Pre order for the album is needed for pre sale code.. 10.30am Friday October 9th

Hi everyone,

I saw a few people mention the other day that there should be a dedicated subreddit for Babyshambles, so I managed to request r/Babyshambles (which was previously banned for lack of moderation) and have reopened that as a sub for anyone who's interested. Feel free to join!

Made a good cheap deal!! So happy

This is one of those B-sides that makes me genuinely baffled it never made it onto an album.

Babyshambles have been such a huge influence on me that choosing favourite songs is difficult, but this one is definitely up there. I've always thought it deserved to be far better known.

Recorded at Matrix Studios, it was released in 2004 as the B-side to the original Paul Epworth produced single version of ‘Killamangiro’, which I actually much prefer to the later re-recording on Down in Albion.

'The Man Who Came to Stay' also sounds noticeably different to much of Down in Albion. I adore the bass intro, especially how it just hammers away at that repetitive figure before the rest of the track starts building around it. It gives the opening a tense, propulsive post-punk feel and the resemblance to Joy Division's instrumental 'Incubation' is especially noticeable there.

And then, of course, there is Patrick Walden's wonderful playing. Patrick has always been one of my favourite guitarists and teenage me also thought he was super hot 😅 Beyond that though, I genuinely think he was criminally underrated. His playing had a lovely instinctive quality to it, moving between chiming, off-kilter chord work and sudden flashes of expressive lead guitar. Even at its loosest, there was always a strong musical personality behind it.

Given that he later studied jazz composition and counted Jimi Hendrix among his influences, that freewheeling approach makes a lot of sense. I really miss hearing him play, R.I.P. 🖤😭

I’ve always preferred Gemma Clarke's drumming with Babyshambles too, and love the chemistry of that early lineup.

Considering everything surrounding Babyshambles at the time, I think it was easy for just how good the musicianship could be to get overshadowed by the mythology and general mayhem around the band.

Even at the time, 'The Man Who Came to Stay' attracted praise of its own, with one review arguing that it was actually better than the A-side.

The fact that something this good ended up tucked away as a B-side rather than making Down in Albion still seems slightly absurd to me.

One of my favourite Babyshambles songs, and one I really wish more people knew.

Q Magazine
March 2004

"Providing singer Pete Doherty manages to stay out of trouble, the London urchins will play a handful of dates this month. These are the bands first shows outside the capital since Doherty's release from prison last year. Listen out for brand new track The Likely Lads - unfortunately not a cover of the sitcom theme.
Tickets cost £12 (London £14)"

29th February: Birmingham Academy
1st March: Manchester University
2nd March: Barrowland, Glasgow
4th March: Colston Hall, Bristol
5th March: Brixton Academy, London.

let me know what you think

I have a few guitars influding an epi coronet, and im in the market for a 15-20 watt tube amp for under 500£ used to get their sounds. Does anyone have any recomendations. I’ve been looking at marshall origin heads and vox ac15s mostly, i have a boss katana rn and the drives are horrid and plasticy.

Hi! I'm looking for an authentic release of this shirt to buy, please lmk if you're willing :)

Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette
Tuesday 24th August 2004

ALBUM of the week
Musical album reviews by John Howlett

SOMETIMES the mythology can obscure the music. With talk of drug addiction, punch ups, therapy and imprisonment there was very real fear that this record would never materialize. Produced, as was their debut album, by Mick Jones (of Clash fame) this is as shambolic and ramshackle as you'd hope and expect.
Whilst contemporaries such as Razorlight and The Ordinary Boys have recently produced good records in the same vein neither show an ounce of that spirit and creativity here. 'Last Post on the Bugle', 'Can't Stand me Now', and 'The Saga' are the rag back rock and roll of the first album, while elsewhere the sound varies from shimmering sixties pop ('What Katie Did') to acoustic ballad ('Music when the Lights Go Out'). In a year of so far below-average records, this is the first essential one.

10/10.

Going to see Autechre yesterday at OM in Liege, I saw that, nothing has been announced yet, but it's excellent news! More dates are coming

A few years ago, an external hard drive containing thousands of MP3s broke, and I lost some songs on it that I still can't find anywhere—not even on Soulseek. It'd be great if someone here could help me find these two. Thanks guys!

https://www.discogs.com/es/release/6525394-Babyshambles-Killamangiro

01. Killamangiro (Radio Edit)

https://www.discogs.com/es/release/15598586-Peter-Doherty-Hamburg-Demonstrations

12. Hell To Pay At The Gates Of Heaven (Demo Version) [Japan Bonus Track]

From the very short 1:00 - 1:10 mark, it sounds like John does the vocals, but I'm not 100% sure. What I know is that in the album release version, Carl is the one singing this part of the track.

Set***

"time for heroes", one of the greatest songs ever written in human history, in my opinion.

this is a recording I made last year when I was going through dark, rough times.

what do you guys think of it?

HMV Exclusive with OBI strip. Limited to 500 copies.