Recently, Babyshambles frontman and solo artist Pete Doherty created a buzz when he accidently sang a controversial verse from an old German anthem at a concert in Munich. The concert took place on November 28th, and Doherty has since apologized for the slip-up. The verse in question was connected to the Third Reich, and after WWII it wasn't supposed to be used I guess.
You can read all about the incident and subsequent apology from Doherty over at Rolling Stone, right HERE.
According to RS, Pete is from Jewish descent and was completely unaware of the controversy. Poor guy, always in the news for the wrong reasons.
People really hate this guy but fuck it, I think he's actually just a guy who does a lot of drugs (yeah, I'm sure you don't know ANYONE like that) and gets in to trouble with the law from time to time. You can't take away the music, and a lot of his music is excellent. His work with Libertines and Babyshambles have always been favorites of mine, and Arctic Monkeys, likely becoming one of the biggest bands of this decade, cite Pete's work as a direct influence.
What also really burns me is that people who rag on Doherty for drug-use and loony behavior are a lot of the time the same people who would praise Kurt Cobain for it. I'm not taking anything away from anyone. I'm just saying, if you like the music, fuckin' listen to it and if you don't, then listen to something else. Pretty simple isn't it?
Why people go out of their way to hate this guy is beyond me. Like anyone else, I like to hear about news regarding my favorite bands and whatnot, but usually it's something to do with a release or a collaboration or something. I could really care less if a guy like Doherty wants to get high here or there. The news we should pay more attention to is something that reflects the music or what's coming up next from a band/artist. Yeah it's fun to rag on someone for doing something stupid but don't let it stop you from hearing good music.
If you want an easy listen solo acoustic-ish album, throw on Grace/Wastelands from Doherty earlier this year. It's pretty solid top to bottom with very few skip-through moments and it's cool to play along with if you like to learn a few tunes on a Sunday afternoon.
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Couple tunes: "I Am the Rain" by Peter Doherty, "Fright Lined Dining Room" by Arctic Monkeys
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razzler
