Originally Posted by
neilly
1992, Rose Street Edinburgh. I was busking in the pouring rain, murdering No Woman No Cry, I think. A dodgy looking guy came up and started chatting, saying how good I was etc. This happens a lot in the busking world. ' You're pure brilliant by the way man', they're normally drunk or lonely. Anyway, it's pissing down and the guy offers to buy me a pint. He was about 40, smelling vaguely of drink and fags. He looked slightly dodgy but ' what the hell, free drink'. We went into a pub and he bought me several pints, had me playing my guitar and singing. I was quite enjoying the free drink' and fags- pre smoking ban days. After a couple of hours he asked me if I knew who he was. I told him I neither knew nor cared. He told me he was Jeff Lynne. Jeff who?? I said. Him off ELO he said. Still none the wiser I told him I'd never heard of ELO. He was getting a bit irate by this point and asked someone else if they knew who he was. They didn't either. He ended up taking his cheque book out to prove who he was and showed me a cheque he'd just written for £500 to Bono. I still wasn't impressed and he went away in a huff. His parting comments were that he could have made me a star! Obviously this was pre tinternet days so it took a few days for me to find out who he was. I found an old ELO record and checked him out. It was, indeed Jeff Lynne. Oh dear, my life could have been so much better.