Thursday, August 14, 2008

A book about Babyshambles?!

I don't know why this silly insignificant story bugged me so much but it has, so you're gonna hear about it. Music-tabloid NME (a publication I have harsh feelings for anyway) has reported that Pete Doherty's post-Libertines band Babyshambles is soon to have an "official" book published about their exploits, "charting the euphoric highs and the depressing lows of the band."

I'm going to be sick. Couple things of note. First, Pete Doherty is the only reason this is a story. The UK is obsessed with the crazy dude. Yes, the Libertines were a fantastic, influential band that burned too bright before fizzling out in a drug-riddled crash. Pete's now less a musician and more of a tabloid mockery (competing closely with his pal Amy Winehouse).

You'll also note that according to the drummer, the book will include "a lot of stuff regarding him and Kate (Moss)'s relationship...including Pete's surely profound "views on the no-shows, his view on drugs, his view on the arrests and persecution, relationships with band members."

As awful as it sounds, that angle is at least understandable from a marketing point-of-view. So it's tabloid fluff obviously and I'm sure it will sell for the intended audience. What pisses me off most is that the book is about Babyshambles...why would anyone deem the band Babyshambles worthy of permanent ink, bound pages, an entire freakin' book. Their music is sub-par, they have existed for all of 4 years or so. What is their to write about except for Pete's antics? They've made little to no impact on anyone as far as I can tell. Granted, I'm not from the UK so maybe I just don't get it, but this just blows me away. Anyway, yes, it's a dumb thing to get worked up about but I just had to share.

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