Diary Of A Busker Day 600 Thursday July 31st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time; 2:03-3:23pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:35-4:35pm, 3. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 4:53-6:03pm).
As I’m on the bike trying to work out where I’m going to set up, I pass Mandolin John at the Gieves & Hawkes spot. He’s not playing, just sort of hanging around the phone box. He shouts that I can set up there if I want to – he’s waiting for a call: waiting for a call in a phone box? – you don’t see that much these days. But I don’t fancy it and I don’t want to be beholding to him, not for anything!
Down at Oxfam, it’s a bit boring until a hatted kid of about 8 with his mother and younger brother, starts jumping up and down like a maniac to whatever I’m playing. So I keep the tempo up: Chinatown, Music To Watch Girls By, Tzena Tzena Tzena (I heard you the first time). His mother tries to drag him away – useless, of course, so at one point, I say, ‘I’ll play something slow, if you want to go!’ But she doesn’t seem bothered so I keep it up. And then the cheeky bugger takes his hat off, puts it on the ground upside down and carries on jumping about! Of course, people thinks that’s hilarious. It WAS pretty funny. A woman said, ‘He’ll steal all your custom!’ He was there dancing – no, jumping – for another 10 minutes, until the mother finally got him away. Actually, I was relieved he didn’t get any money!
Up at Pavilion, and the door was shut almost immediately, but not by the dark-haired one, by the blonde girl – the Blonde Bitch. Dixie McGuire – I’m having real problems with, as usual, even though I’ve been doing it a lot. Tzena – the D, F#7, B minor bit is a bit better. You win some, etc.
After an hour, I pack up and take a toilet break, then a cycle around…there’s a girl on a cello at Vodafone, and that tall ginger youth I told off the other day, with an accomplice opposite The Butter Cross. I felt a bit bad about that – telling him off. I shouldn’t tell off young people – there’s a good chance life might be difficult enough without miserable old people like me having a go. Then again, life’s about learning! Or is it?
I finished off with a stint down the road…and sold an album, and an original one at that! – to Mr. Jaffe from the music college. £8! Then opera singer Mr. Kendall stops by on his old Raleigh – a 1954 model – ‘Just 3 years younger than me’, he informs me. We compare bikes for a few minutes – he was well impressed with the condition of mine. I happened to be doing Wonderful Land when he stopped, and he asked me about it – he couldn’t remember the name of it and who did it so I supplied him with all the relevant information, which prompted him to remember Apache, which I haven’t done for awhile. I’ve sort of kicked it out and put Wonderful Land in it’s place, as I think it’s a much more convincing arrangement, and by popular agreement, I think. Anyway, I played some of Apache for Mr. Kendall – it was OK, so I thanked him for reminding me of it. Maybe I should put it back in the set.
Earnings: £33.82p (not including sale of original album Earth And All The Universes).