London Traffic

Music

17:30

Commuters on London Bus

Williams: There are a couple of unwritten laws on London's public transport -- look as bored as possible, don't talk to anyone, and for goodness sake, no smiling.

17:36

But someone forgot to tell this man.

Singing

Duke Basee, London's singing bus conductor.

Williams: He used to answer to his old name, Kev, but these days, it's Duke Basee, London's singing bus conductor.

17:59

Singing

Williams: The number 38 from Hackney to the city hasn't been the same since the Duke conducted this bus and his one man orchestra at the same time.

18:13

Woman: There’s lots of boring old gits down there, aren’t there? They don’t know what fun is, do they? I could do a little jig with you

Williams: For eight hours a day, five days a week, the tired, the jaded, they just couldn't give a stuff any more, get a spoonful of Basee, like it or not -- and usually they do.

18:35

So why does he do it? How did it all start? To shine a little light in the deep ravines of human misery perhaps.

18:57

Williams with Basee

Basee: To wind people up. I hated them, you know, they were all ignorant people.

Williams: They're your customers.

Passengers on bus

Basee: My horrible customers! I know them now and they expect music from me, and you get nice people now. But I tell you, they used to be horrible. There are words I can't use, this is a program kids might watch.

Music

Williams: But instead of offending his hated customers, the buggers actually enjoyed the show, and kept coming back for more.

19:30

Basee: Hey, what's up, man? Long time, no see.

Williams: It changed them, and him.

Williams with Basee

Williams: What would you be like if you didn't have the music on this run?

19:46

Basee: No, that's not even a question. You know, I can't answer that. I'd probably end up hitting somebody, because they can really wind you up. I find I can take out my anger -- that's what made me develop techniques. If I didn't have my harmonica and I wasn't allowed any music on the buses, I don't know where this would get to. But I don't think it would be very nice.

Music

Basee on bus

Williams: Now, at this stage, the double decker duke might just fade into the Hackney haze, but like his four wheel forum, this is a tale two stories high.

20:23

This, the day job, that's fun, but look where it's taken him.

Music video

Music

20:40

Williams: From conductor to recording star, the Duke has hits around the globe.

Basee: I've had a number one in South Africa. It got to number 30 here, selling 40,000 copies in four weeks. It got to number 24 in Australia, 17 in Finland. Other places it was a hit.

Williams: In fact, the road to stardom has taken in places the number 38 has never travelled.

21:15

Basee in home studio

Music

Williams: This is where many of his hits were created -- not a fancy studio, but his own living room.

Music

Williams: Curiously, the material rewards for pop stardom seem to have evaded him. Bad investments, he says, so no money for nothing or chicks for free.

21:43

Williams: But the big question is, if a big contract came, would you give the bus the toss

Basee: Well, a big contract came and when I had the big number one hit, I was signed to a company called Arista, and I still kept my daytime job.

22:00

So I am the London singing conductor. It's got a lot to do with what I do, the buses, and it's very important the buses to me in what I do, in a lot of things. So I don’t know if I'll give them the toss. I'll probably start going to work a lot less. [laughs]

Basee on stage

Williams: And that would leave more time for the really big gigs -- more than 30,000 have bopped to the basee pop.

22:31

Music

Basee on bus

Williams: But he'll always answer the wail from the urban wilds -- the number 38 -- sometimes late, never boring.

Singing

Credits:

Singing Bus Conductor

Reporter: Philip Williams

Camera: Glen Coddington ACS

Editor: Mark Douglas

Research: Sharon Roobol

23:12