London, England Genre(s) Garage rock
Indie rock
Punk rock Years active 2003–present Label(s) Rough Trade Records (2004-2006)
Regal Records/Parlophone/EMI (2007-present) Associated
acts The Libertines Website Official website Members Peter Doherty (Singer/Guitar)
Adam Ficek (Drums)
Drew McConnell (Bass)
Mick Whitnall (Guitar) Former members Scarborough Steve (Singer)
Jamie Perrett (Bass)
Peter Perrett Jr. (Guitar)
Seb Roachford (Drums)
Gemma Clarke (Drums)
Patrick Walden (Guitar)

Babyshambles (alternatively written Baby Shambles) are an indie rock band from London, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by singer Pete Doherty, draw influences from within the punk and Britpop genres. They have had chart success with one album, an EP and several singles, and gained press attention as a result of tabloid interest in Doherty's personal life.

History

Pre-history

Babyshambles were formed by Doherty during his first forced absence from The Libertines in mid 2003. Banned from playing with his bandmates until he had tackled his drug misuse, Doherty decided to find another creative outlet. He recruited 'Scarborough' Steve Bedlow, a brief member of The Libertines' line-up, as a vocalist, and initially planned to call his new band The Libertines, thinking that he had an equal share to the name with his former bandmate Barât. However, he subsequently named the band after the once-popular British beverage, Babycham; Doherty had previously been given the moniker 'Babyshambles' by the Queens of Noize, whilst Barât had been similarly dubbed 'Papashingles'.

Following some makeshift recording sessions, Doherty organised a gig, but the rest of the band did not comply, as he had been arrested earlier that evening for burgling Barât's flat. After Doherty was charged and released, another gig was organised at the Tap'n'Tin by his friend Dean Fragile. This venue was also the location of The Libertines' reunion gig. The performance was thought by some to be poor, with some fans leaving disappointed.

Shortly afterwards, Doherty was sentenced to six months inprisonment, which was reduced to two months on appeal. Following his release, Doherty rejoined The Libertines, slowing any progress with his Babyshambles project. Despite this, he found time to record the band's first single "Babyshambles", to be released in April 2004 on High Society Records. The single was limited to 2000 CDs and 1000 7" vinyl copies; these have since been regularly sold for more than £50 on internet auction sites such as eBay.

In the early summer of 2004, Doherty once again found himself cast out of The Libertines due to his drug use, which meant that he had more time to spend with Babyshambles. The line-up at this point included Patrick Walden on guitar, Gemma Clarke on drums and Peter Perrett's two sons, Jamie and Peter Junior, on guitar and bass respectively. Doherty organised several gigs and despite not attending all of them, the band began to gain respect in their own right. The band underwent several changes of line-up before finally stabilising during the late summer of 2004 with Doherty on vocals, Patrick Walden on guitar, Gemma Clarke on drums and Drew McConnell on bass.

UK tours

During September and October 2004 Babyshambles embarked on a British tour, culminating in two shows at the London Scala. Despite fears that Doherty's performance would not be consistent, the tour sold-out and received critical acclaim. The band's second single "Killamangiro" was released November 29, 2004 on Rough Trade Records, reaching Number 8 on the UK singles chart. The band embarked on another tour in December 2004, amid increasing concern about Doherty's drug use. During a gig in Blackpool the band walked offstage when it became clear that Doherty was too intoxicated to perform, whilst a riot broke out at the London Astoria after Doherty failed to attend a concert.

In January 2005, Gemma Clarke quit the band, citing disagreements with the management, whom she considered to be irresponsible, as they had failed to address Doherty's obvious drug problem. She was subsequently replaced by Adam Ficek.

Debut album

In April and May 2005 Babyshambles spent several weeks in a recording studio in Wales working on their debut album with Mick Jones, who had also worked with Doherty on the production of The Libertines' albums. The album, entitled Down in Albion, was released on November 14 2005, having been leaked onto the internet on October 19; it reached the Top 10 on the BBC Radio 1 album chart. The first single from the album, "Fuck Forever", had been released on August 15, reaching number four on the UK singles chart. The second single, "Albion", was released on November 28 and reached number eight in the UK singles chart.

Several small gigs took place at the end of 2005, interspersed by an appearance by Doherty on the high-brow current affairs television show Newsnight, which ended with a tearful rendition of "Music When the Lights Go Out".

2006-present

Babyshambles announced three small club shows in London, Sheffield and Stoke in January 2006, performing, to fans' surprise, without guitarist Patrick Walden. Doherty played guitar in Walden's place. Walden returned for a gig in Cambridge on January 23 and a UK tour in February. He played his last gig with the band at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire during this UK tour, and has not appeared with Babyshambles since.

Pat Walden made his stage come-back at Rock Against Racism 30th Anniversary Show at the Hackney Empire on the 19th of July 2007. Accompanied by Drew McConnell and Seb Roachford, he played two Babyshambles' songs that he co-wrote with Pete Doherty.

In February 2006, Babyshambles won the Naomi Award for Worst Live Act and were nominated for several NME awards. The band performed "Albion" at the NME Awards show, whilst Doherty won the "Sexiest Man" award.

In August 2006, Babyshambles signed to major record label Parlophone for the release of an EP and headlined the Get Loaded in the Park festival. The band released the limited edition single "Beg, Steal or Borrow", which was exclusively available to those who had attended the festival. A free copy of "The Blinding" was released in the street magazine The Big Issue.

A cover version of the Clash song "Janie Jones" was released through B-Unique Records in October. The single was released to raise money for the late Joe Strummer's charity foundation Strummerville and features contributions from others bands such as Dirty Pretty Things, Larrikin Love, We Are Scientists, The Kooks, and Guillemots. This release marked the first time that Carl Barat and Pete Doherty had worked together since The Libertines had parted, although they never met during the recording process.

On December 4, 2006, The Blinding EP was released to critical acclaim. The release was promoted with music videos for "The Blinding" and "Love You But You're Green", and an acoustic performance of the latter on The Culture Show. The single was not eligible for the singles chart due to the number of tracks, although it was claimed on the band's MySpace website that had it been eligible it would have made number four in the Christmas Day 2006 UK chart.

On January 18, 2007 it was announced that the band had signed a long-term record deal with Parlophone. The contract was reportedly for three albums. In February 2007, it was announced that Babyshambles will play Oxegen 2007, at Punchestown Racecourse, County Kildare in July 2007. They have played Glastonbury in June 2007, and will appear at the V and T in the Park fesitvals later this summer. A second album is due to be released in late 2007.

In March 2007 Babyshambles announced their first arena tour, to begin in November 2007, taking in dates at the MEN Arena in Manchester, the Nottingham Arena, London's Wembley Arena and Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.

Second album

Tracklisting for the as yet untitled second album was revealed on July 23, 2007 in the (p)review posted on Allan Jones' Editor's Diary Uncut.co.uk blog. The Stephen Street-produced record contains 12 tracks and features a guest appearance from Bert Jansch on the acoustic closer:

1. "Carry On Up The Morning"
2. "Delivery"
3. "You Talk"
4. "UnBilo Titled"
5. "Side Of The Road"
6. "Crumb Begging"
7. "UnStookie Titled"
8. "French Dog Blues"
9. "There She Goes"
10. "Baddies Boogie"
11. "Deft Left Hand"
12. "The Lost Art of Murder"

Another brief review, accompanied by the photograph of the current cover, was posted on Observer Music Monthly Online on July 25th, 2007, stating that the album is due to be released in late September.

Adam Ficek, the drummer of the band, wrote on his myspace blog that the first single from the second Babyshambles will be "Delivery" and will be out on the 16th of September.

Trivia

• In February 2005 Doherty, along with fellow musician Alan Wass, was arrested on suspicion of assault and blackmail. It was alleged that Doherty assaulted Max Carlish, a documentary maker, in a London hotel, a charge he denied. Carlish had made a documentary about Doherty entitled 'Stalking Pete Doherty'. After allegedly assaulting Carlish, Doherty spent several nights in prison until £150,000 bail could be raised. All charges against him were dropped in April 2005.
• On October 1, 2005, the Babyshambles tour bus was raided by police. Doherty was charged on suspicion of possession of class A drugs and bailed until December, although Doherty claims that the substances were related to his Naltrexone implant.
• On January 14, 2006 Babyshambles were scheduled to perform a gig at the Nonstop Kino (porncinema & venue) in Graz Austria but Doherty failed to attend after he got arrested again and charged with driving under the influence and possession of Class A drugs, heroin and cocaine. The band performed without Doherty. 31 March and 1 April 2006 Doherty was performing two surprising solo gigs, his first gigs at the European continent, at the NonStop Kino after he failed to turn up in January.
• On 20 January, Doherty plead guilty to possession of heroin, crack cocaine, morphine and cannabis.
• On April 29, 2006 Doherty was arrested, this time on the day of Babyshambles' scheduled appearance at a Love Music Hate Racism rally in Trafalgar Square. The set was replaced by an acoustic performance of 'Albion', by Drew McConnell.
• On May 11, 2006 Following a gig in Berlin, Doherty squirted the contents of a syringe at a camera being used by MTV reporters. Although it was assumed to be blood at the time, he later said that it was fake blood purchased for a prank.
• On June 1, 2006 Doherty was banned from the easyJet airline after causing havoc on a flight to Barcelona. A syringe was found in the aeroplane toilet, an airline spokeswoman said. The band were due to perform at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona that night.
• On the night between June 16 and 17, 2006, the Babyshambles played at the Hultsfred Festival in Hultsfred, Sweden. The police authorities of Kalmar noticed signs of Doherty being intoxicated, and was after the concert confronted by the police. He underwent a test and was found guilty of a minor narcotics crime. He was sentenced to a fine of 14,000 SEK. Although able to dispute the fine, he chose not to do so, and paid the fine. Doherty soon left Sweden, but another unnamed member of Babyshambles was held by police due to a minor seizure of illegal drugs. During the gig, which was severely delayed, Doherty was clearly under the influence of drugs. He fell off the stage, kicked against a photographer and threw his guitar off the stage.

Discography

Albums