The band’s first single, Babyshambles, was released in April 2004 on High Society Records. Fewer than 1,000 copies of the CD and 7” were released and both can now be found changing hands for more than £50 on internet auction sites such as eBay. During September and October 2004 Babyshambles embarked on a UK tour culminating in two sold-out shows at the London Scala. Despite claims that the band were only touring to raise money to support Doherty’s drug habit the tour sold-out and received critical acclaim. The band’s second single Killamangiro was released November 29 2004 on Rough Trade Records and reached number 8 in the UK charts. The band embarked on another tour in December amid increasing concern about Doherty’s drug use. During a gig in Blackpool the band walked off stage as it became clear Doherty was too intoxicated to perform and a riot broke out at the London Astoria when Doherty failed to turn up for a gig. In January 2005, Gemma Clarke quit the band, citing disagreements with the management who she considered irresponsible for failing to address Doherty’s obvious drug problem. She was replaced with Adam Ficek, Patrick Walden’s former bandmate in The White Sport. 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 strenuously denied. Carlish had made a documentary about Doherty, from which clips were used for the channel 4 documentary ‘Stalking Pete Doherty’. After allegedly assaulting Carlish, Doherty spent several nights in prison until £150,000 bail could be raised. After being released on bail Doherty spent several weeks in a recording studio in Wales working on Babyshambles’ debut album. 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. Work on Babyshambles’ debut album continued throughout April and May 2005 with Mick Jones, who worked with Doherty on the producing of The Libertines’ albums. The album, Down in Albion was released on 14th November, having been leaked onto the internet on 19th October. It came 10th in the Radio 1 Album Charts. The single Albion was released on the 28th November and came 8th in the Radio 1 Single Charts. Another single Fuck Forever was released on August 15th, reaching #4 on the UK Singles Chart. Peter Doherty appeared on Newsnight at the end of 2005, and played a few secret and personal gigs to fans at the end of the year. At the start of 2006 the band announced that they would play 3 small club shows in London, Sheffield and Stoke. To fans’ surprise, Babyshambles performed at the first of the London dates without guitarist Patrick Walden. Instead of Walden, Doherty played guitar at the London date. The band have since made an announcement that Walden quit the band to pursue other projects. Walden was replaced by Mick Whitnall. December 2006 saw the release of a new EP, featuring The Blinding EP, the July single ‘Beg, Steal & Borrow’ and new single ‘I Love You (But You’re Green)’. On January 18th, 2007 it was announced that the band signed a “long term” album deal with Parlophone. Babyshambles released their 2nd album, Shotter’s Nation, on October 1, 2007. It was produced by Stephen Street (Morrissey, Blur) and features Bert Jansch on guitar on the last track Lost Art Of Murder. |
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