“Rock Legend” gets only 14p busking. I’m not surprised. It would only be polite to wait until he finished a song before giving the money. And half an hour is barely two and a half wives of Henry The Eighth.
This is a favourite news story about any pop star who has the notion that they could “cut-it” on the cold hard streets. Last fool to try was Badly Drawn Boy. Such stars forget that people want to hear old songs from buskers. BDB playing his new single was worth nothing. Salty Dave playing Angels on a harmonica will still rope it in.
Anyway, watching Rick Wakeman on the streets is not hugely different to watching the old tramp with a green wig on who used to tap dance on Cornmarket in Oxford. What is more disturbing about this story is the encroachment of local council cultural gatekeepers telling us what street music we can hear. And even more disturbing is that Wakeman passed the test.