The Libertines

1997–2001: Early history
The founding members of The Libertines, Peter Doherty and Carl Barât, met when Barât was studying drama at Brunel University in Uxbridge and sharing a flat in Richmond with Amy-Jo Doherty, Peter's elder sister. This lasted until they realized their collective creative capabilities and forged a bond over their shared passion for writing melodies and Doherty's love of The Smiths.[4] Barât abandoned his drama course two years in; Doherty left his English literature course at Queen Mary, University of London, after only a year, and they moved into a flat together on Camden Road in North London, which they named "The Delaney Mansions."

They formed a band with their neighbour Steve Bedlow, commonly referred to as Scarborough Steve, and named themselves The Strand, later discarded for The Libertines after the Marquis de Sade's Lusts of the Libertines ("The Albions" was also considered, but rejected; Albion is an archaic name for Britain). They later met John Hassall and Johnny Borrell, who played bass with the Libertines for one rehearsal. After arranging another rehearsal which Borrell did not attend, they telephoned him to discover he was on tour "living the high life." Thus Hassall joined the band as bassist. At this stage, they had no consistent drummer. They began playing gigs, many taking place in the flat shared by Doherty and Barât.

Within a few weeks, they had booked themselves into the Odessa studios to record 3 songs, assisted by Gwyn Mathias, who had previously worked with the Sex Pistols. However, they were disappointed by their scheduled drummer, so at short notice Mathias enlisted the help of Paul Dufour, who agreed to record with the band for £50. At 54, Dufour was considerably older than the others. Despite this age difference, he was impressed enough by the band to become a member. The Libertines started recording more sessions and playing gigs at venues further afield. Roger Morton, a journalist from the NME who went to...