Busking

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This article is about a form of public entertainment. For an element in a corset, see Busk.

Busking is the practice of doing live performances in public places to entertain people, usually to solicit donations and tips. Those engaging in this practice are called buskers. Busking is a British term used in many areas of the English-speaking world. In the United States they are more often called street performers or street musicians.

Buskers at work in New York City's Central Park.
Buskers at work in New York City's Central Park.

Contents

[edit] Description

See also: Category:Buskers

Busking performances can be just about anything that people find entertaining. Buskers may do: musical performance, clowning, comedy, improvisation, balloon modelling, dance, acrobatics, contortions and escapes, juggling, magic (illusion), fire eating, sword swallowing, snake charming, fortune-telling, present a flea circus, street theatre, street art (sketching and painting, etc.), puppeteering, storytelling or recite poetry or prose as a bard, or do mime or a currently popular mime variation where the performer simply stands still as a living statue.

People busk for a variety of reasons, including for money, for fun, the attention they get, to socialize or meet people, the love of their art, or to practice their skills or try out new material in front of an audience. Some buskers only work part time, while others make a full time living performing on the streets. Some buskers do professional entertainment gigs in addition to working the streets.

Some people manage only pocket change from busking, while others can amass substantial incomes. An act that might make money at one place and time may not work at all in another setting. A busker's income depends on many conditions, including the composition of the audience, the type and quality of the performance, the weather, and the time of day. Location can be the key, and competition from other entertainers can also play a role, both positively and negatively.

Busking can be the bottom rung of the entertainment industry, and some of the most famous groups and superstars started their careers as buskers. Examples include the Blue Man Group, Cirque Du Soleil, Stomp, Bob Hope, George Burns, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, Eric Clapton, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Pierce Brosnan, Robin Williams, Jason Alexander, Opera Babes, Beck, and Joni Mitchell. Many other buskers have found fame and fortune.

[edit] Elements

Musicians polish their art at a railway station in Japan
Musicians polish their art at a railway station in Japan

There are several basic forms of busking. Circle shows are shows that tend to gather a crowd around them. They usually have a distinct beginning and end. Usually these are done in conjunction with street theater, puppeteering, magicians, comedians, acrobats, jugglers and sometimes musicians. Circle shows can be the most lucrative, but the busker may have to worry about the crowd growing so big that it obstructs pedestrian traffic. Walk by acts are typically with the busker providing a musical or entertaining ambience. There is no distinct beginning or end and the crowds do not particularly stop to watch. Sometimes an intended walk by act will spontaneously turn into a circle show. A good busker will control the crowd so the patrons don't obstruct foot traffic. Cafe busking is done mostly in cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars. Musicians and balloon artists can frequently be found using this venue. Making a living on the piano bar principle is an experience well known by many musical keyboard artists. Perhaps the most famous of these is Billy Joel, who later rose to superstardom. His hit Piano Man was written about a six month stint he did in 1972 at the "Executive Room" piano bar in Los Angeles.[1]

A bottler is a British term (may also be known as the "hat man" or "pitch man" in other areas) that describes the person with the job to pass the hat, usually by circulating through the audience with the money hat to collect donations. The term bottler came from a device old world performers used for collecting money. It was made from a glass bottle and a shaped leather pouch designed to allow coins in but not allow them to be removed easily without being noticed by the jingling of the coins against the glass. The first use of such contrivances was recorded by the famous Punch and Judy troupe of puppeteers in early Victorian times.[2] Bottling itself can be an art form, and the difference between a good and a bad bottler can be crucial to the amount of money earned on a pitch. A bottler usually gets a cut of the money made on the pitch, although it's not commonly a full share. In olden days it was common for buskers to use a monkey as a bottler. That practice has greatly diminished due to animal control laws, but as tribute to the monkey's service there is a device known as monkey stick which buskers use to get attention. A monkey stick is a long stick with bottle caps or small cymbals attached such that they make an attention getting noise when shaken. It is frequently topped by a small monkey doll or figurine.

[edit] Locations

Living statues in Jubilee Gardens, London.
Living statues in Jubilee Gardens, London.
See also: List of well-known busking locations, List of locations with busking restrictions, and Category:Busking venues

The place where a busker performs is called their pitch. Popular busking spots tend to be public places with large volumes of pedestrian traffic, high visibility, low background noise and as few elements of interference as possible. Good locations may include tourist spots, restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs, theater and entertainment districts, subways and bus stops, outside the entrances to large concerts and sporting events, almost any zócalo in Latin America, as well as plazas, piazzas, and town squares in other regions. Other places include shopping malls, strip malls, and outside of supermarkets and flea markets, although permission is usually required from management for these.

Some places require a paid license, a permit, or some other form of permission to busk. Some venues that do not regulate busking may still ask performers to abide by voluntary rules. Some cities give preference to "approved" buskers in certain captive audience areas like subway stations and even publish schedules of performances.[3] Some cities are encouraging buskers because they can be a tonic to the stresses of shopping and commuting, and can be an influence which is favorable for shopkeepers.[4]

Busking is still quite common in Scotland, Ireland, and England with musicians and other street performers ranging from extremely talented to atrocious. In the United States there has been a minor rebirth of this artform as the new millenium has started. Buskers are found on many streets and also in the underground and at train stations.

[edit] Names

These performers have not always been called buskers. The term busking was first noted in the English language around the middle 1860s. The word busk comes from the Spanish root word buscar, meaning "to seek" – buskers are literally seeking fame and fortune.[5][6] In obsolete French it evolved to busquer for "seek, prowl" and was generally used to describe prostitutes. In Italian it evolved to buscare which meant "procure, gain" and in Italy buskers are currently called buscarsi.

From the Renaissance to the early 1900s, busking was called minstrelsy in Europe and English-speaking lands. Before that, itinerant musicians were known by the French term troubadours. In old French the term jongleurs was also used to describe buskers. In northern France they were known as trouveres. In old German buskers were known as minnesingers and spielleute. The term busk is also used in music when a musician has to play something quickly from scratch, by ear or at sight, as in: I'll just busk it.

[edit] Influences

An organ grinder in Vienna, with barrel organ.
An organ grinder in Vienna, with barrel organ.

There have been performances in public places for gratuities in every major culture in the world, dating back to antiquity. This art form was the most widely used method of employment for entertainers before the advent of recording and personal electronics. Prior to that, a living human being had to produce any music or entertainment, save for a few mechanical devices such as the barrel organ, the music box, and the piano roll. These would develop into the organ grinders and the one man band performing in public.

Christmas caroling can also be a form of busking, as wassailing included singing for alms, wassail or some other form of refreshment such as Figgy pudding.

Because of their nomadic nature, busking is a common form of employment among the Roma people, also known as Gypsies. Mentions of Roma music, dancers and fortune tellers are found in all forms of song poetry, prose and lore. It is believed by many that the Roma brought the word busking to England by way of their travels along the Mediterranean coast to Spain and the Atlantic ocean and then up north to England and the rest of Europe. The distinctive sound of Roma music has strongly influenced bolero, flamenco, and jazz in Europe. European-style Gypsy jazz is still widely practiced among the original creators (the Roma People). Salsa, rumba, mambo and guajira from Cuba, the tondero and marinera from Peru, mariachi music from Mexico, and even American country music have all been influenced by their plaintive vocals, mournful violins and soulful guitar.

Mariachis are Mexican street bands that play a specific style of music by the same name.[7] Mariachis frequently wear ornate costumes with intricate embroidery and beaded designs, large brimmed sombreros and the short charro jackets. Because of their great popularity many Mariachis are in mainstream entertainment doing professional gigs. Mariachi groups busk when they perform for gratuities as strolling minstrels traveling through streets and plazas, as well as in restaurants and bars.

In the USA medicine shows proliferated in the 1800s. They were traveling vendors selling elixirs and potions to improve the health. They would often employ entertainment acts as a way of making the clients feel better. The people would often associate this feeling of well-being with the products sold. After these performances they would "pass the hat".

Chindonya street performers in Okubo, Tokyo, advertising for the opening of a pachinko parlor.
Chindonya street performers in Okubo, Tokyo, advertising for the opening of a pachinko parlor.

Around the middle 1800s Japanese Chindonya started to be seen using their skills for advertising, and these street performers are still occasionally seen in Japan.

Folk music has always been a dominant presence in the busking scene. Cafe, restaurant, bar and pub busking is a mainstay of this art form. Two of the more famous folk singers are Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez. The delta bluesmen were mostly itinerant musicians emanating from the Mississippi Delta region of the USA around the early 1920s and on. They spread the gospel of the blues to many.

The counterculture of the hippies of the 1960s occasionally staged "be-ins", which resemble some present-day busker festivals. Bands and performers would gather at public places and perform for free, passing the hat to make money. The San Francisco Bay Area was at the epicenter of this movement — be-ins were staged at Golden Gate Park and San Jose's Bee Stadium and other venues. Some of the bands that performed in this manner were Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish, Moby Grape, and Jimi Hendrix. The hedonistic pursuits of the hippies, including the controversial free love and illegal drug use tainted the image of busking, especially among the religious right.

One of the latest things to enter the busking scene is Cyber Busking. Artists are posting work on the Internet for people to download, and if people like it they make a donation through PayPal or snail mail.

[edit] Pitfalls

A street artist doing a sketch in Paris.
A street artist doing a sketch in Paris.

Some people stereotype buskers as being unemployed, homeless or beggars. Most buskers are not unemployed, homeless or beggars, and these terms are normally derogatory when referring to a busker. Some people will heckle buskers and stigmatize them as such regardless of their social status. Sooner or later virtually every busker has to deal with hecklers. A good busker must be able to maintain his or her composure when in public and never do anything inappropriate when confronted by such juvenile behavior. There are numerous pages on the net about dealing with hecklers.[8][9][10]

Conflicts and fights over pitch do happen. Career buskers may try to maintain a "right of pitch" over others. Generally it is considered first come first serve. Some buskers will send a person ahead of them to fend others off a pitch until they arrive. This practice is known as "squatting" and is greatly looked down upon by other buskers. At times compromises may be reached between competing buskers and a pitch will be shared on a rotational basis, however conflicts over pitch do happen.

Beggars have been known to congregate around buskers trying to intercept those patrons who want to pay the busker for their services and convert the donation to themselves. The buskers refer to these types as "spongers". Beggars may also try to extort money from buskers by being obnoxious and harassing people until the busker pays them to go away.

Buskers may find themselves targeted by thieves due to the very open and public nature of their craft. Buskers may have their earnings, instruments or props stolen. One particular technique that thieves use against buskers is to pretend to make a donation while actually taking money out instead, a practice known as "dipping" or "skimming". George Burns described his days as a youthful busker this way:[11]

“ Sometimes the customers threw something in the hats.
Sometimes they took something out of the hats. der
Sometimes they took the hats.
 ”

[edit] Law

Busking with beer bottles in Sydney, Australia
Busking with beer bottles in Sydney, Australia

The first recorded instance of laws affecting buskers were in ancient Rome in 462 BCE. The Law of the Twelve Tables made it a crime to sing about or make parodies of the government or its officials in public places, the penalty was death. These were the same laws under which Jesus was tried and crucfied.[12][13] Louis the Pious "excluded histriones[jesters] and scurrae[clowns], which included all entertainers without noble protection, from the privilege of justice".[14] In 1530, Henry VIII ordered the licensing of beggars who could not work, as well as pardoners, fortune-tellers, fencers, minstrels, and players; if they did not obey they could be whipped on two consecutive days.[15]

In the United States under Constitutional Law and most European common law, the protection of artistic free speech extends to busking. In the USA and most places the designated places for free speech behavior are the public parks, streets, sidewalks, thoroughfares and town squares or plazas. Under certain circumstances even private property may be open to buskers, particularly if the management allows or it is open to the general public and busking does not interfere with its function and it allows other forms of free speech behaviors or has a history of doing so.[16]

While there is no universal code of conduct for buskers, there are common law practices to which many buskers conform. Most jurisdictions have corresponding statutory law. It is common law that buskers or others should not impede pedestrian traffic flow, block or otherwise obstruct entrances or exits, or do things that endanger the public. It is common law that most places require special permits to use electronically amplified sound and have limits on the volume of amplified sound. It is common law that any disturbing or noisy behaviors may not be conducted after certain hours in the night. These curfew limitations vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. It is common law that "performing blue" (i.e. using adult material that is sexually explicit or any vulgar or obscene remarks or gestures) is generally prohibited unless performing for an adults-only environment such as in a bar or pub.

In most English-speaking countries, it is common law that unless invited to do so, busking for a captive audience where people cannot move away is generally not acceptable. In some locations, like the London and New York subway platforms, preference is given to "approved" buskers but performing on the trains is not allowed. Throughout the rest of world, busking on public transport may be commonplace.

[edit] Conflict

See also: List of locations with busking restrictions

Throughout history at various times and places there have been restrictions on busking, and currently there are some jurisdictions that regulate busking. Some of the complaints brought to local officials may include that some buskers are a safety hazard by obstructing foot traffic, or may be unskilled, repetitive, or noisy and therefore hurt nearby merchants.

One town in Scotland began requiring licenses for all buskers after numerous complaints about one particular busker, who repeatedly played The Archies "Sugar Sugar" on a penny-whistle. It turned out to be the only piece he could play, but not very well. Other towns in the British Isles limit the licenses issued to bagpipers because of the volume and difficulty of the instrument. Places requiring licenses for buskers also often require auditions of anyone applying for a busking license.

In the late 1920s and early 30s busking had grown to be quite a controversial enterprise in New York. The country was in the midst of a horrible economic depression and many people had turned to busking as a source of income. Buskers were everywhere and fights over pitches were alarmingly common between the buskers themselves and the buskers, merchants, and vendors. In fact it is said there were even several murders during arguments over pitches. Out of frustration over the complaining, fighting, and violence, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia banned busking in New York on the grounds of safety issues regarding the escalating conflicts. Busking went on, but on a much smaller scale. If anybody complained about a busker, at their discretion the police could order the busker to move on or could even arrest them. This ban remained in effect until it was lifted in 1970 after being found to be unconstitutional.

[edit] Case Law

In the United States there have been numerous legal cases about regulations and laws that have decided the rights of buskers to perform in public. Most of these laws and regulations have been found to be unconstitutional when challenged. In the USA about the only reasons that can be used to regulate or ban busking behavior are public safety issues and noise issues in certain areas that require silence like hospital zones, around churches, funeral homes, cemeteries and transport terminals where announcements need to be heard. Such laws must be narrowly tailored to eliminate only the perceived evils by limiting the time, place and manner that busking may be practiced. They must also leave open reasonable alternative venues.

In the USA laws regulating or banning busking must be applied evenly to all forms of free speech. Busking cannot be prohibited in an area where other forms of free speech are not prohibited. For example if busking is regulated or banned but people are allowed to conduct free speech behavior for pickets, protests, religious, political, educational, sports or other purposes then the law is illegal. In the USA any form of regulation on artistic free speech must not be judgmental, and permits must not be so restrictive, complex, difficult or expensive to obtain that they inhibit free speech.

  • Judge rejects Seattle Center rules on buskers, April 23, 2005. "Magic Mike" Berger, a magician and balloon-twisting busker, took the Seattle Center to court and won injunctive relief and a court ordered settlement of over US $47,000. Seattle Center had some of the most liberal rules regarding busking but even they could not pass constitutional muster. The Business Improvement District formed to manage Seattle Center claimed that 62 square blocks in the center of the city was theirs to manage like private property. They wanted to limit the time, places and numbers of buskers performing to eliminate competition with the local restaurant owners and merchants for cash flow. The judge rejected the regulations, pointing out that... "while a street performer cannot offer a meek oral request for a donation from passers by, a beggar who does not perform can solicit Seattle Center visitors with relative impunity, subject only to general criminal prohibitions on aggressive panhandling."[17][18][19]
  • District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. issued an injunction barring the city of St. Augustine, Florida from enforcing a recent ordinance banning street performances on St. George Street. Judge Adams' order states, "Street performances are a form of expression protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution." Merchants got the city to ban busking for alleged safety issues. The buskers view was the merchants wanted to monopolize the cash flow. After public outcry and several lawsuites[20] and Judge Adams decision, St. Augustine acceded and as of March 2003 is in the process of drafting a plan to allow busking.[21]
  • Street Performers win lawsuit in Waikiki, Hawaii (2001). The local businesses got the city to push through an ordinance to ban busking on a very popular area, allegedly for safety reasons. The buskers view was the merchants wanted to monopolize the cash flow. Buskers prevailed in court by proving the safety concerns were not founded.[22][23][24]
  • Turley v. NYC, US 2nd Cir Appeal 98-7114 (1999) This case, in New York City, was won partially on the grounds that permit schemes and costs were unreasonably high, complex and difficult to obtain.[25]
  • Harry Perry and Robert "Jingles" Newman v. Los Angeles Police Department (1997)[26] Buskers won their right to perform and sell their original music CDs and tapes. Local businesses had complained about the competition from street artists and tried to prohibit busking.
  • Bery v. New York, 97 F. 3d 684, 2d Cir. (1996) - A case in which visual artists won the right to sell their art. Merchants had complained about the economic competition from buskers and gotten the city to prohibit buskers.
  • Friedrich v. Chicago 619 F. Supp., 1129. D.C. Ill (1985) A case where busking was restricted in certain areas of Chicago. The buskers won injunctive relief from the cities enforcement of the ban in some of the contested areas. They also obtained relief from a permit scheme on the use of amplifiers because the scheme was judgmental and at the discretion of the issuers.[27]
  • Davenport v. City of Alexandria, Virginia (1983) A ban on busking and other business related activities on the streets of the central city area was found to be unconstitutional. Several courts found that there was no legitimacy to the cities allegations of safety issues. The buskers maintained the merchants simply wanted to eliminate competition for cash flow.[28]
  • Goldstein v. Town of Nantucket (1979) The Town of Nantucket tried to regulate buskers as vendors, which the court did not accept as valid.[29]

[edit] Anecdotes

A street musician in Sevilla
A street musician in Sevilla
  • Benjamin Franklin was a busker of sorts. He composed songs, poetry and prose about the current political situation and went out in public and performed them. He would then sell printed copies of them to the public. He was dissuaded from busking by his father who convinced him the stigmas that some people attach to busking were not worth it. It was this experience that helped form his beliefs in free speech. He writes about it in his journals.[30]
  • Paul McCartney of the Beatles fame donned a disguise and went busking. He reportedly did very well. In an interview on Britain's Radio One he revealed: "It was for a film thing ("Give My Regards To Broad Street" - 1984) and it was something I'd always wanted to do, so I scruffed myself up a bit, put on a false beard and shades, and went down to Leicester Square tube station. It was really cool. A couple of people came up and said, 'Is it you?' but I just said, 'Oh, no'. But I got a few shillings and I thought, 'This doesn't feel right,' so I gave it to charity."[31]
  • It has also been reported that Sting has also donned a disguise and gone out busking. He reportedly made £40. "He pulled a hat down over his eyes, but one woman said: 'It's Sting.' The man behind her said: 'You silly cow. It's not him. He's a multi-millionaire.'"[32]
  • Bon Jovi has been known to take to the streets from time to time. Among the most famous Bon Jovi busks were those at London’s Covent Garden and Moscow’s Red Square.[33]
  • While busking in 1981 the Violent Femmes were discovered in Milwaukee by James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders. The band was invited to open up for the Pretenders on their next tour.[34]
  • John Lydon and Sid Vicious, before the days of the Sex Pistols would "busk" around train stations in an odd way. They would usually perform Alice Cooper songs, and play with broken guitars and violins, even though they could not actually "play" the instruments. The attitude and idea were more like, "Here's some money, now go away".[citation needed]
  • The Clash's Joe Strummer supposedly got his name "Strummer" from busking in London, sometimes playing ukuleles. His guitar-playing ability was only up to "strumming" chords. The Clash, post Mick Jones, also went on a "busking tour" in 1984. The group traveled around the UK performing with acoustic guitars, only allowing themselves to carry at most forty pounds of cash at all times.[citation needed]
  • Arcade Fire occasionally play acoustic sets on the streets after shows. They allegedly once played at a New York City subway station spontaneously.[citation needed]
  • Pet Shop Boys appear as buskers in the video for their single "London."
  • Carl Barat formerly of the Libertines often busks in London, often for charity. Whilst in the Libertines, he and Peter Doherty would often play street shows for passers-by.[citation needed]
  • Singer-songwriter Damien Rice spent time busking throughout Europe before recording his breakthrough album O.[35]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1079
  2. ^ http://www.punchandjudy.com/bottle.htm
  3. ^ http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mta/aft/muny.htm
  4. ^ http://www.uwnews.org/admin/ss/page.asp?pid=247&articleID=10422
  5. ^ http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=busker
  6. ^ http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/wftwarch.pl?072905
  7. ^ http://www.webster.com/dictionary/mariachi
  8. ^ http://www.blanketfort.com/juggling/heckling.html
  9. ^ http://www.juggling.org/~conway/juggler/MAL.TXT
  10. ^ http://mmm.com/meetingnetwork/presentations/pmag_hecklers.html
  11. ^ The Ultimate Cigar Aficionado: Ninety-eight-year-old George Burns Shares Memories of His Life, article and interview by Cigar Aficionado Online
  12. ^ Cohen and Greenwood 1981: 14
  13. ^ http://www.pikemarketbuskers.org/busking.html
  14. ^ Krickeberg 1983 : 24
  15. ^ ibid.: 62
  16. ^ http://funandmagic.com/decision.pdf
  17. ^ http://funandmagic.com/decision.pdf
  18. ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002250762_busker23m.html
  19. ^ http://www.communityinterest.org/backgrounders/panhandling.htm
  20. ^ http://staugustine.com/pageone/street.shtml
  21. ^ http://www.ci.st-augustine.fl.us/pressreleases/3_03/ordinance_buskers.html
  22. ^ http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/10909prs20011228.html
  23. ^ http://starbulletin.com/2001/12/29/news/story2.html
  24. ^ http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2000/Oct/06/106localnews14.html
  25. ^ http://communityartsadvocates.org/saalegalCtTurleyappeal.html
  26. ^ PERRY V LAPD - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, case number 96-55545.
  27. ^ http://communityartsadvocates.org/saalegalCtFriedrich.html
  28. ^ http://communityartsadvocates.org/saalegalCtDavenport.html
  29. ^ http://communityartsadvocates.org/saalegalCtGoldstein.html
  30. ^ http://communityartsadvocates.org/saahistory.html
  31. ^ http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/48632004.htm
  32. ^ http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2005/05/01/story200567.asp
  33. ^ http://www.islandrecords.com/bonjovi/archives_atoz_b.las
  34. ^ http://altmusic.about.com/od/bandsartistsmz/p/violentfemmes.htm
  35. ^ http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=1939

[edit] External links

[edit] Press

[edit] Resources

[edit] Festivals

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