Mostly, it is to talk about the Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ fourth album, Welcome To Poppy’s, as well as his role as a drug-dealing transvestite in the upcoming, award-winning film Headrush But there’s also a party to attend tonight, thrown by MTV. Leiser began dating Saffron, the British singer with pop act Republica, while Morgan, who looked like a star and acted like one, became a regular face at every party in every bar in town. Perhaps as a consequence, Morgan and guitarist Brian “Fast” Leiser began to spend a lot of time on this side of the Atlantic. It remains the best song about bank robbery ever written, and certainly the funniest.

The album hung around the charts for almost a year, and went on to sell over a million copies across Europe. But back in the US, meanwhile, the band was making little impact, their style apparently not rock enough for white radio, not rap enough for black. Falling between two stools in a nation that seemingly relies very heavily on stools, Fun Lovin’ Criminals were rendered insignificant. Come Find Yourself was a heady, brilliant mix of hip hop, blues and jazzy riffs, all tainted with the grime and humour of their native New York. Morgan’s vocal delivery was gruff, supercool and cinematic; Sinatra with scars He sang about drugs, Mafia dons and stick-up jobs.

“Scooby Snacks”, for example, which featured snatches of dialogue from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, was about holding up a bank while high on Valium. “Anyway, good to meet you.”Huey Morgan has been famous – and, sometimes, infamous – in the UK since his band Fun Lovin’ Criminals released their d?t album back in 1996. The balance of power having thus been established, he looks extraordinarily satisfied. They’ll come find you.” He puts the cigarette back into his mouth and smiles, revealing teeth. “If I don’t like what you write, I’ll circulate the photo to some friends of mine. And then, the wannabe goodfella who ploughed his first record company advance into a waste disposal company ?a Tony Soprano, does this: he holds up a slimline mobile phone and takes my photograph.”Now I got your picture,” he says. “How you doin’?” is the first thing he says, in a heavy Noo Yoik accent.