“Hands on my boobies! Hands on my boobies!”
The directive came from the Naked Cowboy, Times Square’s most famous street performer, addressing a slightly sheepish female fan posing with him for a picture on a recent afternoon. “Just squeeze away! Don’t hurt anything,” he ordered.
Quite demanding, that Naked Cowboy.
After eight years of playing guitar in nothing but cowboy boots, a hat and a pair of briefs (crudely marked “Naked Cowboy,” to point out the obvious), the New York City icon (real name Robert John Burck) is taking his naked ambition to the next level. He’s working on a debut album as part of his plan for “dominating the commercial landscape of the world.”
The disc, expected to be released next year, is a “little bit country, little bit rock ’n’ roll,” the Cowboy said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
“There’ll be blues, R&B down the line and Naked Cowboy — it’s its own genre of music,” he added.
Will continue to play Times Square
Some of the tracks have eyebrow-raising titles, the most printable, perhaps, being “Get Your Ass Kicked by a Man in his Underwear.”
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, NC tried his luck in other cities before bringing his act to Manhattan, where he’s only been arrested twice — one time for trying to lead the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and another for crashing a red-carpet event. He makes a comfortable living from tips, licensing deals with local novelty stores, TV commercials and “checks from countless people, I don’t even know where it’s coming from,” he said.
The Naked Cowboy predicted that — not if, but — “when” his album is a hit, he’ll become “a multi-gazillionaire with castles in every major city.”
And, yet, he plans to continue entertaining tourists and commuters at ground level.
“My passion is still to go directly to the people every single day,” he said. “Again, we live in a world where Puff Daddies come down the street and say ‘I am somebody because of my security guard, my fame, my fortune, my everything.’
“I want to re-communicate to the masses, literally, that the power does not come from what we have, but what we are,” continued the Cowboy, sounding a bit like a motivational speaker. “And by being simple, innocent and with the people on a daily basis, that is the power.”
Well, there goes the invitation to Diddy’s White Party.