STOP PRESS
 Buskers are now legal on the London Underground. The LU has ruled that they can play at certain stations.
"Hallelujah! they will sing in the bowels of the earth - and Sultans Of Swing and Paperback Writer, and a thousand other buskers' classics - because, for the first time, "situation artists" are legal on the Underground......
(Left - Bob De Niro gets cash from Ben Elton - OK they're promoting their new musical We Will Rock You!)
"Reversing a century of banning live music from its premises, London Underground is planning to license buskers to play at specific pitches at its stations, provided they don't interfere with safety by, for instance, drowning out the fire alarms." said The Evening Standard newspaper.
"Commuters need not rush out to buy earplugs, however. Buskers will be auditioned to make sure they are at least "reasonably competent".
"They may even be sworn on pain of instant damnation not ever, ever, to play The Streets Of London or Mr Tambourine Man. Those who do, or who couldn't if they wanted to, will be slung out.
"In the tunnel between South Kensington Tube station and the Natural History Museum - one of the few places where buskers are almost welcome, or, at least, not illegal - the news went down well.
'That is very good,' said Pino Zecchini, an Italian accordion player, breaking off from a slightly baffling continuous medley of Rossini (The Thieving Magpie overture), Verdi (Il Trovatore drinking song), Elgar (Pomp and Circumstance Number One, main theme only), Schubert (Moment Musicale) and Brahms (Hungarian Dance Number One minus twiddly bits).
'At the moment, I only play here because this is not London Underground property and there is too much trouble on London Underground. Here, the Tube staff give us Christmas presents and it is all very friendly.
 'I play only good music because people are on their way to the Albert Hall or the Royal College of Music. We can make up to £40 an hour. In other places, it is very difficult."
"Guitarist Eddie Bell is another busker who would be delighted to come in from the cold. 'That is great news,' he said, before a burst of Day Tripper (Yeah) with sleigh bells.
'The Tube started getting really heavy. I don't play there now. Paying a few pounds for a licence, though, would be good. Better than paying fines.'"
The 19th May 2003 saw the launch of official buskers. Basically after some auditioning and getting a London Underground sponsor (Carling) buskers can now apply for a license to perform at certain central London Underground stations. Three apprived buskers sang their hearts out at Canary Wharf station.
From the BBC website: "Bass player Justin Manser, 30, had never busked in the Tube before - but decided to apply for a licence to save the hassle that busking usually brings.
"I didn't want to come up here and fight people over the pitch," he said.
"I know where I can go and play, and there won't be any arguments from anybody - shopkeepers, environmental health, beggars."
Apparently there are now 285 licensed buskers and 1,200 two hour time slots to fill each week. Click here to apply for an audition to become a tube busker with the London Underground also check out Eurobuskers which is a fantastic resource if you are a would be busker and you can also learn who in Europe is the most generous when it comes to giving to buskers. The UK is third, so there is hope for London's buskers.
There was even a TV documentary - Busking Underground - which followed the progress of the new busking trial on ITV1 - Carlton on 25th September 2003. It was produced by Mosaic Films who earlier in the year had produced The Tube, an excellent TV series on the London Underground. Watch this space for more news!
SHOULD YOU GIVE MORE MONEY TO BAD PLAYERS OR GOOD ONES?
 I've just joined a few newsgroups about London Transport which I've found fascinating. Here's an opinion on the standard of buskers, how does it compare to yours?
"To me it makes no difference whether a busker plays well or plays badly. In
fact, if a busker plays badly I am MORE likely to give them some money
because:
(a) he/she will receive less money than other buskers, and I don't see why
people living on the poverty-line should be remunerated according to their
musical talent. Some buskers are just learning to play an instrument out of
desperation, without having had any musical instruction, and whilst they
perfect their instrument they will obviously play not as well. It doesn't
make them any less desperate for your money.
(b) he/she, if a good busker, has more of a chance of being 'talent spotted'
(you'd be surprised how many of our Britpop stars started in the tube
tunnels). And if talent spotters are elusive, a good busker also has the
chance of buying NME or Melody Maker, checking out the classifieds and
auditioning. In other words, they have another opening, they could find a
'proper' job via their music. But poor buskers, until they become good
buskers, whilst they perfect their technique, have little or no chance of
successful auditions so need our support in the meantime!
I do practice what I preach. At Old Street you often get this classical
guitarist. He is superb. I've heard him play the Concierto de Aranjuez,
some Bizet, and 'modern' stuff too such as classical versions of Céline Dion
songs. Not my cup of tea, but that's not why I don't give him any money. He
is so good I know he'll (a) get money from other people anyway, and (b)
could easily make a career out of himself by going professional. He's good
enough. Ditto, the female violin player who hangs around Holborn and Bank.
However, when it comes to the Batá drummer in Bank, I always give him money.
Batá drums aren't everyone's cup of tea (they're like congas but they are a
different shape and thay hang off your neck), and on top of that he plays
them really badly (I know this as I can play some Batá/congas, although I
play badly as well). He gets very little money. And no salsa band would look
at him! So while he improves his playing, and practice takes a long time,
I'm delighted to be of some assistance. Also, there's one guitar player who
keeps hitting bum notes -- I try to help him out.
A good busker will always get more money than a crap one, as not many people
out there share my view. But at least the crap ones will get something if
myself and a few others do what I do. Enough for a nice breakfast and, who
knows, maybe enough for some lessons! Or new guitar strings! Or self-help
music practice books. And eventually, I like to think, one of those buskers
I helped will become good enough and make that break. And be the next Damon
Albarn, or the next Jarvis Cocker, or the next Noel Gallagher.
Music is one of Britain's best exports, and makes a lot of money for the
country (second biggest British industry, I think Blair said?), as well as
gives a lot of pleasure to billions of people worldwide (a friend of mine is
president of the Ocean Colour Scene fan club in Argentina!!) Let's be a
little more supportive of our buskers. Let's be proud of them!!"
TRISTÁN from uk.local.london newsgroup
Now, have your say, and cast a vote here
Buskers Love Em or Hate Em
 And now back to the buskers themselves....
They're back and they're bad (and not in the Michael Jackson sense of the word bad either). It's
the legendary twosome, the "This train is going to Richmond" buskers. I thought they had gone
into winter hibernation, but they are back on the overly busked District Line. Not only that, they
were singing a new song, complete with guitar and bongo drums.
I was travelling into London and so instead of singing "This train is going to Richmond, this
train". They were singing "This train is going to Barking, this train", which brings a whole new
meaning to the song.
Also another lucky coincidence. When they go round to collect money, they always say 'We
take cheques, we take Luncheon Vouchers, we take Indian rupees' and guess what I happened to
have in my bag that evening - some Sri Lankan rupees. You cannot believe the joy I had of
actually being able to put 100 rupees into their little bag.
I thought I ought to share the lyrics of their brilliant protest song with you all. The song was
written as they used to use the public toilets to shave in when they were homeless. This practice
was banned and they said you could tell because of all the "no shaving" signs that kept appearing
in the toilets. Unfortunately there are some words missing (perhaps someone can fill in my
gaps) but it goes something like this:
 "If you can't have a shave in the toilet, where can you have a shave?
If you can't have a shave in the toilet, where can you have a shave?
Think of all the other things that people do in toilets
Much worse than shaving
Much worse than raving
(missing two lines goes here)
We only want to keep ourselves
clean and respectable
clean and respecta-buuullll
If you can't have a shave in the toilet where can you have a shave? - ah!"
Simon Fraser saw them recently and added:
"Yes, indeed. I attended one of their gigs last night between Hammersmith and Earls Court. The two numbers were present and correct ('This Train is going to Barking' and 'If you can't get a shave') but I can't give you the two middle lines of the latter I'm afraid.
"I must say I found the collection of donations in a small omelette pan rather enchanting (Delia would be proud of them) as I did the invitation to change trains and accompany them back to Hammersmith to hear some more material."
The only problem is that they don't have any more material!!!!
Any more sightings please let me know through the guestbook.
A nice little story here from
Bassman
"I always give a bit of change to buskers - if they're good. I remember stopping at a bus station on wy way to Scotland once, there was a guy playing "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd on a 12 string guitar. There were loads of strings missing though. Next time I did the same journey, I gave him the old strings that I had taken off my 12 string when I put new ones on. He was most grateful. He did Wish You Were Here for me again and I sang a passable harmony".
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