Summer is here so it must be time to pick that old acoustic guitar, hit the streets and fleece a few tourists. In the most exhaustive report yet we found out all there is to know about the much maligned art of busking

- Guitar, vocals and feature by Adrian Deevoy
- Bass and barking vocals by Chris Mallard
- Pics by Les Drennan

When neanderthal man first set foot on soil and hand on instrument and played for money in his local shopping centre, little did he know that he had given birth to a strange phenomenon called 'busking'. When Blondel played his first gig with a view to relieving Richard the Lionheart of his groats he was oblivious to the fact that this money/old rope exchange even had a label. It wasn't until Blondel split with Richard I (musical differences) and set off on what was to be the first UK tour that anyone thought of calling him a 'wandering minstrel'. Busking, a 20th century verb of unknown origin, has remained impervious to the ravages of time and the act ("to make money by singing, dancing acting etc in public places as in front of theatre queues") has changed very little in concept or presentation.

It remains one of the purest music forms and the most direct performance arts. The Clash recently eschewed the stage and took to the streets of Leeds armed with acoustic guitars and a pair of drum sticks. Apart from taking Strummer and comrades one step closer to the roots of Rock'n'Roll the first of their several street performances entertained some 600 Alarm fans while the be-lacquered Welshmen were left to worry whether their faithful followers would return to the concert hall to watch their set. The Pretenders were so impressed by a bunch of buskers outside one of their gigs in Milwaukee that they invited them to fill the support slot. The Violent Femmes are now filling concert halls in their own right. Billy Bragg, complete with dark glasses, busked in front of a queue outside one of his own gigs.

Ironically no-one recognised him and this was reflected in the amount of money dropped into his cloth cap. Hawkwind's Dave Brock claims to have made more money belting a battered acoustic outside early Hawkwind concerts than he ever made at the actual gigs. A heavily disguised Paul McCartney treated the public to a particularly dreadful version of Yesterday outside Leicester Square tube station. The painful rendition went unnoticed by everyone except one wag who inquired if the pitiful vision was Paul McCartney. "Not me, guvnor," replied the wealthy one. Then of course there was Bob Dylan in Central Park, the Pogues at Finsbury Park, Don Partridge on TOTP — the celebrity anecdotes are endless. As are the stories of buskers being moved on and getting overly possessive about their pitches, having run-ins with the law, making ludicrous amounts of money and making no money at all.

But what is the state of busking today? Has the role of the busker changed since Blondel first bashed out Blowing in the Wind? We donned our Esther Rantzen teeth and asked some awkward questions.

The subject of legality where busking is concerned is very nebulous. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said. "There are actually very few prosecutions for simply busking. If they are asked to move on and they don't, which 99.9 percent don't, then they can be arrested for obstruction. The only other offence is breach of the peace which is rarer. There's also resisting arrest which only happens if the busker is particularly nasty or violent when asked to move on."

So the act itself isn't illegal unless you are proving to be a public nuisance. According to the Environmental Health Department buskers are technically street traders and some areas insist that street traders obtain a licence from the local EHD. There are some areas where stricter quality control is employed. For example, if you wish to perform on the Piazza at Covent Garden you can't simply pick up your guitar and launch into your repertoire. To begin with, the Piazza is divided into two busking areas. The covered area is looked after by the Covent Garden Market Headquarters who hold half hour auditions in the actual busking area.

If they think your act is unoffensive, entertaining and worth your while then they give you a six month permit which allows you to busk for two hours a week. The West Piazza which is more theatre orientated is run by Alternative Arts which is administered by the GLC. If you want to perform in that area you must contact Alternative Arts who will check out your act (although they don't hold auditions) and if you're suitable they'll give you a performance pass. Although these are fairly specialist cases it is always wisest to contact the authorities of the area you want to busk in prior to taking any action. If nothing else this will give you some comeback if a citizen attempts to sue you or stop you from playing.

But the home of British busking is still the London Underground and the best pitches are still to be found at Green Park, Bond Street, Piccadilly, Charing Cross and Oxford Circus. The popularity of Leicester Square seems to have diminished. When we asked buskers why, they referred in hushed tones to a mafia type operation functioning in the station which discourages newcomers.

Pitch and time allocation in a tube is decided between the station's regular buskers the previous morning and a list for the day is drawn up. Busking commences at around 6.30am and winds up at Midnight. The length of time a busker can remain on one pitch varies according to numbers, energy and, of course, getting moved on. While some London Transport workers turn a blind eye to the minstrels, there are a high percentage dedicated to ridding the Underground of any public performers. Over the years the buskers have devised various methods of avoiding and deceiving the officials but faces soon get remembered and alternative pitches are discovered and the headaches begin again. This ongoing cat and mouse situation elevates tube busking above the average street corner strummer as wit and cunning are equally, if not more, important than mere musical talent.

But to get a true flavour of the busking life you have to go out and do it yourself. So that's what we did. Myself and Chris Maillard dusted down the trusty 1960 Hofner President Jazz guitar and Eko acoustic fretless bass, brushed up a few cover versions and hit Covent Garden, heartland of the busking metropolis. After getting over the inevitable pre-minstrel tension and launching into Should I Stay Or Should I Go, the first oddity that struck us was that our American cousins appear to have great difficulty differentiating between pound coins and loose change. We kept schtum and watched the guitar case fill up. As it was lunch time on a sunny day and we were playing outside a pub the audience was fairly static so it was possible to establish a rapport of sorts. Initially this worked in our favour but as time passed people began to re-direct their attentions to their lunches, secretaries and clients so we decided it was time to move along. After some deliberation we talked each other into contravening the buskers' code and descended the murky labyrinth that is the tube.

Acoustically the tube is an ideal place to play. It has a natural reverb that lends itself to the most characterless of voices (mine). The bass tended to throb from a distance but despite that the mix of instruments and voice was surprisingly good. Not that Mr and Mrs Ordinary care about the sound quality or polar response of the Bakerloo line — they just want to hear songs they know. Subsequently we wasted little time in laying waste to some of the best songs overwritten.

An hour or so later we began to notice a distinct paucity of either irate buskers re-claiming their pitch or apprentice dictators masquerading as London Transport inspectors. So, in spite of the frayed fingers and tattered vocal chords, we persevered in our quest for arrest or at least a telling off. Still nothing happened.

We played all the songs we knew for the fifth time. We chased people down escalators if they didn't give us any money. Still no sign of any official types. Then suddenly we saw him looming on the horizon, LT Trainspotters Club badge glinting in the misty distance. He strode purposefully and meant business. Naturally we packed up with great haste. Guitars were crammed into cases, money was scooped up greedily and we were heading for the exit before you could sing the opening lines to Rosie. But these men are honed to physical perfection and he'd caught up with us within a matter of milliseconds. "Oi!," he yelled as we rushed towards the barrier, "you've dropped your sunglasses!" And that was it. No writs issued, no unsightly dismembering, not even a word of warning. What else could two young bucks do but whip out the geetars and strike up another Bob Dylan cover? (Incidentally, copyright is overlooked by the Performing Rights Society as they equate unlicensed busking to playing a radio on a beach).

Busking is a compulsive art. To participate in such a stripped down performance is very exhilarating as contact with the audience is both transitory and immediate, so in order to impress them and win their cash you need to project both raw entertainment and consistent musicality. The rewards are very real, instant and satisfying and there are also a lot of Americans wondering how many of these liddle chocolate coins it is customary to throw at these busker people.

We wound the day up with a rather exotic meal and a chilled Frascati, courtesy of the general public's £35 donation.

Additional research and bass guitar by Chris Maillard

Name: Steve Haggerty
Age: 33
Busking at: Charing Cross
Equipment & Songs: Takamine classical guitar, Ibanez Flanger used as pre-amp, Fender Sidekick 10 watt combo. Classical guitar standards
Busks at: "Mostly tubes. Any pitch going really."
Earnings: "Up to about £5 an hour, although it always depends on where you are and whattime of year it is. That kind of thing."

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Name:Sandy Chalmers
Age: 27
Busking at: Green Park tube
Equipment & Songs: Yamaha FG-180 acoustic guitar. Own material, Year of the Cat, Mrs Robinson, King of the Road. "Uptempo songs seem to work better."
Busks at: Oxford Circus and Green Park tubes
Earnings: "I suppose I get about £5-10 an hour, which is about standard."

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Name: Pat Daley
Age: 50-ish
Busking at: East Piazza, Covent Garden
Equipment & Songs: Frontalini accordian ("bought many, many years ago. It might even be prewar"). Spanish Eyes, Teddy Bear's Picnic!" The Italian and French tunes seem to go down the best and children's songs are always popular")
Busks at: Covent Garden and St Albans
Earnings: "Well I got about £2 this morning for an hour which is not particularly good."

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Name: Ron Splung
Age: 65
Busking at: Piccadilly Circus tube
Equipment & Songs: "It's a Chinese harmonica. I can't afford a bloody Hohner one. I bet you could. Would you buy me a Hohner harmonica." "I can play every song I know."
Busks at: "I'll do it anywhere. I've been busking for 10 years."
Earnings: "There's about £3 in my hat but I put most of that in there myself."

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Name: Tuup
Age: 23
Busking at: Covent Garden
Equipment & Songs: Ethnic African drums and percussion instruments. "The music I play is African and Indian ethnic music written by myself. I play and Flora dances. Together we're called the Tellers of Time."
Busks at: "Mainly Covent Garden"
Earnings: "Sometimes £12, sometimes £20. It depends on the time you play. What the weather's like..."

Name: Flora
Age: 21
Busking at: Covent Garden
Equipment & Songs: I don't play any instrument I just dance to the music that Tuup plays. Sometimes we improvise and then I base the dance on that rhythm but they're based on traditional ethnic dances."
Busks at: Covent Garden
Earnings: "Half of what Tuup and I get."

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Name: Loid ("That's all.")
Age: 25
Busking at: Charing Cross tube
Equipment & Songs: "Just this old acoustic. I'm not actually a guitarist, I'm a keyboard player in a band called Spooky Poetry. The songs I do are mainly cover versions. Anything lively and melodic that I can work out really. Penny Lane is quite popular. I think people like to hear familiar songs.
Busks at: Charing Cross, Euston, Kings Cross.
Earnings: "You get about £10 an hour if you can get an hour in. We're constantly hounded by London Transport and the police. You're not from London Transport are you?"