50. The Stooges' chaotic/disastrous/debauched 1973/4 tour

Despite the patronage of David Bowie, by the start of 1973, The Stooges were in trouble. Having finished recording the 'Raw Power' album in London, they found themselves back in Los Angeles and back on hard drugs. With the album's release delayed, they walked out on Bowie's manager, Tony DeFries, and faced up to an all-too-familiar penniless future. In the face of this new, self-conceived disaster, a decision was taken to go back out on the road - and so began one of the most calamitous tours of all time.

In the middle of 1973, they started a series of gigs that would take in every sleazy club across America. With no one to look after them, the band - and particularly singer Iggy Pop - dive-bombed into narcotic-fuelled chaos. In Philadelphia, Iggy was so wasted he had to be thrown onstage by three roadies. He fell face-first into the audience, where someone smeared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on his chest. The resulting mess made it look like he'd been stabbed, and the gig was abandoned after three songs.

By the time they reached New York, the blood was all too real. During a gig at Max's Kansas City, Iggy's self-loathing reached such massive dimensions that he resolved to slit his throat behind one of the amps. He couldn't go through with it, though, and ended up slashing open his chest. Worse, though, was still to follow, as the tour stumbled into the first two months of 1974.

Prior to a gig at the Michigan Palace, Iggy went on Detroit radio and challenged a local motorbike gang, the Scorpions, to come down to the show and do their worst. It was a challenge they accepted. Captured on the infamous 'Metallic KO' album, from the moment the band walked onstage, they were bombarded with broken glass, beer jugs and shovels. Despite Iggy's abusive bravado, this was the final straw. Soon after, the band split and a year later Iggy booked himself into a Los Angeles psychiatric institution.