Dignity is their watchword! Once lionized, now washed up alcoholic ex-Pogues singer Shane MacGowan joined once lionized, now washed up drug addict musician Pete Doherty backstage after Doherty’s first gig after getting out of jail. Earlier, MacGowan had joined Pete on-stage for a rendition of ‘Dirty Old Town’ at the Kentish Town Forum in London. Turns out the two have more in common than just a taste for narcotics and booze.
Both are academically brilliant - MacGowan won a scholarship to private school Westminster, Doherty studied at Oxford University and won a schoolboy poetry competition. Both have a history of mental problems - MacGowan suffered a nervous breakdown as a 17 year old while Doherty was treated for manic depression as an outpatient at London’s Homerton hospital when he was 27.
The question remains: does Doherty see MacGowan as a cautionary tale or a hero to be emulated?
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1 Pete Doherty shares a tent with Sting’s daughter Coco // Jul 8, 2008 at 12:46 pm
[...] Pete Doherty and Shane McGowan hang out backstage, compare substance abuse problems [...]
2 Shane MacGowan on brink of death, says his dad // Aug 5, 2008 at 2:22 pm
[...] Pete Doherty and Shane McGowan hang out backstage [...]
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