Thanks to my interest in Syd Barrett, I’m expanding my music horizons to include other British musicians. Lately, I got interested in Pete Doherty, someone who is also English in his orientation, has poetic sensibility, and is renowned for his drug use: for Syd, it was LSD and cannabis and later Mandrax (Quaalude); for Pete, it was heroin and cocaine. Pete claims he’s been clean since 2019.

I’ve had fun watching videos featuring Pete Doherty and his band The Libertines. As I learned, Pete Doherty was co-frontman of The Libertines: the other co-frontman being Carl Barât. Bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell rounded out the Libertines. Pete and Carl have had a tumultuous friendship: Carl kicked Pete out of The Libertines for his drug use and Pete burgled Carl’s home.

The interplay between Pete Doherty and Carl Barât is fascinating to watch: it almost borders on homoeroticism.

Here for your viewing (and listening) pleasure is a playlist that I assembled of videos featuring The Libertines: