April 13, 2010 Molly Meldrum launches the 'Simply Madonna' exhibition in Perth, Australia.

SIPPING a mid-morning champagne at Perth's swankiest shopping arcade, surrounded by costumes once worn by Madonna, is Molly Meldrum, retelling the story about how he first met the Queen of Pop.

"I was an hour-and-a-half late for an interview with her in New York when she was just starting out and when I walked in I said to someone: "Who the F is Madonna, anyway?.

"Madonna emerged from round the corner and said to me: "Who the F are you?'.''

When the cameras started rolling, Madonna shot Molly down with a one-word answer to his first question.

"So I decided to ask her again: "Who the F are you?' She laughed and from then on we became friends,'' Meldrum said.

he Countdown host played a hand in catapulting Madonna's first song Holiday to the top of the Australian charts by inviting her to perform on the show just three weeks later.

His 27-year connection with Madonna was marked this week at the Perth launch of "Simply Madonna, an exhibition of costumes celebrating one of the world's leading icons of style'' at the shopping complex Enex100, off the Hay St Mall in the city.

The collection - owned by a private group of investors - includes Madonna's most famous costume: the hot-pink satin gown she wore in the 1985 Material Girl film clip. On close inspection, visitors to the free exhibition may notice an ever-so-slight flaw - a little grubby mark on the belt.  Look out, too, for a well-worn credit-card, cut in half, with the name Madonna Ciccone. Then there's the tassled cone bustier worn in the Open Your Heart video (1986) and the denim outfit made famous in American Pie (2000).

Other highlights include Jimmy Choo shoes, jewellery including a tiara, a cowboy hat, skinny jeans and a silver mesh wrap and rhinestone belt from the Reinvention Tour (2004).

Meldrum said the collection wasn't as big as Kylie Minogue's stunning exhibition of career-spanning costumes displayed in Melbourne a few years ago.

"Kylie's dad kept everything in storage in warehouses so it has always been together, whereas Madonna hasn't kept all of these things. They have been bought together by private collectors and investors.''

Meldrum added his touch to the exhibition, loaning it a framed gift of CDs and music covers given to him by Madonna.