable drug habit and chic friends, Doherty could have come straight from rock star central casting
Who is he? Pete Doherty, the 29-year-old musician, singer, poet and well-known drug user.
Why is he in the news? He has been sentenced to 14 weeks in prison for violating the terms of a probation order.
Previous: Has been in and out of court so many times, he's practically got a backstage rider. Jailed in 2003 after he broke into his bandmate Carl Barât's flat. Given a suspended sentence in October 2007 after being caught driving illegally while in possession of crack cocaine, ketamine, heroin and cannabis. However, due to Doherty's breaches of time-keeping, missed appointments with probation officers and use of different drugs, the judge punished him by sending him to jail this week.
Ideal home: A mythical England known as Albion, where poets are princes and paparazzi are thrown to the lions.
Heroes: Oscar Wilde, Morrissey, George Orwell, Tony Hancock, Albert Camus, Jean Genet, Baudelaire, Chas & Dave.
Most likely to say: "I'm definitely gonna get clean, some time soon, any day now, cross my heart and hope to die, your honour."
Least likely to say: "Has it been three months in rehab already? Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?"