I met Iggy Pop in a brainbending encounter in 1977. I was meeting friends at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park to see Iggy Pop plus The Adverts, and I was early, so I went into the pub next door (the George Robey, gone now) for a pint.

I went into the snug, where there was only room for a couple of people at the bar, and stood next to someone who was waiting to be served. When I glanced round at him, it was Iggy Pop.

It's something of a cliche to say that you were surprised when meeting someone famous to see that they were shorter than you imagined, but that was, nonetheless, my first thought.

I said: 'Aren't you Iggy Pop?'

He said he was, and I asked him what he was doing here when he was meant to be doing a concert in 40 minutes (or whatever it was). He, unsurprisingly, said he wanted a drink, and I asked him if I could buy him one. He said yes, I asked him what he wanted, and he asked what I was having. I said Guinness, and he said he'd never had Guinness before, but he'd like to try one. I bought it, he said he liked it, we drank our pints, he downed his and he left.

I used to drink rather quickly in those days, but he was quicker.

I can't remember much of what else was said, something about how Guinness was available in the US but somehow he'd never tried it, but it's occurred to me since that he was perhaps after a quiet drink on his own before he had to perform, and I may have spoilt the moment for him. But you'd think the pub next door - and it was literally next door - to the venue would be an odd choice if you wanted a quiet drink on your own.

I thought of this while enjoying the counterintuitive version of This Magic Moment on the soundtrack of Lost Highway, which I’d not heard before and intended to post here. It’s actually Lou Reed, I now see, but I don’t see that minor detail needs to stand in the way of telling a good Guinness drinking with a major bass/baritone US punk icon from the 70s story.

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