Evening Standard: Busker Idol
IT'S being called "Busker Idol" - the Evening Standard's search for the most talented musician on the Underground. With the help of Neil Fox, the Pop Idol judge and presenter of Capital FM's Breakfast Show, we have scoured subterranean tunnels and grimy escalator shafts to bring you the most gifted competitors for your spare change. And all we need now is your vote for the winner.
As London Underground prepares to audition its first officially licensed buskers next month - giving 150 carefully vetted musicians the chance to perform in a dozen stations we wanted to see just how good they could be. So the Standard spent three airless days listening anonymously to dozens of them - from classically trained violinists to a man "playing" a traffic cone - to seek out five of the best. We then invited them to compete for the ultimate busking honour.
First, we simply wanted Foxy's verdict on which busker was most likely to raise travellers' spirits. But so taken was he with the array of talent on offer that he arranged to involve Capital FM's audience together with Evening Standard readers in delivering their own verdicts. "I found it hard to decide between them, as they are all very talented and very pleasant people," Fox said, after auditioning the final five in Capital's Leicester Square studios last week. "So I want the final choice to be left to the audience, to see what the listeners themselves like."
Each morning this week, he is playing one of the buskers' songs on his 95.8 Capital FM Breakfast Show between 7.30am and 8.30am, having started today with 19-year-old guitarist Jonny Roden. You can also listen to the tracks and vote for your favourite at www.capitalfm.com/foxy.
Jonny Roden
About him: Aged 19, he recently arrived in London from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, "hoping to make it in the music industry" as a singer-songwriter. Roden has been busking for just six weeks, and is staying in Northolt with fellow busker Bob Ashcroft (see below).
Hear him at: Westminster, Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road.
On busking: "The hard thing is to get on to the best pitches some of the older fellows are quite protective of their turf. There's a hierarchy, and I seem to be at the bottom."
On the licensing scheme: "I'm sure I'd benefit from the scheme, and I'd probably qualify for it. But I worry that there might be a bias in the auditions against certain types of music. It wouldn't be right if someone missed out on a licence because they don't play something commercial. I'd rather they just legalised it and kept it as survival of the fittest."
Earning power: "I can make £30-£40 in three or four hours, which compares well to £20 that I'd earn in the bar where I work part-time. I can manage about 12 hours a week - any more would hurt my voice. Still, with the bar job at least I know how much I'll be taking home at the end of the week."
Audition piece: Yellow, by Coldplay
Foxy's verdict: "Jonny clearly understands the music and loves what he's doing. It's just the right kind of song for him. A real performance piece."
David Gilbert
About him: A 42-year-old rock and blues guitarist from Harringay, David is a veteran campaigner for legalised street music, who once formed a buskers' union and staged a "buskin" at Leicester Square. He has busked for 15 years, including five years on the Underground, and is director of the Jazz on the Streets summer festival.
Hear him at: Nowadays he is most likely to play in restaurants and wine bars, as well as on the South Bank, but he used to play at Leicester Square, King's Cross and Tottenham Court Road stations.
On busking: "A lot of the newcomers start off playing original material, but you find they're the ones who always leave the scene first. The hardcore career buskers know how to appeal to people."
On the licensing scheme: "London Underground has proposed this sort of scheme at least half a dozen times over the past 10 years, usually trotting out some celebrity to promote it. I don't think they have any intention whatsoever of legalising it. They've been trying to get rid of busking on the Underground for many years."
Earning power: His earnings on the Underground have varied from nothing to £50 an hour. "But £50 is very rare - nothing is far more common," he says. He has also had to account for the fines - 30 in one summer alone, he claims.
Audition piece: My Funny Valentine and Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (no vocals).
Foxy's verdict: "He's not a singer, so this is more of a musical challenge than any of the other acts. David is obviously a very competent musician, but as we saw with Fame Academy, in the modern day it helps to have more than one string to your bow."
Joe Evans
About him: Joe, 39, has been liaising with Underground managers as they develop their licensing scheme, and this week performed legally at Westminster station as part of the Underground's official research. A busker for around 10 years, he plays keyboards and guitar on the network for up to 16 hours a week. He is also musical director of the Rags and Feathers Theatre Company and lives in Wood Green.
Hear him at: Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and, this week, Westminster.
On busking: "It's always there when there's nothing else to do, and you're your own boss. But it's just not worth playing at rush hour when everyone's in a hurry to get home."
On the licensing scheme: "So far it's looking fairly positive - my only reservation is that they want to impose control on something that we ourselves have controlled successfully for years." But he has not been happy with the "terrible" pitches that London Underground allocated him this week at Westminster. "It was dead - there was just too much open space between the buskers and the passengers. I've been earning a quarter of what I normally earn, so I'm giving up and returning to my normal pitch."
Earning power: Takings have fallen as the economy has suffered, but the details of Evans's income are "between me and the taxman". His busking also leads to party bookings, although the last two weddings he was due to play at were called off. "I've become a bit of a jinx. I'd better warn the next person who books me."
Audition piece: One of his own songs, Unmistakable Shoulder.
Foxy's verdict: "You're at a disadvantage if you sing your own song - if people don't recognise it, they just might decide they don't like it. I've nothing against Joe as a musician, but the difference between auditioning and busking is that you're trying to get the widest possible response."
Dominique
About her: A 32-year-old Canadian, Dominique - she does not use her last name - came to London six years ago and has been busking for three years. A singer-songwriter who describes her sound as "a cross between the early Pretenders and Garbage", she has made a CD and is looking for a record deal. She lives in Muswell Hill.
Hear her at: Green Park, Leicester Square, Bank and Oxford Circus, and with her band at various London pub venues.
On busking: "It's fantastic - I've waitressed and worked in a healthfood store, but I prefer to be singing. We're giving you something that really enhances your journey home, whether or not you choose to give money."
On the licensing scheme: "Licensing would be good if it meant we weren't fined or moved on, but the idea of sponsorship is so silly. Busking has been around for centuries, ever since the wandering minstrels. London Underground just wants to control it, when it should just let it be."
Earning power: "You can make anything from £15-£30 an hour. Once a man gave me a £50 and just walked off. I called after him, 'You angel ...'" But this Christmas, the weak economy seems to be taking its toll. "The money has been crap this year," Dominique says. "We're suffering, like Marks & Spencer."
Audition piece: Big Yellow Taxi, by Joni Mitchell.
Foxy's verdict: "She's got a great voice and has chosen a well-covered classic. Dominique writes her own songs and talked about doing her own material, but that can often put people off. Big Yellow Taxi was a great cover."
Bob Ashcroft
About him: A 23-year-old guitarist and vocalist living in Northolt, who has a band called Colonel Mustard and wants to be a professional singer. "I figured busking was the best way to achieve that, while earning a bit of cash and getting some practice in," he says. He has been busking for three months and works part-time in a Soho bar.
Hear him at: Oxford Circus and Bond Street.
On busking: "I find the police and Underground staff very pleasant generally, but I have had a nasty run-in with another busker at Bond Street who warned me off a pitch. He was quite threatening -'You come back, mate, and see what happens to you ... ' But that didn't stop me going back."
On the licensing scheme: "Auditions would take away the mystique, and making things corporate has got to be bad. You'd be surprised how well self-regulated the system is already - the buskers control the booking system for pitches, and the people passing by regulate the quality of the musicians. It's simple: if you're no good, you don't survive for long."
Earning power: He averages around £8 an hour over a 20-hour week, with £10 his biggest tip so far. The worst day for tips is Monday, the best Friday, and rush-hour crowds do not pay nearly as well as the afternoon tourists. "I've had two people say, 'Get a job!'" Ashcroft says. "My response is: 'I've got one.'"
Audition piece: Babylon, by David Gray.
Foxy's verdict: "For a guy with a strong voice like his, it's the perfect kind of song to audition with. You can hear how he's actually feeling the song - very much like David Gray himself. It's not the sort of song you'd hear at a Pop Idol audition - they go for the big ones that everybody knows - but the fact that he plays guitar and sings means it works."
(Evening Standard, December 16 2002)
As London Underground prepares to audition its first officially licensed buskers next month - giving 150 carefully vetted musicians the chance to perform in a dozen stations we wanted to see just how good they could be. So the Standard spent three airless days listening anonymously to dozens of them - from classically trained violinists to a man "playing" a traffic cone - to seek out five of the best. We then invited them to compete for the ultimate busking honour.
First, we simply wanted Foxy's verdict on which busker was most likely to raise travellers' spirits. But so taken was he with the array of talent on offer that he arranged to involve Capital FM's audience together with Evening Standard readers in delivering their own verdicts. "I found it hard to decide between them, as they are all very talented and very pleasant people," Fox said, after auditioning the final five in Capital's Leicester Square studios last week. "So I want the final choice to be left to the audience, to see what the listeners themselves like."
Each morning this week, he is playing one of the buskers' songs on his 95.8 Capital FM Breakfast Show between 7.30am and 8.30am, having started today with 19-year-old guitarist Jonny Roden. You can also listen to the tracks and vote for your favourite at www.capitalfm.com/foxy.
Jonny Roden
About him: Aged 19, he recently arrived in London from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, "hoping to make it in the music industry" as a singer-songwriter. Roden has been busking for just six weeks, and is staying in Northolt with fellow busker Bob Ashcroft (see below).
Hear him at: Westminster, Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road.
On busking: "The hard thing is to get on to the best pitches some of the older fellows are quite protective of their turf. There's a hierarchy, and I seem to be at the bottom."
On the licensing scheme: "I'm sure I'd benefit from the scheme, and I'd probably qualify for it. But I worry that there might be a bias in the auditions against certain types of music. It wouldn't be right if someone missed out on a licence because they don't play something commercial. I'd rather they just legalised it and kept it as survival of the fittest."
Earning power: "I can make £30-£40 in three or four hours, which compares well to £20 that I'd earn in the bar where I work part-time. I can manage about 12 hours a week - any more would hurt my voice. Still, with the bar job at least I know how much I'll be taking home at the end of the week."
Audition piece: Yellow, by Coldplay
Foxy's verdict: "Jonny clearly understands the music and loves what he's doing. It's just the right kind of song for him. A real performance piece."
David Gilbert
About him: A 42-year-old rock and blues guitarist from Harringay, David is a veteran campaigner for legalised street music, who once formed a buskers' union and staged a "buskin" at Leicester Square. He has busked for 15 years, including five years on the Underground, and is director of the Jazz on the Streets summer festival.
Hear him at: Nowadays he is most likely to play in restaurants and wine bars, as well as on the South Bank, but he used to play at Leicester Square, King's Cross and Tottenham Court Road stations.
On busking: "A lot of the newcomers start off playing original material, but you find they're the ones who always leave the scene first. The hardcore career buskers know how to appeal to people."
On the licensing scheme: "London Underground has proposed this sort of scheme at least half a dozen times over the past 10 years, usually trotting out some celebrity to promote it. I don't think they have any intention whatsoever of legalising it. They've been trying to get rid of busking on the Underground for many years."
Earning power: His earnings on the Underground have varied from nothing to £50 an hour. "But £50 is very rare - nothing is far more common," he says. He has also had to account for the fines - 30 in one summer alone, he claims.
Audition piece: My Funny Valentine and Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (no vocals).
Foxy's verdict: "He's not a singer, so this is more of a musical challenge than any of the other acts. David is obviously a very competent musician, but as we saw with Fame Academy, in the modern day it helps to have more than one string to your bow."
Joe Evans
About him: Joe, 39, has been liaising with Underground managers as they develop their licensing scheme, and this week performed legally at Westminster station as part of the Underground's official research. A busker for around 10 years, he plays keyboards and guitar on the network for up to 16 hours a week. He is also musical director of the Rags and Feathers Theatre Company and lives in Wood Green.
Hear him at: Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and, this week, Westminster.
On busking: "It's always there when there's nothing else to do, and you're your own boss. But it's just not worth playing at rush hour when everyone's in a hurry to get home."
On the licensing scheme: "So far it's looking fairly positive - my only reservation is that they want to impose control on something that we ourselves have controlled successfully for years." But he has not been happy with the "terrible" pitches that London Underground allocated him this week at Westminster. "It was dead - there was just too much open space between the buskers and the passengers. I've been earning a quarter of what I normally earn, so I'm giving up and returning to my normal pitch."
Earning power: Takings have fallen as the economy has suffered, but the details of Evans's income are "between me and the taxman". His busking also leads to party bookings, although the last two weddings he was due to play at were called off. "I've become a bit of a jinx. I'd better warn the next person who books me."
Audition piece: One of his own songs, Unmistakable Shoulder.
Foxy's verdict: "You're at a disadvantage if you sing your own song - if people don't recognise it, they just might decide they don't like it. I've nothing against Joe as a musician, but the difference between auditioning and busking is that you're trying to get the widest possible response."
Dominique
About her: A 32-year-old Canadian, Dominique - she does not use her last name - came to London six years ago and has been busking for three years. A singer-songwriter who describes her sound as "a cross between the early Pretenders and Garbage", she has made a CD and is looking for a record deal. She lives in Muswell Hill.
Hear her at: Green Park, Leicester Square, Bank and Oxford Circus, and with her band at various London pub venues.
On busking: "It's fantastic - I've waitressed and worked in a healthfood store, but I prefer to be singing. We're giving you something that really enhances your journey home, whether or not you choose to give money."
On the licensing scheme: "Licensing would be good if it meant we weren't fined or moved on, but the idea of sponsorship is so silly. Busking has been around for centuries, ever since the wandering minstrels. London Underground just wants to control it, when it should just let it be."
Earning power: "You can make anything from £15-£30 an hour. Once a man gave me a £50 and just walked off. I called after him, 'You angel ...'" But this Christmas, the weak economy seems to be taking its toll. "The money has been crap this year," Dominique says. "We're suffering, like Marks & Spencer."
Audition piece: Big Yellow Taxi, by Joni Mitchell.
Foxy's verdict: "She's got a great voice and has chosen a well-covered classic. Dominique writes her own songs and talked about doing her own material, but that can often put people off. Big Yellow Taxi was a great cover."
Bob Ashcroft
About him: A 23-year-old guitarist and vocalist living in Northolt, who has a band called Colonel Mustard and wants to be a professional singer. "I figured busking was the best way to achieve that, while earning a bit of cash and getting some practice in," he says. He has been busking for three months and works part-time in a Soho bar.
Hear him at: Oxford Circus and Bond Street.
On busking: "I find the police and Underground staff very pleasant generally, but I have had a nasty run-in with another busker at Bond Street who warned me off a pitch. He was quite threatening -'You come back, mate, and see what happens to you ... ' But that didn't stop me going back."
On the licensing scheme: "Auditions would take away the mystique, and making things corporate has got to be bad. You'd be surprised how well self-regulated the system is already - the buskers control the booking system for pitches, and the people passing by regulate the quality of the musicians. It's simple: if you're no good, you don't survive for long."
Earning power: He averages around £8 an hour over a 20-hour week, with £10 his biggest tip so far. The worst day for tips is Monday, the best Friday, and rush-hour crowds do not pay nearly as well as the afternoon tourists. "I've had two people say, 'Get a job!'" Ashcroft says. "My response is: 'I've got one.'"
Audition piece: Babylon, by David Gray.
Foxy's verdict: "For a guy with a strong voice like his, it's the perfect kind of song to audition with. You can hear how he's actually feeling the song - very much like David Gray himself. It's not the sort of song you'd hear at a Pop Idol audition - they go for the big ones that everybody knows - but the fact that he plays guitar and sings means it works."
(Evening Standard, December 16 2002)
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