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Gone now from the streets of England are the blackened faces of the banjo-minstrels, the rinky-tink clatter of spoons and the reedy strains of the strolling piano accordionist. Gone too is the rhythmic crash and clatter of the one-man band.
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“Mick and Mike” used to frequent Charing Cross Road area of London…seen here in the early fifties.
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Around the same period these three, calling themselves “Spa Harp Trio”, could be found on the streets of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. However, because of their habit of popping into each pub on their patch, they were locally referred to as “The Thirsty Three”!
Over the years busking, once the preserve of old soldiers, has changed to become a young person’s way of proving their musical talent to an audience.
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These two barefoot young ladies were spotted in York, by photographer Clifford Robinson, playing some old-fashioned “swing”.
However, not all music is appreciated by certain groups of people.
It would appear that…..
“A pair of buskers who infuriated residents with their endless renditions of just two songs have been given ASBOs preventing them from playing in Moseley, Birmingham.
Mr Ryan, a guitar player, and Mr Stevens, who would hit dustbin lids with drum sticks, had been playing the two songs to people in the Moseley area for the last 18 months.
They were warned they faced jail if they breached the two-year anti-social behaviour orders handed down on Wednesday by District Judge Qureshi at Birmingham Magistrates Court.
Birmingham councillor Ayoub Khan, Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety, said: "I'm pleased that visitors and residents of Moseley will no longer be subject to this duo's anti social behaviour.
But others said the pair were local heroes.
Randal Woods, 26, said: "They are harmless really - we all enjoyed to have a sing-a-long with them outside the pub afterwards. Its people like this that give an area a bit of character and it's a shame that some killjoys have got involved who don't know how to have a bit of fun."
A clash of cultures maybe?
I think a better plan would be to ask them to increase their repertoire. We have a guitarist who plays for every Saturday in Sutton Coldfield. He's excellent and I think the public would be up in arms if he was treated to an ASBO. Students play light classics in the city and no-one complains about them. The world has definitely taken a turn for the worse when these people are threatened with gaol sentences. Ooo I'm getting off the soapbox now.
ReplyDelete"The world has definitely taken a turn for the worse...". I'm afraid it certainly has. But if people complain about something the 'powers that be' will be sure to put a stop to it.
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