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This page lists all the sound action recordings in the Economic main category and provides direct links to its sound files. The other four main categories are:
Officialdom. Political. Religious. Social.
The Economic category organises its recordings into nine sub-categories. They are:
Auctioneers. Charity and fundraisers. Fairgrounds. Hustlers and beggars. In-store announcement and promotions. Market traders. Newspaper and other street sellers. Street entertainers. Tour guides.
Deptford car auction. Description: Auctioneer at car auction saleroom in Deptford, south-east London. Duration: 0:39. Recorded in 2008.
Smithfield meat auction. Description: A crowd jostles and shouts outside Hart's the butcher during the Christmas Eve meat auction. Duration: 4:30. Recorded in 2012.
Pearly Kings and Queens Society. Description: Members of the London Pearly Kings and Queens Society charity fund sing to raise money. Duration: 1:33. Recorded in 2010.
Please help the disabled. Description: Fundraiser for a disabled charity holds forth in a distinctive style at City Thameslink station, central London. Duration: 0:59. Recorded in 2009.
Pub charity music box. Description: A Polyphon music box plays in the Lamb pub, Holborn, to raise money for a hospital charity. Duration: 2:14. Recorded in 2010.
Salvation Army band Croydon. Description: A Salvation Army band play 'The First Noel' in a pedestrianised shopping street in Croydon. Duration: 2:38. Recorded in 2010.
Amusement arcade Kings Cross. Description: Sounds of fruit machines and video games machines inside an amusement arcade. Duration: 1:15. Recorded in 2010.
Bank holiday fair Blackheath. Description: Loud music, screams, ride operators' voices and ghost train sound effects at a Blackheath funfair. Duration: 2:22. Recorded in 2009.
Leicester Square funfair. Description: Showmen's voices at prize-winning stalls and girls' screams on a ride in the small Leicester Square funfair. Duration: 2:37. Recorded in 2009.
London Bridge Experience. Description: A 'deathmobile' revs up and a man uses a trick guillotine to 'decapitate' kids as a lure for the London Bridge Experience. Duration: 2:05. Recorded in 2009.
Motorcycle Wall of Death. Description: Fairground motorcycle stunt riders hurtle round inside a wooden drum-like structure called the 'Wall of Death'. Duration: 7:13. Recorded in 2012.
Steam fair Hersham. Description: 1950s rock'n'roll and barrel organ music at Carter's Steam Fair in Hersham, Surrey. Duration: 1:27. Recorded in 2008.
Winter Wonderland Hyde Park. Description: A clattering fairground ride whisks people along a convoluted track high above Hyde Park. Duration: 1:00. Recorded in 2012.
Beggar London Bridge. Description: A beggar near London Bridge station asks quietly for some spare change. Duration: 0:16. Recorded in 2009.
Child accordionist. Description: Romanian gypsy child plays an accordion to collect money from Underground passengers. Duration: 1:37. Recorded in 2008. Croydon beggar. Description: A female beggar sits on the pavement near West Croydon station and asks for money for a cup of tea. Duration: 0:15. Recorded in 2009. Joke telling beggar Camden. Description: A beggar tells jokes to drinkers in Camden to raise money. Contains swearing. Duration: 1:15. Recorded in 2010. Park Lane beggar. Description: An elderly beggar sits in an underpass beneath Park Lane and politely asks for money. Duration: 0:27. Recorded in 2009. Penny whistle beggar. Description: A beggar sits by a pair of hole-in-the-wall cash machines and plays the penny whistle. Duration: 1:00. Recorded in 2010. Singing beggar Drury Lane. Description: Brief recording of a beggar singing to the recordist in Drury Lane at night. Duration: 0:26. Recorded in 2010. Spare change. Description: A man begs for spare change in an underpass near Charing Cross station. Duration: 0:39. Recorded in 2009. Three card trick. Description: Hustlers off Brick Lane, east London, run a three-card-trick pitch. Duration: 0:22. Recorded in 2008. Walthamstow cigarette beggar. Description: Outside Walthamstow Central station, a beggar cadges a cigarette. Duration: 0:25. Recorded in 2012. Wembley touts. Description: Ticket touts at the England vs USA World Cup game at Wembley. Duration: 0:57. Recorded in 2008.Magic pens Hamleys. Description: A product demonstrator shows off a range of 'magic pens' to customers in Hamleys toy shop. Duration: 1:07. Recorded in 2009.
Mobile phone competition Lewisham. Description: Lewisham Shopping Centre onlookers encourage a boy trying to win a mobile phone. Duration: 0:40. Recorded in 2012. Place item in the bagging area. Description: Recorded voices instruct supermarket shoppers on using automated self-service checkouts. Duration: 2:54. Recorded in 2005. Toy helicopters Hamleys. Description: A toy demonstrator in Hamleys gets a bit carried away showing off model helicopters. Duration: 1:27. Recorded in 2009.Brick Lane traders. Description: Traders' cries at Brick Lane market, East London, on a Sunday lunchtime. Contains swearing. Duration: 2:41. Recorded in 2008.
Columbia Road. Description: Street traders' cries at Columbia Road flower market, east London. Duration: 1:34. Recorded in 2008. East Street cheapjack 1. Description: Cheapjack trader sells household goods at East Street market, South London. Good banter. Duration: 1:55. Recorded in 2008. East Street cheapjack 2. Description: Cheapjack trader at East Street market on a Saturday, selling household items. Duration: 2:12. Recorded in 2008. Lewisham market traders. Description: Market traders' cries for fruit, veg and flowers at Lewisham street market, south-east London. Duration: 1:24. Recorded in 2009. Petticoat Lane traders. Description: Stallholders' cries at Petticoat Lane clothes market. Duration: 2:20. Recorded in 2008. Romford traders. Description: Traders' cries at Romford market, mostly for fruit and veg. Duration: 1:50. Recorded in 2008. Strawberry seller Wood Green. Description: A street trader raises his cry as he sells punnets of strawberries on Wood Green High Road. Duration: 1:48. Recorded in 2015. The original magnetic bracelet. Description: Market criers touting their wares at Sunday's Petticoat Lane market in London. Duration: 5:34. Recorded in 2005. Tooting market traders. Description: Traders' cries from stalls on Tooting High Street selling fruit and veg. Duration: 0:42. Recorded in 2011. Walthamstow market. Description: Street traders' and shopkeepers' cries at Walthamstow market, north-east London. Duration: 1:58. Recorded in 2008. Wembley cheapjack. Description: 'Cheapjack' trader at Wembley market hawks electrical goods from his stall to a crowd of onlookers. Duration: 2:06. Recorded in 2008. Wembley demonstrator. Description: Product demonstrator at Wembley market promotes a versatile vegetable slicer. Duration: 1:25. Recorded in 2008. Whitechapel trader. Description: Clothes trader repeats his cry in Whitechapel High Street. Duration: 0:23. Recorded in 2006. Woolwich market. Description: Fruit and veg sellers cry their wares at Woolwich market on a Thursday lunchtime. Duration: 0:40. Recorded in 2009.Anybody lost or needs information. Description: A man with a large London street atlas offers to help tourists find their way around town. Duration: 0:45. Recorded in 2010.
Big Issue 1. Description: Big Issue seller in Hammersmith, west London, repeats his call but no-one's buying. Duration: 1:00. Recorded in 2008. Brick Lane curry touts. Description: Curry touts in Brick Lane, east London, try to encourage the recordist to go inside different restaurants. Duration: 1:02. Recorded in 2009. Croydon phone card seller. Description: A man stands behind a tiny stall and repeats his sales cry for international phone and SIM cards. Duration: 1:08. Recorded in 2009. Dickybird whistle seller. Description: A street seller at Bankside demonstrates a warbling bird toy whistle. Duration: 0:41. Recorded in 2012. Evening Standard 1. Description: Evening Standard newspaper seller outside Whitechapel tube station, east London. Duration: 0:12. Recorded in 2008. Evening Standard 2. Description: Evening Standard seller on the forecourt of London Bridge station. Duration: 0:33. Recorded in 2009. Evening Standard 3. Description: A woman distributes copies of the Evening Standard inside Kings Cross tube station. Duration: 0:30. Recorded in 2015. Flyer distributor Camden. Description: A man repeats the cry of 'Drum and Bass, Dub, Roots and Culture' while handing out flyers in Camden. Duration: 0:40. Recorded in 2010. Get your royal wedding flags. Description: Flag sellers shout their wares at Embankment during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Duration: 1:00. Recorded in 2011. Ice cream van January. Description: An ice cream van prowls the streets of south-east London while sounding its chime. Duration: 0:28. Recorded in 2009. Kiosk owner St Giles Circus. Description: A kiosk owner advertising drinks and sweets keeps up a steady stream of sales patter Duration: 1:07. Recorded in 2009. Knife grinder East Finchley. Description: A knife grinder raises his cry in an East Finchley street. Duration: 1:03. Recorded in 2017. Newspaper distributor London Bridge. Description: An Evening Standard distributor near London Bridge station repeatedly calls out the newspaper's title. Duration: 1:21. Recorded in 2017. One pound your Pope flags. Description: A man in Hyde Park sells flags and badges commemorating the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. Duration: 0:42. Recorded in 2010. Perfume seller Oxford Street. Description: A perfume seller hands out free samples to a crowd of enthusiastic bystanders. Duration: 1:37. Recorded in 2010. Rickshaw bells and horns. Description: Rickshaw operators ring their bells and sound toy horns as theatregoers spill out onto Drury Lane. Duration: 1:25. Recorded in 2015. Show ticket seller. Description: A man working for a ticket agency calls out the titles of West End shows. Duration: 0:21. Recorded in 2008. Ticket seller Leicester Square. Description: A Leicester Square ticket seller calls out the names of West End shows. Duration: 1:30. Recorded in 2009.Acrobat South Bank 1. Description: A street acrobat on the South Bank pushes a six-inch nail up his nose. Duration: 1:47. Recorded in 2008.
Acrobat South Bank 2. Description: A street acrobat on the South Bank speaks at length to elicit money. Duration: 1:03. Recorded in 2008. Bagpipes Kings Cross tube. Description: A busker plays the bagpipes in the ticket hall for the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines at Kings Cross. Duration: 4:50. Recorded in 2016. Bankside accordion buskers. Description: Two buskers perform with their backs to the river wall. One sings and plays the accordion, the other beats a rhythm on a speaker cabinet. Duration: 2:22. Recorded in 2013. Bongo busker Oxford Street. Description: A man crouches on the pavement and plays a bongo drum on Oxford Street, near Oxford Circus. Duration: 1:35. Recorded in 2012. Busker under Hungerford Bridge. Description: A busker sings to a backing track under Hungerford Bridge. Duration: 5:40. Recorded in 2013. Busking band Clink Street. Description: A two-piece band play drums and guitar in an archway off Clink Street near London Bridge. Duration: 3:13. Recorded in 2015. Chinese busker Covent Garden. Description: A busker plays a traditional one-stringed Chinese instrument with syrupy backing music. Duration: 1:38. Recorded in 2010. Conjuror Covent Garden. Description: A street conjuror performs magic tricks to onlookers at Covent Garden. Duration: 2:09. Recorded in 2008. Daniel Waples busker. Description: By the river near Bankside, a busker plays a small steel drum-like instrument called a 'hang'. Duration: 3:39. Recorded in 2009. Drum machine busker Oxford Street. Description: A woman sets a rhythm playing on a small drum machine before accompanying it by blowing notes on a recorder. Duration: 3:20. Recorded in 2019. Dulcimer busker Portobello Road. Description: A man busks with a dulcimer on Portobello Road during a busy Saturday afternoon. Duration: 2:25. Recorded in 2013. Ebony steel band. Description: A steel band plays 'Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer' to an appreciative audience of Oxford Street Christmas shoppers. Duration: 1:08. Recorded in 2009. Guinean flute busker Blackfriars. Description: A man plays the flute in traditional Guinean style on the Thames Path beneath the south end of Blackfriars station. Duration: 2:00. Recorded in 2014. Guitar busker Marble Arch. Description: A busker near Marble Arch plays the nursery melody 'Frère Jacques' on an amplified acoustic guitar. Duration: 2:02. Recorded in 2015. Harmonica South Bank. Description: A busker plays the harmonica on the South Bank near the London Eye. Duration: 1:11. Recorded in 2008. Human beatbox Oxford Circus. Description: A human beatbox with a mic and portable amp performs at Oxford Circus. Duration: 3:40. Recorded in 2015. Hungerford Bridge mandolin busker. Description: Hungerford bridge with mandolin-playing busker, fireworks to the south-east and pedestrians walking by. Duration: 2:02. Recorded in 2012. Improvised drums busker Oxford Street. Description: A busker plays an improvised drumkit on the pavement made up of pots, pans and a plastic container. Duration: 2:00. Recorded in 2015. Operatic busker Kings Cross. Description: An opera-singing busker recorded at Kings Cross station. Duration: 0:40. Recorded in 2009. Oxford Street bagpipes busker. Description: A man in Highland dress plays the bagpipes on Oxford Street, changing tune when children have their picture taken with him. Duration: 1:58. Recorded in 2013. Rabimsha plays the musical bow. Description: Rabimsha the street musician plays a single-stringed musical bow by the Thames Path near Bankside. Duration: 3:58. Recorded in 2015. Randolph the Remarkable. Description: A fire-eater banters with onlookers and performs his act outside St Paul's church, Covent Garden. Duration: 2:30. Recorded in 2010. Sax player Soho. Description: A saxophonist plays 'The Girl from Ipanema' at night in Soho, central London. Duration: 0:41. Recorded in 2008. Soprano sax busker Oxford Street. Description: An Oxford Street busker plays a curved soprano sax in a slow and warbling style. Duration: 1:55. Recorded in 2010. South Bank blue busker. Description: An otherwise silent busker plays his guitar on the South Bank. Duration: 1:16. Recorded in 2009. Steel drum busker. Description: On the Hungerford footbridge, a man plays Sleigh Ride on a shallow steel drum. Duration: 1:10. Recorded in 2012. Steel pan busker Holloway Road. Description: A man busks by playing a shallow steel pan at a bus stop on Holloway Road. Duration: 2:57. Recorded in 2017. Stratford station didgeridoo player. Description: A busker plays the didgeridoo to a backing track outside Stratford station. Duration: 3:00. Recorded in 2016. Street band by Hungerford Bridge. Description: Busking band plays to passersby along the Thames near Hungerford Bridge. Duration: 2:30. Recorded in 2009. Street magician Bankside. Description: A street magician entertains onlookers on the Thames Path at Bankside by performing a trick with a lemon. Duration: 1:57. Recorded in 2015. The Euston drummer. Description: A homeless man plays an improvised drum outside Euston station. Duration: 1:35. Recorded in 2012. The Great Franko. Description: An escapologist entertains a crowd of onlookers at the South Bank. Duration: 2:00. Recorded in 2012. Trumpet busker Euston Road. Description: A busker plays the trumpet against a backdrop of traffic noise on the Euston Road. Duration: 1:07. Recorded in 2010. Tuneless busker Borough Market. Description: A busker sits at one of the approaches to Borough Market and plays tunelessly on an accordion. Duration: 0:51. Recorded in 2019. Underpass sax busker. Description: A saxophone player gives a good performance while busking in an underpass at Charing Cross. Duration: 4:18. Recorded in 2009. Villiers Street poet busker 1. Description: A busking poet with a pitch in Villiers Street recites a poem entitled 'A London Ode'. Duration: 1:07. Recorded in 2010. Villiers Street poet busker 2. Description: The Villiers Street poet recites a second poem, entitled 'It's a long day, lady'. Duration: 0:38. Recorded in 2010. Violin busker Oxford Street. Description: A man plays the violin on Oxford Street west of Oxford Circus. Duration: 2:15. Recorded in 2015. Violin busker Villiers Street. Description: A busking violinist plays on a Saturday night in Villiers Street, central London. Duration: 1:45. Recorded in 2010. Whistling busker. Description: At St Paul's Underground station, a busker whose act consists solely of whistling. Duration: 0:45. Recorded in 2009.Thames boat trip. Description: The captain of a Thames pleasure boat talks about the river to his passengers. Duration: 1:23. Recorded in 2008.
This concludes the list of recordings in the Economic category.
Officialdom. Political. Religious. Social.
Home page. Sound actions. Sound maps. Wildlife. About and contact.
Home page. London map. Sound actions. Sound maps. London wildlife. Historical. Blog. About. Say hello.
The London Sound Survey 2015. A Creative Commons Licence applies to all site content except where stated otherwise