From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the band The Libertines. For their album of the same name, see The Libertines (album).

For the political and social groups see Libertine

The Libertines
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Garage rock revival Post-punk revival Indie rock Garage punk
Years active	1997–2004
Label(s)	Rough Trade
Associated acts	Babyshambles Dirty Pretty Things Yeti The Chavs Razorlight
Website	Official website
Former members
Carl Barât (Singer/Guitar) Pete Doherty (Singer/Guitar) John Hassall (Bass) Gary Powell (Drums) Anthony Rossomando (Guitar) Steve Bedlow ( Scarborough Steve ) (Singer) Paul Dufour (Drums) Johnny Borrell (Bass) Nick Gavrilović (Guitar)

The Libertines were an English rock band that gained notoriety^[1] in the early 2000s, part of what was described as the garage rock revival movement of that time. The band was centred on the song-writing partnership and 'chemistry'^[2] of Pete Doherty (vocals/rhythm guitar), Carl Barât (vocals/lead guitar), John Hassall (bass) and Gary Powell (drums).

Although initially their mainstream success was limited, their profile grew culminating in a #2 single and #1 album in the UK Charts. In December 2004, their self-titled second album was voted the second best album of the year by NME.

However, the band's music was often eclipsed by its internal conflicts, many of which stemmed from Doherty's considerable drug use, ultimately resulting in the breakup of the band. The members of The Libertines have gone on to new bands, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1997-2001: Early history 1.2 2002-2003: Up the Bracket 1.3 2003: Problems 1.4 2003-2004: Second album and the end of The Libertines 1.5 2005-present: Post-split careers 1.6 Reunions 2 thelibertines.org 3 Musical style and legacy 4 Relationship 5 Audio sample 6 Discography 6.1 Studio albums 6.2 EPs 6.3 Compilations 6.4 Singles 6.5 Guest appearance 6.6 Music videos 7 Notes 8 Additional references 9 See also 10 External links

The founding members of The Libertines, Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, met when Barât was studying drama at Brunel University in Uxbridge, and sharing a flat in Richmond with Amy-Jo Doherty, the older sister of Pete. Originally, Barât and Doherty got along poorly. This lasted until they realized their collective creative capabilities, and forged a bond over their similar passion for writing melodies.^[3] Barât abandoned his drama course two years in; Pete left his English literature course at Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary College after only a year, and they moved into a flat together on the Camden Road in North London.

They formed a band with their neighbour Steve Bedlow, commonly referred to as Scarborough Steve, and named themselves The Strand, later renamed to The Libertines after Marquis de Sade's Lust of the Libertines ("The Albions" was also considered, but rejected). They met John Hassall and Johnny Borrell, who played with the Libertines for one practice playing bass. They arranged another practice, which Borrell did not attend. They telephoned him to discover he was on tour "living the high life." Thus John Hassall joined the band as bassist. At this stage, they had no consistent drummer. They began playing gigs, with many of them taking place in the flat Doherty and Barât shared.

Within a few weeks, they had booked themselves into the Odessa studios to record 3 songs, assisted by Gwyn Mathias (who had previously worked with the Sex Pistols). However, they were disappointed by their scheduled drummer, so Mathias enlisted the help of Paul Dufour at short-notice who agreed to record with the band for £50. At 54, he was considerably older than the others. Despite the age difference, Dufour was impressed enough by the band to join it, and they started doing more recording sessions and playing gigs at venues further afield. Roger Morton, a journalist from the NME, went to see them play in Islington and thought they had potential, so he and a friend offered to manage The Libertines. Despite a separate offer from an experienced member of the music industry, John Waller, The Libertines accepted Morton's services as manager. However, Morton would eventually give up the job after an unsuccessful six months.

In March 2000, they met Banny Poostchi who was a lawyer for Warner Chappell Music Publishing. Recognizing their potential, she took on an active role in managing them. They recorded "Legs 11", a set of their best 8 tracks (and later a popular bootleg recording among fans). However, by December 2000, they had still not been signed and this caused Dufour, Hassall and Pootschi to part ways with The Libertines.^[4][5] The success of The Strokes, a band with a similar style, made Pootschi reconsider her position. She made a plan (dubbed "Plan A") to get them signed to the record label Rough Trade within 6 months. In this period, they wrote many of the songs which ended up on their first album. Gary Powell was recruited to play drums as Paul Dufour was deemed by Pootschi as 'too old'. On 1 October 2001, they played a showcase for James Endeacott from Rough Trade. His support led to them playing for the Rough Trade bosses, Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee, on the 11 December that year and they were told they would be signed, with the official deal happening on 21 December.

They were in need of a bassist so Hassall eventually rejoined the band but was informed he would have to stay in the background; the band would be focused on the partnership of Doherty and Barât. Doherty and Barât rented a flat together at 112a Teesdale Street which they named "The Albion Rooms" (a venue that became a location for many of their guerilla gigs).

Now with a firm line-up, they began to play more gigs and supported The Strokes and The Vines in quick succession.^[6] This succeeded in spreading their name around the music press, with the NME taking a particular interest in them (an interest which continued throughout their career).

Their first single was a double A-side of "What a Waster" and "I Get Along", produced by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. It was released on 3 June to a lukewarm media reaction and received very little airplay due to its liberal use of profanities. A somewhat 'beeped' version occurring as (BBC Radio 1 Djs) Mark and Lard's single of the week. They featured on their first cover of the NME in the week it came out. The single reached #37 in the UK Singles Chart.

Their first album was recorded and produced by Mick Jones formerly of The Clash.^[7] Entitled Up the Bracket, it was recorded at the RAK studios in St John's Wood, with the mixing taking placed at Whitfield studios. During this time, the band were playing as many gigs as possible (over 100 in 2002 alone) including support acts for the Sex Pistols and Morrissey.

Their second single and title track from the album, "Up the Bracket", was released on 30 September and charted at #29. This was soon followed by the release on the 21 October of the album, which charted at #35. They won Best New Band at the NME Awards for that year and Barât moved out of The Albion Rooms.

During the recording of Up the Bracket and in the subsequent touring, Doherty's drug use had increased greatly (he was using both crack cocaine and heroin) and his relationship with the rest of the band deteriorated. The band had become fractious, and some of this tension was visible in their performances. Doherty expressed himself in "The Books of Albion", his personal collection of notes, thoughts and poems, and also more and more frequently on the libertines.org fan forums. His posts and writings at this time were unpredictable: at times, he seemed distressed and angry; at others, he came across as calm and happy.

They went to the U.S. to promote themselves and work on new material. While in New York around May 2003, they recorded the Babyshambles Sessions. As a mark of their commitment to the band, Doherty and Barât both got tattoos of the word "Libertine" on their arms. The prelude to this moment can be heard on "The Good Old Days" from the Babyshambles sessions, in which, after the lyric "A list of things we said we'd do tomorrow" Doherty yells 'Get a tattoo!' However, Barât became increasingly exasperated with the people Doherty was associating with and the drugs that came with them. Barât quit the sessions in disgust and Doherty finished recording alone. The sessions were given to a fan called Helen Hsu who, as Doherty allegedly instructed, put them free onto the internet.

Tensions grew further back in the UK as Doherty organised and played guerrilla gigs, which Barât did not attend. Their new single, Don't Look Back Into The Sun saw the return of Bernard Butler as producer. The lyrical quality of the song was praised, and this was held as a prime example of Doherty and Barât's songwriting talents. However, Doherty did not work well with Butler and was rarely present, so it had to be pieced together from the vocals he provided with Butler himself recording Doherty's guitar parts.

As Barât's birthday approached, Doherty organised a special celebration gig in an attempt to smooth the tensions between them. Barât, however, was already attending a party with some of his friends, and the hosts convinced him not to leave. Doherty was left to play the gig himself.

Doherty then neglected to go on the tour of Europe, after Barât failed to turn up to a gig organised by him. Doherty had felt betrayed and was unwilling to associate himself with Barât at that time. The Libertines were forced to play without Doherty: a guitar technician learned his guitar parts and several songs were dropped altogether. Soon, however, the positions changed and it was Barât who refused to let Doherty into the band unless he cleaned himself up.^[8][9] Doherty continued to play with Babyshambles whilst The Libertines (without Doherty) completed tour commitments in Japan. Distraught and angry, Doherty burgled Barât's flat taking several items and being subsequently arrested. On 11 August, he pleaded guilty at the preliminary hearing to the charge of burglary.^[10][11]

Amidst the internal turmoil, "Don't Look Back Into The Sun" was released on 18 August and charted at #11, the highest position they had managed at that point. The Libertines played the Carling Weekend with replacement guitarist Anthony Rossomando (who later joined Dirty Pretty Things). On 7 September, Judge Roger Davies sentenced Doherty to 6 months in prison. He served his sentence in Wandsworth prison. This sentence was later reduced on appeal by Judge Derek Inman to two months.^[12][13]

Barât was waiting for Doherty outside the prison when he was released. After an emotional reunion they played a gig the same day at the Tap'n'Tin pub, in Chatham, Kent ^[14] - with both Hassall and Powell who had not been expected to come. The show became NME's Gig Of The Year. The Libertines went on to play three consecutive sold-out dates at the London Forum in mid-December 2003 (these gigs being named amongst the top 100 gigs of all time by Q Magazine) ending in stage invasions from the fans.^[15] They also went on a widely-acclaimed UK tour in March 2004, including three more consecutive sold-out dates in London, this time at Brixton Academy.

Banny Pootschi resigned and was replaced as manager by Alan McGee, who was previously the founder and MD of Creation Records (most famous for signing Oasis) and would later become manager of Dirty Pretty Things. They continued to play gigs and commenced recording of their second album with Bernard Butler. However, the relationship between Doherty and Butler was as unsuccessful as before and the attempts were soon abandoned. In early 2004, The Libertines won Best Band in the NME awards, despite the fact that "Don't Look Back Into The Sun" was their only official release during the preceding year.

Mick Jones returned as producer for the second attempt to record the second album. However, Doherty had returned to his old ways and habits, so relationships were strained. Security hired for the protection of Doherty and Barât often had to be used to keep them from fighting. On the side from The Libertines, Doherty had recorded the vocals for "For Lovers", a song written by his friend (and fellow drug user^{[citation needed]}) Peter "Wolfman" Wolfe. This was released on 13 April and reached #7 in the charts, eclipsing The Libertines' best single to that date. Despite Barât's intolerance of Wolfe and the drugs, he recorded guitar for the B-side to the single. The album had been finished and Doherty left the mixing and dubbing to the others; he would never return to the studios with The Libertines. On 14 May he was admitted to The Priory, a high-profile retreat, in an attempt to beat his addictions.^[16] He left there early,^[17] returned but then left again a week later on June 7.

During this time, Barât had been setting up a weekly clubnight called Dirty Pretty Things (a later dispute forced it to be renamed Bright Young Things) at the Infinity Club in the West End. The day Doherty left the Priory for the second time, he went to the club and spoke with Barât, with Hassall and Powell present as well. Doherty told him that he was going to Wat Tham Krabok in Thailand to get clean. The Libertines performed a short set that night: it was the last time they would all play together, and the last time Doherty would speak to Barât for more than 9 months.^[18]

Doherty's rehab was, once again, unsuccessful. He abandoned the monastery and went to Bangkok to find drugs. The rest of The Libertines, with Rossomando stepping-in once more as replacement guitarist, played gigs to promote the album and fulfil commitments (having already cancelled some gigs once, to do again would have been too expensive). On 17 June, back in England, Doherty was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon. He pleaded not guilty and was sentenced on 1 September to 4 months in prison, but the sentence was suspended for 12 months.^[19] The Libertines did not let Doherty play with them but promised "When he cleans up his addictions he will be immediately welcomed back into the band".^[20] However, Doherty had managed to achieve growing success and fame with his new venture, Babyshambles, which further reduced the likelihood of reconciliation.

Meanwhile, The Libertines were still releasing fresh material. The new single "Can't Stand Me Now", which detailed the breakdown of the ailing frontmen's once seemingly cast iron friendship, and illustrated the love/hate relationship between Doherty and Barât was released on 9 August, and charted at #2. The song included Doherty asking a question - 'Have we enough to keep it together?'. Their eponymous second album was released in late August and topped the album chart. Their final single, "What Became of the Likely Lads" reached #9.

The Libertines played their last show in Paris on the 17 December, still without Doherty.^[21] Barât chose to then dissolve The Libertines as he no longer wanted the band or the name.

Pete Doherty

Main articles: Pete Doherty and Babyshambles

Doherty continues with his own band Babyshambles. They have released two albums, an EP, and and four top 10 singles. Doherty has been the subject of tabloid controversy: he has been arrested repeatedly, performed at Live 8 with Elton John and dated supermodel Kate Moss.

Carl Barât and Gary Powell

Main articles: Carl Barât, Gary Powell, and Dirty Pretty Things (band)

Barât has formed his own band called Dirty Pretty Things (named after his DJ slot at a nightclub) which includes Gary Powell on drums. The line-up is completed by Anthony Rossomando on guitar, and former Cooper Temple Clause bassist Didz Hammond. The band released its debut album, Waterloo to Anywhere on May 8, 2006. The single "Bang Bang You're Dead" preceded it, released on April 24. They toured extensively throughout 2006. Barât is also involved indie super group The Chavs including members of Klaxons, The Charlatans, Primal Scream and also members of Dirty Pretty Things.

John Hassall

Main articles: John Hassall (musician) and Yeti (band)

Hassall has gone on to front his own band called Yeti. He met bassist Brendan Kersey, lead guitarist Andy Deian Jung, and guitarist Harmony Williams (who used to share a flat with Barât) through mutual friends. The drummer, Graham Blacow, responded to a classified advertisement. Their debut single "Never Lose Your Sense Of Wonder" was released in March 2006 and reached number 36 in the charts, and the limited edition One Eye On The Banquet EP was released in October 2006.

Doherty and Barât remained out of contact for several months after The Libertines had ended. However, on 18 April 2005, at around 11:30pm, Pete Doherty and Carl Barât reunited at the Boogaloo Bar in Highgate, North London. This was said to be a friendly meeting and was the first time the pair had met since 8 June 2004, just before Doherty went to Thailand. The reunion took place when Barât arrived at the bar at 10pm and was told there was a strong possibility that his former bandmate would also be visiting the pub that evening. Upon learning a reunion was possible, Barât told journalist Anthony Thornton that "it might as well happen now, because it’s going to happen sometime". The pair were said to have seemed nervous at first, but greeted each other with a hug, before talking together on a leather sofa.^[22] Barât has also said that The Libertines are only "on ice" and that he is in "intermittent contact" with Doherty.^[23]

The next sighted meeting of the pair was on July 18, 2006, at the Dublin Castle pub in Camden, London.^[24] They also talked to the Los Angeles band The Tender Box who were playing the venue that night. They said in the NME "Who knows if they will reform? It seemed like there was a lot of chemistry between them." (NME 29 July 2006, page 4). Barât said in a later interview that it was "all a bit public for my liking. I was blind drunk that night."^[25]

Most recently, the pair were temporarily re-united at the 2007 NME Awards. After being guided over to Doherty's table by his entourage, Barât and Doherty talked for a while at the table, before going off to the bar. According to the NME, they seemed to be really getting on well, even though they had not met since the Dublin castle meeting of 2006 (NME 10 March 2007, page 39).

On April 12, 2007 at the Hackney Empire, London, Carl Barât joined Peter Doherty on stage to play through some old Libertines songs together, the first live performance since the pair originally split. The reunited duo played: "What a Waster", "Death on the Stairs", "The Good Old Days", "What Katie Did", "Dilly Boys", "Seven Deadly Sins", "France", "Tell the King", "Don't Look Back Into the Sun", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Time for Heroes", "Albion", and "The Delaney".^[26]

However, both Doherty and Barât have remarked that this was a one-off. Quelling the rumours of more shows together, Barât said: "We're both doing different things and I'm really into Dirty Pretty Things...I'm focused on Dirty Pretty Things' new album." Meanwhile Pete Doherty revealed that as well as a solo acoustic album, Babyshambles were going into the studio to work on their new album with Stephen Street.^[27]

BBC Radio 2 rerecorded the entire Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the 40th Anniversary of the album in June 2007, and Doherty and Barât covered the track "A Day in the Life" for the project. It was the first time they recorded a song together since April 2004.^[28]

Rumours circulated of a possible Libertines reunion at the Sunday date of the Glastonbury festival. Both related bands Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things played sets on the Saturday. However, a reunion did not take place but Pete Doherty performed an unexpected set on the Sunday, an intimate solo acoustic show.

On June 29, Doherty was a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, where, when prompted, he hinted at a possible reunion of the band. Doherty joked that Barât was down on money and could do with the revenue of a reunion tour. Later that year, it was announced that a new 'best of album', entitled Time for Heroes - The Best of the Libertines would be released on October 29, 2007. Its tracklisting contains no unreleased songs. ^[29]

This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources.

Originally part of a fan website for The Libertines, thelibertines.org^[30] (or dot org) started off, in early 2002, as a place where people could write messages to eachother or praise the band. Many, including Libertines frontman Pete Doherty would write poetry. Doherty wrote anonymously at first (using the name 'heavyhorse' later). He would often reply to his own posts under a different name - at that point IP addresses were not shown on the forum, so it was easier to reply to your own posts without people knowing. He admitted this on the site in 2004, writing about a thread that had been bumped from 2002: “oh my god…the first two [posts] are both me writing in some early .org obsession with being a boy in the band” ^[31]. Doherty would often do this, having somewhat Shakespearean conversations with himself filled with wry asides and sly digs at those supposedly close to him. However, since the forum now shows IP addresses for each post, it is easy to define which entries were written by Doherty. He would also give away secret information about the band by pretending to be somebody in their inner-circle. For instance, Doherty once wrote - under a false name - how the bands publishing advance from EMI had been cancelled due to poor sales for Up The Bracket:^[32]

I remember Carl describing his visit to Rough Trade: "Jeanette took me aside and said, right...here`s the problem, Peter has his head stuck up his own arse, and we have to work out how to get it out"

Ha ha ah ha ha ha ha. I almost died when I heard that one. I think the time has come to just be honest with yourself and realise if you want the freedom and liberty to record when and how you choose then The current Libertines set up is not the place for you. Why are you carrying on? I know it can`t be for the money because EMI have just pulled out of the publishing advance and record sales have not covered the advance anyway. The best song you ever wrote was Love on the Dole.. and you couldn`t even remember the chords the last time I asked you to play it. Sharpen up kid, or move over.^[33]

NB. In the quote above, written by Doherty under the name wishyouwerehere, the person he is talking about when he says "be honest with yourself" is...himself. The entire thread can be reached here http://www.network54.com/Forum/188020/thread/1050376896/ (Doherty's IP address is 210.170.76.102. On this thread he writes under several names - heavyhorse, wishyouwerehere, you know me, i think so, grundies)

This, along with much of what Doherty wrote on thelibertines.org, was unseen by his record company and a somewhat slow-to-catch-on British music press. Doherty also frequently registered his disgust towards his other bandmembers (anonymously). As the Libertines (band) became more popular, thelibertines.org changed. The rest of the site, which had included a news page, picture section and tour dates, disappeared, leaving only a forum. The bands popularity also saw the forum's dynamics change. The 'free-thinking' attitude that saw many early contributors publish their poetry and stories was overtaken by what is best described as fan-mania. As a result, people posting their poetry - including Doherty himself - were ridiculed.

Around 2003, The Libertines themselves hosted special gigs in honour of the site and its members. Doherty would dedicate songs at gigs to boardmembers and often struck up real-life friendships with them. He would often write on it about his burgeoning drug addiction, as well as sharing new songs on it. In May 2003, he posted a message asking if anyone could help him put something online from his hotel in New York, where the band were on tour^[34] . A willing fan obliged, expecting to be given a message to put online, or some pictures. However, upon meeting Doherty in the foyer of the Chelsea Hotel, she was handed three blank CDs containing over 3 hours of the band's most recent demos. Doherty asked her to guard them carefully as they were the only copies and that even the record company didn't know that they would be going online. These would become known as the Babyshambles Sessions, and mark one of the earliest examples of an artist giving away his music for free on the internet. The songs were duly put online at www.babyshambles.org. Although that page is not working at present, you can view it here^[35] by using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Helen, who put the songs online also wrote about meeting Peter and being given the discs here^[36]. The discs became known as the Babyshambles sessions, and were duly uploaded that night, for free. Since the demise of the Libertines (band), in 2004, thelibertines.org has carried on, although many posters are now unconcerned about The Libertines and Doherty (openly mocking him).

The sites influence was cemented when other music publications like NME and Drowned In Sound started to reference the forum and quote forum members in articles. A recent Drowned In Sound article charting the influence of the internet on music, said:

"Then came the Forum Years, with the kids sharing MP3s, flyers and things on Libertines.org or posting Arctic Monkeys YouSendit links on the DiS boards. We then all tried Friendster and befriended Har Mar Superstar, but it was sluggish and sorta useless so we got MySpaces."^[37]

The journalist Anthony Thornton freqently references the site in his biography of The Libertines, Bound Together. The forum is still active now, at it's original site: http://www.network54.com/Forum/188020/

Doherty and Barât had different influences musically. Doherty was inspired by bands such as The Smiths, Suede and Chas & Dave. Barât admired The Velvet Underground, The Clash, The Jam, The Doors and Django Reinhardt. Doherty liked the written works of William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Thomas Chatterton, whereas Barât preferred Saki and the Edwardian idea of wit. An idol common to both of them was Oscar Wilde^{[citation needed]}.

On their collective sound, Doherty commented that if "Oasis is the sound of a council estate singing its heart out, then the Libertines sounded like someone just put in the rubbish shoot at the back of the estate, trying to work out what day it is".^[38]

Doherty and Barât followed one common dream whilst in The Libertines, "it's either to the top of the world, or the bottom of that river"(in referral to the Thames). Barât once said to Doherty in the early days of their friendship.

The Libertines' lyrics occasionally reference their idea of sailing on "the good ship Albion to Arcadia". This idea was especially important to Doherty who has continued the theme when writing for Babyshambles. He thinks of Arcadia as a utopia without any rules or authority.^[39]

Their recordings were fairly lo-fi. Mick Jones' recording method was hands-off: he allowed the band to perform one song several times through and would then choose the best take. He performed minimal mixing and dubbing. Bernard Butler was less strict with this, however the final sound still came across as raw and unpolished.

The band has been compared to many classic British rock bands, as their angle on rock is uniquely English. The resemblance to The Beatles, both in their mop-top apperarance and their wild yet melodic music, is striking. Their sound is often likened to that of The Jam and The Kinks' early records as well as The Clash's first album and early singles. They are perhaps most similar to pioneer rockers, Buzzcocks. Morrissey is another strong influence cited by the band members. Many of their lyrics refer to elements of British life, use English/cockney slang and are sung in a near-drunken sounding slur. In their attitude they are sometimes compared to The Sex Pistols due to their chaotic and energetic live performances.^[40]

The Libertines were praised for forming a very close relationship with fans. No band of that profile before them had allowed their fans to get so close to them^{[citation needed]}. The band befriended several of their fans. Their guerilla gigs allowed devoted fans to see them in close proximity. They would allow fans into their own flat to see them play. Doherty published the "Books of Albion" online, sharing his personal thoughts and feelings freely. He also frequently posted on the fan forums. This allowed fans a deep insight into his life and helped cement the relationship between the band and the public. They were also very free with their recordings, releasing songs free onto the internet and via word-of-mouth giveaways. This rewarded fans with the chance to hear unfinished songs or ideas, some of which would grow into finished versions on the albums, some of which would be discarded.

The Libertines have had two biographies written about them. Both were written after the split, by close friends to the band. The first was Kids in the Riot: High and Low with The Libertines written by Peter Welsh, a friend. The second was The Libertines Bound Together: The Story of Peter Doherty and Carl Barât and How They Changed British Music written by Anthony Thornton and Roger Sargent, an NME journalist and photographer respectively who had followed the band from an early stage.

It is undoubtable that the Libertines have had a lasting effect on the British music scene. The image of Doherty and Barât entwined, Barât looking up protectively as his friend leans into his shoulder, on the front of their second album, has been called by Anthony Thornton "one of the most iconic rock images of the last decade". Their poetic lyrics have inspired thousands of young people to start writing poetry and songs of their own. The intellectualism of their songs - drawing references to William Blake and Oscar Wilde - was a welcome revival of a new strain of British music. Many young bands cite them as an influence and in their brief tenure as the kings of British music, they inspired scenes of devotion not seen since Manic Street Preachers. Their refusal to distance themselves from their fans was far from just a marketing gimmick, but something which has inspired the "secret gig" phenomenon which many current rock bands have tagged onto. Their influence on British fashion is undoubtable - the military jacket look of the autumn 2005 was inspired by Hedi Slimane's designs around Pete Doherty while the "skinny tie and black suit" and military jacket and jeans looks have also been taken up by following British bands such as the Metro Riots, Razorlight and The Kooks. These fashions were pioneered by The Libertines, Doherty in particular. Comedian Russell Brand, a friend of both Doherty and Barât, said on his Channel 4 television show that his lower-body style (drainpipe jeans and Beatle boots) was inspired by Barât.

Although both Pete Doherty and Carl Barât both date women and use female pronouns in romantic contexts when they write music, curiosity surrounds the exact nature of their relationship. This is predominantly fueled by heavy amounts of fan speculation which surround their relationship. Notorious for their intense on-stage chemistry, and with frequent, and extremely close-contact microphone sharing (and allegedly, enthusiastic kissing), this ambiguity, whether genuine or staged, earned them a large slash fiction following with female fans of the band.

Roger Sargent, close friend and photographer of the band, described their relationship as like "first love, and all the jealousy and obsessiveness that comes with that" - adding "I think there's, y'know, obsession and jealousy on both of their sides. They bitch about each other to each other or to other people. They have a bond, intellectually and spiritually, like nothing I've ever seen ... but sometimes, you know, you just think, god, why don't you just get a room?!"^[41] In the same interview, a Radio One documentary, upon being asked just how close their relationship was, Doherty almost confirmed the rumors, responding "I love him. Wouldn't go, um - certainly not on Radio 1 - go into too much detail, but... we had lots of wonderful times together, yeah."^[41] But in contradiction, Barât, when questioned similarly, steadfastly denied that the relationship had involved anything "physical." Carl Barât has insisted that "People are really into conjecture"^[42] and has frequently denied having a sexual relationship with Doherty.^[43]

• Up the Bracket (2002) #35 UK; #120 FR
• The Libertines (2004) #1 UK; #111 US; # 27 FR

• I Get Along EP (US only) (September 1, 2003)
• Don't Look Back into the Sun/Death on the Stairs (Japan only) (September 29, 2003)
• What Became of the Likely Lads EP (US only) (2005)

• Time for Heroes - The Best of the Libertines (October 29, 2007) #23 UK

• "What a Waster" (June 3, 2002) #37 UK
• "Up the Bracket" (September 30, 2002) #29 UK
• "Time for Heroes" (January 13, 2003) #20 UK
• "Don't Look Back into the Sun" (August 18, 2003) #11 UK
• "Can't Stand Me Now" (August 9, 2004) #2 UK
• "What Became of the Likely Lads" (October 25, 2004) #9 UK

• "Born in England" (2004) (Twisted X feat. The Wheatleys, The Libertines, Supergrass, Delays, Bernard Butler & James Nesbitt) - #9 UK

• "Up the Bracket" by Gina Birch
• "Time for Heroes" by Gina Birch
• "Don't Look Back into the Sun" by Douglas Hart and Becky Hastings
• "I Get Along" by Gina Birch
• "Can't Stand Me Now" by Alexander Strickland-Clarke
• "What Became of the Likely Lads" by Johan Renck

• Peter Doherty
• Carl Barât
• John Hassall
• Gary Powell
• Babyshambles, Dirty Pretty Things, Yeti (bands formed by ex-members of The Libertines)
• List of Libertines and Babyshambles bootlegs

• Official site
• The Libertines Bound Together The Libertines Bound Together - official site of bestselling Libertines/Peter Doherty/Carl Barât biography
• Libertines page on NME.COM

v • d • e The Libertines
Carl Barât · Peter Doherty · John Hassall · Gary Powell Anthony Rossomando · Johnny Borrell · Paul Dufour · Steve Bedlow
Studio albums	Up the Bracket · The Libertines
Extended plays	I Get Along EP · Don't Look Back into the Sun/Death On The Stairs EP · What Became of the Likely Lads EP
Singles	"What a Waster" · "Up the Bracket" · "Time for Heroes" · "Don't Look Back into the Sun" · "Can't Stand Me Now" · "What Became of the Likely Lads"
Compilations	Time for Heroes - The Best of The Libertines
DVDs	Boys in the Band · Who the Hell Is Pete Doherty?
Books	The Libertines Bound Together
Related articles	Babyshambles · Dirty Pretty Things · Yeti · Bootlegs