Diary Of A Busker Day 635 Sunday September 21st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 12:30-2pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:15-2:45pm).
I was going to set up at Vodafone but Danny Ward was there, singing and playing his guitar: a very nice, very old Epiphone acoustic, it was.
A man donated after Albatross, saying, ‘That reminds me when I was on holiday with me wife’. I said, ‘Oh, in ’69?’, thinking he might have heard it when it came out, but he said, ‘No, ’86. The band played it every night, and I remember it was ’86 ’cause we were at Manchester airport and there was a plane crash’. Oh dear. Oh well, he bought a CD, which makes Albatross Song Of The Day, again. I reckon it’s also Song Of The Year.
15 minutes in, Ron turns up, and whadayaknow, he’s here for the duration. He did what he did before: stands by me on my left, moving ever so slightly to the rhythm…then he’ll step out and do his thing for a few minutes, or until the end of the song. He’ll quite often use the short bollards near the road (short? – he’s only a bit taller!) He’ll rest his palm on the top, use it as a pivot, and dance around the bollard. But the weird thing – or maybe it’s not so weird – is alot of people think he’s part of the act! Or my dad! A few have said, ‘Is he with you?’ I say, ‘I know him – Ronald. He’s not with me, though’. But people love it! After one song, when he was dancing, people at the table across the road started clapping. Someone even gave him a pound, which he tried to pass to me. I said it was for HIM, he should keep it. Another person gave us each a pound! And one woman said, ‘Are you gonna be in the papers again, Ron?’, as she was walking by. I wonder what that was about.
But there’s no denying: Ron dancing attracted alot of attention. People looking from across the street, everywhere. And the money. I couldn’t believe what was in the bucket at the end of the hour and a half. It must have been £30, at least. That’s double the usual, and that was because of Ron. There was even a bunch of tourists who had their photo taken with him, with me playing in the background. Ron’s a hit! But it’s because he’s so short. A man of normal height just wouldn’t be the same. Funny world.
When he finally decided to go, it was 2 o’clock, and I thought, ‘I’m packing up, too, if he’s leaving!’ It was so funny. People must think it’s a gimmick: a guitar player with a dancing midget. But I don’t mind him. He doesn’t hassle me or bombard me with loads of questions, and he’s not some weird freak…and he brings in the punters!
At the 2nd spot, some Indian women who Ron had tried to dance with earlier, walked by. One said, ‘It’s you again!’ I said, ‘Yeah, without the dancing man’. ‘Yeah, your dancing partner’, she said.
Earnings: £44.14p (Including 1 CD)
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