Pete Doherty
Hamburg Demonstrations

Put aside your musical tastes. I mean, set aside for a moment what may or may not be your appreciation for his artistic qualities; without a doubt, Peter Doherty, like it or not, alongside Julian Casablancas and the Strokes, has been the most popular figure of the new generation of rock stars. Born on March 12, 1979, in Hexham, Northumberland, to a military family (his father was a sergeant in the Royal Signals, while his mother was a corporal in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Corps), he formed the Libertines in 1997 with Carla Barat and then the Babyshambles, which are considered two of the most influential indie garage punk bands of recent years. This happened before starting his solo career and while he was engaging in other artistic activities: painting, writing, acting. He also pursued a modeling career, following in the footsteps of his ex, the famous model Kate Moss. But naturally, over the years Pete Doherty has not been famous solely for his artistic qualities. As is customary in the tradition of pop and rock and roll music since the sixties, Doherty has been arrested many times for possession and use of drugs and for events connected to these: driving under the influence, theft, driving without a license. Over the years, he has admitted to using cocaine, crack, heroin, cannabis, ketamine, and because of these dependencies he has ended up several times in prison and rehabilitation centers. His fame as a troubled artist was further accentuated by some stories he himself told, such as prostituting himself when he was young and that he used to rob some of his clients. All of this without considering that his tumultuous relationship with Kate Moss has been one of the most covered by every type of media in the last ten years.

I must say myself that I know a lot, that practically everything I know about Peter Doherty comes more from gossip and magazines dedicated to it rather than from his music. But my case is not unique. On the contrary. What's most curious, after all, is that I am generally not interested in this type of news, but then again I believe the real power, the strength of 'gossip' lies in the fact that even if you don't care about it, this news reaches you anyway and without you being able to stop it.

That's how things go when you're what might be defined as a celebrity. On the other hand, nothing works better for this 'system' than spreading negative news about these figures, I mean, something considered by common morality as indecent and at the same time exciting, prurient. News that the media report obsessively, overstating as much as possible the tones and in a way almost parading these pop stars. Why? Because deep down that's what people want to read in the newspapers, what people want to see on television. What people really want. What people expect from these figures. What could be better for most people than to cast their moral judgments on politicians caught in sex scandals, rock stars taking drugs, or being admitted to rehab centers, committing acts of violence or getting arrested; rich and famous people whose lives for some reason spiral out of control and end up in complete ruin. This, for many people, is simply fantastic. These tragedies, let's call them that, are viewed as a kind of revenge, the rightful punishment for having had too much or simply too much fame (which they themselves helped to increase and in some way to create). It’s a kind of poetic justice. Have you lived a fantastic life? Well, now you must learn what it means to fall. After all, how did dear old Jesus say? 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' Thy will be done. Besides this, of course, be honest with yourself, each of us has a kind of envy towards those who live an extraordinary life and do whatever the hell they want, disregarding the consequences. So when they fall, we somehow feel comforted and safe, we relax in what may be our lives that usually seem average, even miserable, deluding ourselves into thinking we're on the right side.

I was thinking about all this just a few days ago while reading a news story that is inevitably very much discussed these days. Who hasn't read about what recently happened to Lapo Elkann, yet another chapter in a human story that seems infinitely tragic to me and primarily concerns himself and consequently in various aspects, and also economic interests, his entire family and each of its members.

The Agnelli family has been known as the most important in our country since the post-war period and the establishment of the Republic. Lapo is considered, let's say, by everyone and even by his relatives, not so much as the black sheep of the family, but more like a caricature. This has practically led to him being somehow estranged. In fact, he holds no significant role within the various family businesses and affairs and over the years, more insistently since 2005, he has essentially become a recurring subject in the chronicles of the gossip world. Considered also an intelligent and charming young man, even brilliant, repeatedly awarded 'Best Dressed Man' by 'Vanity Fair' and famous for his relationships with many beautiful women, actresses, models, billionaires... However, what made him most famous is his 'dark side.' He has been involved several times in sex scandals and due to excesses in drug use and has been forced several times into long periods of rehabilitation.

The latest scandal happened a few days ago in the United States, in New York, when he was arrested after simulating a kidnapping in exchange for a sum of ten thousand dollars which was actually a sum he absolutely needed after incurring debts due to a night of excesses between prostitutes and rampant drug use.

The matter obviously ended up on all the front pages of newspapers and it is being discussed on the radio and in various news programs and dedicated TV formats. Naturally, the majority express condemning opinions towards him. What better opportunity after all, for everyone to unleash all their moralism and repressed anger. From a certain point of view, the fact that Lapo Elkann exists is almost fortunate. What better target than the scion of an important family like the Agnellis and considered by everyone to be foolish and degenerate because he uses drugs (unlike his grandfather) and also because he has relationships with transvestites! Naturally, I do not want to make Lapo a martyr or even a victim. Although, to tell the truth, in some ways he is a victim, primarily of himself, of course, and secondarily of certain mechanisms in the world of the high bourgeoisie and finally of the mass media. The latter being a system that feeds on this type of news and that at the same time nourishes all the anger and frustration of those who read their magazines and watch their TV shows. If Lapo is at fault, clearly, he must answer to the law alone for that. For the rest, as far as I'm concerned, I can only feel much empathy and solidarity with what is, after all, just a guy. Like I could be. Like all of you could be. This despite being part of a very rich family and possibly being arrogant, as well as a Juventus fan and I support Inter... so imagine that. What I hope for is that he can find some peace and some kind of balance. He really needs this and everything else doesn’t matter.

Of course, I could say the same about all the events that have happened to Peter Doherty, because he too, after all and beyond being a rock star, is simply a man. A young man. What does it matter that he is popular, rich or not, if he has a lot of cars or a lot of women, I want to consider him primarily as a human being and secondarily as an artist and a musician, and naturally it is also about this that we are talking because I also want to consider him for his work and his music.

This new record, 'Hamburg Demonstrations' (BMG Rights Management), probably marks a boundary line for Pete Doherty. This is as much for his career as a musician, because this is a record that might interest even those who aren’t historical fans of the artist and because it somehow definitively concludes his story with the Libertines; perhaps this is also the case regarding his personal life, which is now entering a new phase. Who knows if it will be better or worse than the previous one. Surely a new phase. Thus different and this is anyway a relevant fact, because we can consider it in any case as growth and so that’s okay.

Recorded in Hamburg (obviously) by producer Johann Scheerer, the record has a very pop-art cover, a kind of collage of photos with a very vintage flavor; moreover, it contains elements that are not a mere repetition for Pete of sounds and themes he had already proposed with the Libertines and Babyshambles. For this reason, I wouldn’t know if I should consider this record his best ever, I wouldn’t know how to compare it with his band works and perhaps this wouldn’t even matter because we are talking about something completely different. I want to consider this record as a kind of 'manifesto'. Released after a tour that Doherty undertook in South America with the Puta Madres, a band composed of musicians from around the world and therefore a real congregation of different cultures, the album sees for the first time Pete Doherty measuring himself against issues that instead of referring to the world of poetry and literature, give significant insights into contemporary reality and address personal themes, thus showing us an aspect that we hadn’t known so far. This clearly, let’s say it immediately, doesn’t make him some kind of John Lennon, nor does it mean he will become a strange type of Joe Strummer or Billy Bragg. We are not talking about a real masterpiece, but if you approach this record expecting something like this, I tell you to completely forget about it, you wouldn’t do anything good for yourselves and maybe not even for him.

Doherty lived in Paris for a long time. Consequently, it is inevitable that one of the most touching songs, 'Hell To Pay at the Gates of Heaven', was written immediately after the tragic events in Paris last November. Doherty sings, 'Come on boys, you gotta choose your weapons, J-45 or AK-47,' where the J-45 is clearly a Gibson, dark and at the same time ironic lyricism that picks up on an old theme of his, probably not very original but certainly shared by all those like me who see music as a purpose transcending simple entertainment listening, and according to which music is a significant tool in the fight against terrorism. 'The last form of peace possible.'

Essentially inspired by typically British sounds that mostly made me think of the Kinks ('Kolly Kibber', the eccentric ballad 'The World Is Our Playground', 'Hell To Pay at the Gates of Heaven' itself), the rest of the songs feature what is a typical style of Doherty and sounds that are and have been characteristic of the garage and rock tradition of the new millennium. 'A Spy In The House', 'She Is Far' are almost whispered ballads by Doherty's voice made hoarse by excess smoking and with soft arrangements of unusual delicacy for this author. 'She Is Far,' with nearly orchestral arrangements and the use of violins, could even be called a romantic classic type of song like Billy Joel (but less boring and gaudy than some of his episodes).

Other songs, meanwhile, are part of older material that long-time fans of Peter Doherty probably already know because they have been released as demos or circulated through other channels. 'Oily Boker', for example, is a song released in 2004, contained in the album, 'Music When The Lights Go Out', here performed with an introduction in the typical British garage style and ending instead turning into a kind of melancholic 'drunk ballad' accompanied by the sound of a harmonica and guitar arpeggio and with a theatrical approach that is a constant throughout the album. There are two versions of 'I Don’t Love Anyone'. The first one is mostly an intimate, slow, melancholic ballad, a sort of piano song; the second one fits more with the Libertines' type of sound, it is much more rock and roll and clearly picks up typical themes from the long British pop tradition that has its roots in the sixties. 'Birdcage' is a song written even before the formation of the Libertines.

Probably, however, another of the album's most interesting tracks and also one of the most significant emotionally (as well as musically) is 'Flags From The Old Regime', a song that Pete wrote for a dear old friend of his, Amy Winehouse, tragically deceased in July 2011. Just for the record, this thing reminds me of a personal episode of mine, also related to the music world. The day after or at least a few days following, in fact, I was at a concert by Lou Reed (one of the last concerts by the great Lou) and he wanted to dedicate one of his most beautiful songs, 'The Bell', to Amy Winehouse. It was a very intense moment, the most intense of that concert.

Doherty has made an album that I would describe as stylistically ironic, revolving in a sort of typically British black humor, which, however, addresses relevant issues, to the point that perhaps, as mentioned, this record could be considered, despite all its limitations, as a possible new beginning in the career and perhaps in the life of this singer and composer. Much of this, of course, will depend on him and what artistic choices he will undertake and whether he will decide to shed the garment that was tailored for him to be considered the decadent icon of rock and roll in a way that wants to replicate the French movement of the nineteenth century and an uncomfortable position that, consciously or not on his part, has somehow prevented him from being regarded with due attention. Because, it may seem strange, but the truth is, when you have some problem, no one ever takes you seriously. On the contrary, it may happen that everyone is against you. Because when you’re not well, you’re strange. People don’t understand you or simply don’t want to understand and it is known that, 'When you're a strange(r), faces look ugly, when you're alone.'