Dirty Pretty Things (band)
Encyclopedia
Dirty Pretty Things were an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 band fronted by Carl Barât
Carl Barât
Carl Ashley Raphael Barât is an English musician, actor and author. He was the frontman and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and recently debuted a solo album, but is best known for being the co-frontman with Peter Doherty of the garage rock band The Libertines.-Early life:Carl Barât was...

, a member of The Libertines
The Libertines
The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...

. The formation of the band was announced in September 2005, after a dispute between Barât and Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...

 led to the breakup of The Libertines in 2004. Barât had worked with Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram...

 and had previously revealed that his new project was with the label. Didz Hammond
Didz Hammond
David Jonathan Hammond , better known as Didz Hammond, is an English bassist. He was the bassist and backing vocalist in The Cooper Temple Clause , and in Carl Barât's Dirty Pretty Things...

 announced he was leaving the Cooper Temple Clause to join the band alongside Libertines drummer Gary Powell
Gary Powell
Gary Armstrong Powell is a British drummer. He is primarily the drummer for The Libertines, as well as doing the same for the band formed by his bandmate Carl Barat after the Libertines split, Dirty Pretty Things and Guyanese artist, Eddy Grant...

 and guitarist Anthony Rossomando
Anthony Rossomando
Anthony Pasquale Rossomando is a guitarist, most recently with Carl Barat's rock band Dirty Pretty Things. He previously stood in for Pete Doherty in The Libertines, after Doherty was first suspended from the band and then sacked due to his drug habits...

, who had filled in for Doherty following his departure from The Libertines. They played their first shows in October 2005 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. They announced their split on 1 October 2008 and played their final shows during November.

After adopting the name to Dirty Pretty Things, problems arose - a four-piece band from Salisbury had been playing as "Dirty Pretty Things" since early January 2005, claiming to have already trademarked the name in the UK' the two groups came to an agreement over the name, and the other band was renamed Mitchell Devastation. An Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n band had been playing under "Dirty Pretty Things" since 2003, although it also opted to change it. The name was shared by Barât's club nights in venues throughout London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

; they assumed the name "Bright Young Things" to avoid confusion.

Formation and Waterloo to Anywhere: 2005-2006

Dirty Pretty Things began recording their first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 with high-profile producer Dave Sardy
Dave Sardy
David Sardy is a Brooklyn born-and-raised composer, musician, songwriter, and record producer- Biography :...

, and in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 with producer Tony Doogan. "You Fucking Love It", a track from the band's debut album, was made available on a free CD with the 1 April 2006 issue of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 entitled "NME and MTV2 present Best Newbands Showcase 2006".

The band's debut album, Waterloo to Anywhere
Waterloo to Anywhere
Waterloo to Anywhere is the debut album by English indie rock band Dirty Pretty Things, fronted by then former Libertine Carl Barât. The album was produced by Dave Sardy and Tony Doogan, and released on May 8, 2006 in the United Kingdom where it debuted at #3 in the UK Albums Chart .The album was...

, was released on 8 May 2006, reaching number three on the music charts and receiving critical approval. The first single (and first official band release) from the album, "Bang Bang, You're Dead
Bang Bang You're Dead (song)
"Bang Bang You're Dead" is a song by the band Dirty Pretty Things. It was released as a single on April 24, 2006 and was the first to be released from the band's debut album Waterloo to Anywhere. It proved very successful, charting at #5 on the UK Singles Chart...

", was released on 24 April 2006 and reached number five in the singles chart in its first week of sales. The second single, "Deadwood", was released on 10 July 2006 and reached number 20 in the singles chart. The album's third single, "Wondering
Wondering (Dirty Pretty Things song)
"Wondering" is a song by the band Dirty Pretty Things. It was released as a single on October 15, 2006 and was the third to be released from the band's debut album Waterloo to Anywhere...

", was released on 25 September 2006 and reached number 34.

The band toured extensively in the UK during the first half of 2006. They played their first American show at the SXSW festival in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. During the summer of 2006, the group played at several UK festivals, including the Gonville & Caius College May Ball 2006, Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...

, Wireless Festival
Wireless Festival
The Wireless Festival is a music festival in England that takes place every year in Hyde Park, London, and took place at Harewood House, Leeds in 2006 and 2007. It is owned and managed by Live Nation....

, T in the Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...

, Kendal Calling
Kendal Calling
Kendal Calling is an independent music festival held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to an 8000 capacity three-day music festival...

 and the Irish festival Oxegen
Oxegen
Oxegen is an annual music festival in Ireland held since 2004, sponsored by Heineken. As of 2007, 2008, 2009, the festival has been cited as Ireland's biggest music festival. And by 2009, the festival is cited as the greenest festival, being a 100% carbon neutral event in Ireland. It was previously...

. The band played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

 at their concerts in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

 and Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

 in July 2006. The band were supported on their debut tour of the UK by Dublin band Humanzi.

On 13 May 2006 Barât and Hammond appeared on the football show Soccer AM
Soccer AM
Soccer AM is a British Saturday-morning football-based comedy/talk show, predominantly based around the Premier League...

. The pair appeared to be high or drunk following a night out after a gig in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, causing fellow guest Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...

 to compare Barat's slightly incoherent rambling to that of his brother, Liam
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...

.

Following a festival appearance in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

, Barât broke his collarbone after falling from a motorbike during a drinking session, leading to speculation that Dirty Pretty Things would have to cancel upcoming performing dates in North America. However, the band recruited Josh Hubbard, the guitarist from Hull band The Paddingtons
The Paddingtons
The Paddingtons are an English indie rock band from Hull, known for their energetic concerts and loyal fanbase. In various interviews bassist Dobbs has said it is due to their willingness to play almost any venue...

, to play guitar while Barât's injury healed. Barât, sans guitar and his arm in a sling, appeared on stage in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

's Corn Exchange on 28 August 2006, as well as Reading Festival.

On 16 October 2006, the band released a DVD, Puffing On a Coffin Nail, which featured more than two-and-a-half hours of concert footage and documentaries. On 25 October 2006, Barât appeared as a special guest at Paul Weller's set during the Electric Proms, duetting on "Peacock Suit" and "In the City".

Romance at Short Notice: 2007-2008

The band supported Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...

 at their 16 June 2007 Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

 show and supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

 on 24 June at Goffertpark Nijmegen in The Netherlands. They also played at Glastonbury 2007 and performed several new songs. On 22 July the band supported Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 at the Eden Project
Eden Project
The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....

 in Cornwall, playing a slew of new songs including "Come Closer". "Radio Song" (co-written by Barât and Chris McCormack) was released as part of the OST for Run, Fat Boy, Run, on 7 September 2007 for download, and on 10 September 2007 on CD. In October the band appeared on the Love Music Hate Racism
Love Music Hate Racism
Love Music Hate Racism is a music-oriented campaign based in Britain by the Anti-Nazi League and Unite Against Fascism. The campaign involves concerts aimed at spreading an anti-racist message...

 CD, which was given away with copies of the NME and also available as a download from the LMHR website . "9 Lives" was Dirty Pretty Things' contribution to the free album and was in a finished studio form (although it was recorded in guitarist Anthony Rossomando's flat in London).

The band planned to record the album in summer of 2007, to have it ready for a tentative September 2007 release, however the band were having problems with production and that the release date had to be pushed back. On 2 May 2008 the band had completed 12 tracks for their second album and later revealed the title to be Romance at Short Notice
Romance at Short Notice
Romance at Short Notice is the second and last album by Dirty Pretty Things, released in the UK on June 30, 2008. The first single, "Tired of England", was released on June 23, 2008...

. The name is a reference to the final line in Saki
Saki
Hector Hugh Munro , better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirised Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy...

's short story "The Open Window." Previously, the title This Is Where The Truth Begins had been circulated as the title of the album.

On 12 May 2008, the song "Hippy's Son" was made available for free download from the band's official website and on 22 June the band made all of the album available for free streaming on NME.com. Romance at Short Notice
Romance at Short Notice
Romance at Short Notice is the second and last album by Dirty Pretty Things, released in the UK on June 30, 2008. The first single, "Tired of England", was released on June 23, 2008...

was released on 30 June 2008, with the single "Tired of England
Tired of England
Tired of England is the first single from Romance at Short Notice, the second album by Dirty Pretty Things, which was released on 23 June 2008.The chorus is reminiscent of Panic by The Smiths....

" released a week earlier on 23 June. Both, album and single, failed to reach high chart positions. The album entered the UK albums chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

 at number 35 and left it after only two weeks. On 7 July the band placed 4 songs available for download on Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...

 - "Buzzards and Crows", "Plastic Hearts", "Hippy's Son" and a cover of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

's "Subterranean Homesick Blues
Subterranean Homesick Blues
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 as a single on Columbia Records, catalogue 43242. It appeared 19 days later as the lead track to the album Bringing It All Back Home. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also...

". On 11 July the band appeared on XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...

's Live From Leicester Square programme. They played "Plastic Hearts", "Bang Bang You're Dead
Bang Bang You're Dead (song)
"Bang Bang You're Dead" is a song by the band Dirty Pretty Things. It was released as a single on April 24, 2006 and was the first to be released from the band's debut album Waterloo to Anywhere. It proved very successful, charting at #5 on the UK Singles Chart...

" and a cover of Glasvegas
Glasvegas
Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan , Paul Donoghue and Jonna Löfgren . The band received critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas which was released in September 2008, reaching No...

' "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
"It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry" is a song by Scottish Indie rock band Glasvegas. The song was written and composed by the band's singer and guitarist James Allan....

".

In May 2008, Dirty Pretty Things had their Coventry Kasbah gig filmed and later broadcast on Channelbee
Channel Bee
ChannelBee was an internet television channel which launched on 5 July 2008.As from 20/11/09 Channelbee has ceased operating.ChannelBee is a new concept featuring new and topical content each day varying from comedy sketches to daily blogs and football...

.

Separation

On 1 October 2008 it was announced that the band would split after a month long UK tour, beginning in Preston on 3 October. In a statement, the band said it was time for them "to try new things" but added that these would not involve The Libertines.

The last Dirty Pretty Things gig, 'The Last Hurrah' was announced for 20 December 2008, at the Astoria 2 in London. Support was from The Paddingtons
The Paddingtons
The Paddingtons are an English indie rock band from Hull, known for their energetic concerts and loyal fanbase. In various interviews bassist Dobbs has said it is due to their willingness to play almost any venue...

. The band promised 'a night to remember' and signed memorabilia to thank the loyal fans of the band.

See also

  • The Libertines
    The Libertines
    The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...

  • The Cooper Temple Clause
    The Cooper Temple Clause
    The Cooper Temple Clause were an English six-piece alternative rock band originating from Wokingham, Berkshire. Formed in 1998, the band quickly gained a following through their live concerts, and have produced three albums, the latest being Make This Your Own...

  • Indie rock
    Indie rock
    Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

  • Garage rock revival

External links

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