In the 90s, by his own admission, The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess did cocaine “24/7”.
The northern indie star’s lifestyle was textbook rock ‘n’ roll excess – parties, booze and drugs.
Now 53, he leads a much quieter, sensible life with his partner Nik Void and their young son.
But Tim, who quit drugs in 2006 while living in Los Angeles, recalled his wildest period in his 2012 memoirs, Telling Stories.
In one of the book’s more shocking drug-related yarns, he describes how he and some of his bandmates “discovered the process of blowing cocaine up each other’s ar*es.”
A method said to have been favoured by Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, Tim says it’s sometimes known as as a ‘Manhattan powdered doughnut’ or ‘talcing of Johnson’s adult powder’.
He explains: “I was a giver and a receiver. They say giving is better than receiving, but believe me, in this case the giving is not that great but the receiving made it all worthwhile.
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“It was significantly more effective than I had been used to, but then again it would have to be, as the intimacy and proximity needed was much more of a carry on than the more traditional nostril method.
“I enjoyed it. As far as I was concerned, it was just another way of getting the drug into my system.”
Tim tells how a pal, known only as Mr Pink in the interest of anonymity, suggested the bizarre practice could no longer snort the drug through his nose after he suffered an allergic reaction and, in his words, “blew it up”.
All they needed were the cocaine, a paper cone made out of a magazine page or hotel notepaper, a thick straw, $20 bill or £5 note rolled tightly, and a cigarette paper.
He says: “The cocaine was better if heated, fewer lumps – ground was even better. Did I say I’m not hugely proud of any of this?
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“The idea was that you sucked the drugs into the straw or banknote, but to ensure you didn’t suck them into your own mouth you had a Rizla on the end. It had to be a delicate suck, since you didn’t want to get the Rizla wet.
“You stick the cone pointy-end first into the participant’s anus, aim your straw into the cone and blow sharply, like firing a dart from a blowpipe. It has to be precise and well timed.
“Then wait for it … yes! The participant jumps around the room as if someone has rubbed a fiery chilli on the spot.
“Richard Pryor famously said, ‘Cocaine is God’s way of telling you you have too much money.’ We were literally and metaphorically shoving our own money up our arses, via other rolled-up money. What was God trying to tell us? Whatever it was, I didn’t listen for quite a few years.”