Meet New York's 'Naked Cowboy'

SunSpot ^ | May 15, 2003 | Jeff Pearlman

[Mister Magoo]

Meet New York's 'Naked Cowboy'

By Jeff Pearlman Newsday staff writer

Originally published May 15, 2003

The sky is gray and the afternoon is long, and if ever a Monday in New York City has felt interminable, it is today. On the neon financial news crawlers that help light up an otherwise damp Times Square, bleakness rules.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISES FROM 5.9% TO 6% ... PLANNED U.S. LAYOFFS INCREASE FROM 85,396 IN MARCH TO ',399 IN APRIL ... 95,000 AMERICAN MANUFACTURING JOBS LOST IN APRIL; BIGGEST DECLINE SINCE JAN. 2002.

How then, to explain ... this?

[Mister Magoo]

[Tribune7]

I bet you everybody's talkin' at him.

[dead]

I've seen this guy on Howard Stern alot.

I can tell you, schtick or no schtick, the guy is not right in the head.

Not even close.

[lormand]

"I can tell you, schtick or no schtick, the guy is not right in the head"

He ranks right there with the guy who dresses like a freak, plays the violin and sings uncoherently in made up languages.

[ShadowDancer]

This moron was on the CMT awards. When he first walked out I thought it was Kid Rock. When I was told who it was it was clear to me I was about the only person on the planet who had never heard of him. I wished I still hadn't.

[PianoMan]

Walking through the transfer tunnel at the 42nd and 5th stop, you can sometimes get the bass player who plays one note, the violinist who plays the first three bars of a bach partita again and again, and the guy who sings "lean on me" in monotone all in the same day.

having said that, there is sometimes an accordionist in the Times Sq stop who is outstanding.

[Fester Chugabrew]

May he sit on his own spurs and sing a lively tune.

[TC Rider]

he can't hear a word they're saying

[jaz.357]

I think you mean This guy: http://www.nakedtrucker.com/

[weegee]

The key excerpt:

If the coming summer is similar to last, he will play in Times Square seven days a week, earning $800 to $1,000 for each 4- to 6-hour session and - over the course of 12 months - between $150,000 and $200,000. Just a few weeks ago, with NewsHour's Jim Lehrer following him around, Burck set a personal record, taking in $1,435 for five hours of bad music. Last year, Pepsi paid him $5,000 to fly to Los Angeles and appear with Beyonce Knowles in a Spike Lee-produced commercial.

[weegee]

Maybe one day he'll get a movie part portraying this guy:

[weegee]

I hold up Naked Cowboy as a sign that the music industry is not dead. It needs to change. This man made more money than many "professional" musicians did last year (even some of those who are on the charts or radio).

[George W. Bush]

I think this guy is only the most famous Nakedy Cowboy. There are others in other major cities. I saw some TV tabloid thing about it once. They were all tacky.

[weegee]

First I heard of that. Someone else is ripping off his schtick. He's travelled around America and gone to rallies, not because he supported the causes but because it was were there were lots of (gullible) people who could be talked into giving him money.