In March 1977 I went to the Rainbow Theatre, scene of many of my favourite gigs, to see Iggy Pop for the first time – with a band including David Bowie.

I had been too young to see The Stooges so it was my first chance to see the newly solo Iggy Pop. Even more excitingly, David Bowie – yes, Bowie! – would be playing the keyboards.

It was everything I expected and more: Iggy bare-chested, wriggling and squirming, Bowie quietly playing keyboards on the right, and they opened up with a quartet of Stooges songs, including sensational versions of Dirt and TV Eye.

A handful of new songs – including this one – came from his first solo album, The Idiot, which was about to be released. Another handful came from Lust For Life, which would not come out until the end of the year. By then I knew those songs because I had taped the whole show, when they were aired for the first time – some in quite different versions.

It’s important to remember that Iggy then was a forgotten figure, a far cry from the (inter)national treasure he is today. Deep in drug addiction, after The Stooges broke up he spent time in a psychiatric institution. It was his old chum Bowie who brought him back, reviving his career by co-writing a set of songs that were a far cry from the metal mayhem of The Stooges.

The Idiot is a dark, dystopian affair that fits naturally alongside Bowie’s Berlin albums Low and Heroes. All ominous basslines, distorted guitars, dissonant electronics and dystopian lyrics, it’s a complete reinvention.

The icing on the cake – and the cherry on top – is Iggy’s creepy vocal growl that seems to seep from the darkest depths of his psyche. No wonder Rolling Stone referred to the album, in their review, as “a necrophiliac’s delight.”