CityLife

One and Only Mr Perrett

SECOND CHANCE: The Only Ones (Peter Perrett, second right)

WANT a rock poster boy for your anti-drugs campaign?

Only a fool would pick Keith Richards, Howard Marks or Iggy Pop; sure, their ravaged appearances tell part of the story, but their bank balances do little to illustrate the perils of addiction.

CityLife then, would choose Peter Perrett, frontman with 1970s should’ve-beens The Only Ones.

Back In 1978, when the band were touring the world on the back of their lauded eponymous debut album and sublime punk-pop signature tune Another Girl Another Planet, Peter he was a pin-up of Syd Barrett proportions: dark, skinny, chic and alluringly dangerous.

That danger element, of course, quickly became his downfall. The band imploded just three years later (less than 12 months after their final record, Baby’s Got A Gun scored them their first Top 40 hit), Peter’s drug addiction had passed the point of no return and he was running from a US arrest warrant for attempted murder.

“If hard drugs hadn’t been involved, we’d have overcome everything,” says Peter candidly about the American tour that sent him, bassist Alan Mair, guitarist John Perry and drummer Mike Kellie their separate ways.

“I wasn’t worried about hard drugs. I was really confident that I was super intelligent and I thought only an idiot would end up staring at the wall in a haze for 30 years. But that’s what happened.”

His fragile spoken voice and the 56-year-old’s sunken appearance reflect years of substance abuse. Even up to 12 months ago, Peter’s addiction was as crippling as ever.

Which is why the news that the band had got back together to play the 2007 All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, at the former Butlins camp in Minehead, stunned fans and critics alike.

Primal Scream

“Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream had been saying lots of lovely things about us in the press and when Warren Ellis (The Dirty Three) came to curate it, he asked us to play,” says Peter. “We stayed in these log cabins. I had Bobby on one side and Nick Cave on the other – it was like Stella Street.

“We played Glastonbury and the O2 Wireless festivals and did a UK tour. In 2007, I was still using drugs for every gig. But by 2008, I managed to leave crack and smack behind.

“For me, I was the one for whom a reunion was most unexpected. I’d done a couple of interviews saying, ‘There’s no chance it’ll happen’, and by the time those came out, we were back together.”

When news of the band’s return filtered through, old fans feared a freak show. Except for solo LP Woke Up Sticky in the mid-1990s and a few cameos on stage with The Libertines and Babyshambles (the latter a band his own sons, Jamie and Peter, have served time in), Peter remained reclusive, keeping company with drug abusers and dealers in his London home.

“Part of overcoming the drugs has been dealing with the guilt,” Peter explains.

“When I realised how much people loved our music, I feel like a **** for depriving them of it. I never made my boys go to school so all they know is if music. That’s how they escaped the hell of my house and got away from the dope fiends who that would steal their pocket money.

“I feel guilty with burdening them with my passion for music, although it’s a different time now,” he reflects.

“It’s one of the things I didn’t like about Pete Doherty. He’s definitely got his head screwed on as far as making himself famous. It’s a bit distasteful for my liking, the way he flaunts taking drugs and being naughty.”

Nearly two years on, the reunion continues apace and the story has taken an even more unpredictable turn with a sure promise of new material.

Latest demos

When Peter and CityLife catch up, he’s just finished listening to The Only Ones’ latest demos for album four – set for release this summer, some 19 years after its predecessor.

A retrospective video of the band’s career follows on DVD, featuring rare footage pieced together from live shows and TV excerpts.

“We went into the studio in the beginning of December and put eight tracks down. We’ve done one track at least that’s brilliant and as good as anything we’ve ever done,” Peter enthuses. “I agreed to do the first gig back in 2007, but if we hadn’t got together to do that new material the band wouldn’t have sustained my interest because otherwise it’s just cabaret. 

“We only had time to learn one new song for the first tour. When you play every day you do it without thinking, but it was all we could do to relearn the old songs.

“We did some of the early gigs playing the wrong chords, but that’s the beauty of a beautiful audience; that they can overlook that and get off on the rest of it.”

In 2009, the land lies very differently. Peter says the band is planning to showcase a number of new songs when they hit the Academy 3 on Sunday and – with scant regard for their old punk principles – will be playing a very special acoustic set mid-show.

“It’s something I would never have done in the punk days because I used to get bored of acoustic guitars; I played as loud as possible. We hardly even used to bother with backing vocals – it was a dirty word.

"But it’s nice for me because I haven’t got to compete with the volumes. And it gives me chance to sit down,” he smiles. “In a few years time, we’ll have to do the whole thing sitting on stools.” 

The Only Ones play Academy 3 on Sunday, January 25. £16.50. Call 0161 832 1111.