Pete Doherty, one half of the creative brains behind The Libertines and currently selling his songwriting wares with Babyshambles. Even if you don’t know either of his bands it’s likely you know of him. The reason for that is pretty unfortunate, jail terms and a long term drug addiction, of which the long term consequences are often severe. These have only served to fuel a tabloid fascination with the “Troubled Genius” or “Crackhead Pete”, as one paper elegantly put it. So has this unfortunate media fascination damaged his reputation and overshadowed his talents or not? We put it to our Indie Panel to discuss!
Bart Williams (Indie Writer)
To say Pete Doherty‘s been a hot topic of conversation over the past decade would be the understatement of the, well, decade. Since The Libertines exploded onto the scene in 2002, this mercurial character has managed to consistently spark controversy; the combination of various criminal offenses; spiraling drug addictions and high-profile relationships making him prime prey for the paparazzi . On the surface, media portrayal of Doherty is easily digested considering The Libertines’ debut single ‘What A Waster’ pretty much tells the story of what would come to be Doherty’s tabloid-sketched caricature. So if the man on the street was to think “you know what, I’ll give his music a listen”, it’s likely that due to this preconception he’d just notice the raw, sloppy sound and quickly dismiss it as the work of that over-exposed crack-head they read about in The Sun.
Now, I think it’s about time I waded through the bullshit and got on to the genuine substance of Pete Doherty. Here we have a man whose impact on the UK rock n roll scene was immeasurable, and whose lyricism truly captured the imagination of a generation. The poignant poetic material that is to be heard throughout his full body of work reflecting a soul as fascinating as it is tortured, and I don’t think it’s to be understated just how heavily his work has influenced and will influence artists for years to come. Sure, one can speculate as to how much his habits have restricted the work Doherty could have produced by now, but to propose the drugs have overshadowed his genius is quite a ludicrous notion in my eyes. That of course, is just the view from my eyes. So I think in asking the question ‘have drugs overshadowed his genius’, the answer fully depends on through whose eyes we’re viewing it. Of course, through the public eye, the drugs have overshadowed his genius because that shadow has been cast by the colossal, eclipsing figure of the British media. But through the eyes of all of those who have been touched by the understated passion and intriguing insights to be seen in his lyricism, then the eternal flame of genius will always shine through.
Martin-john McDonnell (Indie Editor)
Firstly and foremost we must remember that drug addiction is an illness and to condone any use of drugs would be dangerous and idiotic. I will say however that in the map of the rock and roll universe (a system I’m in the process of patenting), drugs would be the sun (or mercury at least) to our earth. That is to say they are pretty damn central to the rock and roll world. Rockstars have long played up or down drug problems as it suits their own publicity.
Take Keith Richards for example. No one has ever turned round and disowned Keith’s musical output in the same way that has happened with Pete. I’ve seen people in the past turn their noses up at the idea of listening to Pete’s music as if he was the hellish spawn of a notorious sex offender, I’ve even seen people enjoying The Libertines at parties only to recoil in horror when told who they’ve been getting down to. None of that happened with Keith Richards, and here’s why!
Keith Richards lived in a world where you could disputably get up to more shenanigans and not worry too much about the media, nowadays though it’s fair to say that the media (and us swine-like people of the general public) like to see a car crash. We’re fascinated with seeing other people go to shit as it makes us feel better about ourselfs. Pete Doherty is in some ways just collateral damage of the great public rubbernecking.
Which isn’t to paint Pete like a saint by any great measure. There are many sins that have been well documented and he’s served time for a few of them even, but the fact that Pete is, by his own acknowledgement, a drug addict should not be a brush to tarnish his musical talents though. Yes perhaps The Libertines would still be kicking about with 6/7 albums to their name if Pete had been a monkish figure and avoided the crackpipes but that’s not the real tragedy behind Pete’s drug addiction. It’d be selfish to say that the dissolution of their favourite band is the worst part of someone’s drug habit. The real tragedy is the way that Pete has clearly changed from a excitable and riotous poet with his Johnny Marr like sidekick to his side to someone who is a scared, world weary figure who by his own admission will only likely stop drugs upon loss of a limb.
His musical talents are however undeniable, The Libertines in my opinion were the most important band of the 00’s because they made real life poetic without taking anyway any of it’s edge. That ideal was down to the genius of Pete Doherty and Carl Barat as writers along with their supporting crew of John Hassall and Gary Powell. Take a bow boys!
So you’ve heard what our pane had to say. now let us know your views on Pete Doherty below!
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