The history of rock’n’roll is strewn with the shenanigans of libertines and this East London quartet picked up the baton and ran full pelt with an unashamed glee before falling apart in a bad haze of drugs, recriminations and ugly vibes.

Formed by singer-songwriters Pete Doherty and Carl Barat, The Libertines were Britain’s answer to the garage rock revival of 2002. Augmented by bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell, the chaotic spirit of their live shows – all loose harmonies and shambolic guitars – was brilliantly captured on their debut album Up the Bracket by their producer, former Clash guitarist Mick Jones. Informed by tales of drugs, dreamers and wanna-bes, the album attracted the attentions of a whole new generation of rock fans.

But the band always sounded on the verge of collapse. As Pete Doherty’s drug use escalated into addiction, the first cracks in the band’s unity appeared when the singer burgled Barat’s flat to feed his habit. Reunited with the band after short spell in jail, the fraught sessions for The Libertines’ second eponymous album saw the presence of security men in the studio to keep Doherty and Barat from breaking into fisticuffs. The ugly vibes were captured again by Jones to create an effect not unlike listening to your parents arguing.

The final track on the album, What Became Of The Likely Lads, became a fitting epitaph for the band that was to shortly break up after touring without Doherty as they sang, “What become of the likely lads/what became of the dreams we had/What became of forever?”

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As The Liberines were in their final death throes, Pete Doherty – between aborted rehab visits - returned to his side project Babyshambles. Originally a vehicle for the songs of Doherty that never made it to The Libertines, Babyshambles operated a revolving door policy where line-ups were concerned featuring, at one point, the sons of Only Ones legend Peter Perrett before settling on the line up of guitarist Patrick Walden, bassist Drew McConnell and drummer Gemma Clarke.

Playing gigs wherever and whenever the mood took them, Babyshambles harnessed the power of the internet to create a community that could be mobilised within hours. However, Doherty’s drug problems were escalating to the extent that the band were blowing out major gigs without a word of warning and the last straw for fans came when the band blew out a sold out gig at the 2000 capacity Astoria in London in December 2004. The subsequent riot left the band’s equipment destroyed and precipitated the departure of Gemma Clarke.

Around this time, Doherty was on police bail following assault and blackmail charges. Despite a 10pm curfew, Babyshambles managed to complete a major tour before finally entering the studio with The Clash’s Mick Jones again and new drummer Adam Ficek to record the album Down In Albion that finally saw light of day at the end of 2005.

Despite a high media profile due a well-publicised romance with model Kate Moss, Doherty’s future looks uncertain as drug charges mount up on an almost weekly basis. Whatever the outcome, Doherty’s the kind of rock star that’s in short supply and one whose legend will live on longer than he probably will.

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