"Snooker Loopy" | |
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Single by Chas & Dave, The Matchroom Mob | |
B-side | "Wallop (Snookered)" |
Released | May 1986 |
Genre | Novelty |
Length | 3:49 |
Label | Rockney |
Songwriter(s) | Chas & Dave |
Producer(s) | Chas & Dave |
"Snooker Loopy" is a novelty song released as a single in May 1986, and entered the UK Singles Chart, reaching #6. [1] It was written and performed by Chas & Dave and featured snooker players Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths and Tony Meo, as backing vocalists under the name 'The Matchroom Mob' [2] – Matchroom Sport being the company owned by promoter Barry Hearn which employed all these snooker professionals at the time. [3]
The lyric is a mild satire on the style and antics of the players involved: "old Willie Thorne, his hair's all gawn", for example. The verse on Steve Davis also makes light of the 1985 World Snooker Championship final and his missed black in the final frame, and notes his manager is not concerned who should win the upcoming 1986 Championship, "because he's got the rest of us signed up!" Somewhat ironically, the player who won the 1986 World Snooker Championship - Joe Johnson - was not involved, seeing as he was a 150-1 outsider before the tournament. [4] Johnson did, however, go on to release a cover of Everlasting Love later that year. [5]
Upon reaching the top 10, the players joined Chas & Dave and performed the song on Top of the Pops.
"The Romford Rap" | |
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Single by Chas & Dave, The Matchroom Mob | |
B-side | "The Crackerjack! Theme Song" |
Released | April 1987 |
Genre | Novelty |
Length | 2:50 |
Label | Rainbow Records |
Songwriter(s) | Chas & Dave |
Producer(s) | Chas & Dave |
A follow-up snooker song, The Romford Rap, was released in 1987. This time, 'The Matchroom Mob' was made up of Steve Davis, Willie Thorne, Jimmy White, Neal Foulds, Dennis Taylor, Tony Meo and Terry Griffiths. [6] It was far less successful, only reaching #91 in the UK charts. [7]
Chas & Dave performed Snooker Loopy at their live shows with the original lyrics during the subsequent part of their career, even after all the players mentioned had retired from the professional game; this included a performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2007, [8] and a performance by Chas' band alongside Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor in 2014. [9]
The song was mentioned to Ronnie O'Sullivan during an episode of A League of Their Own in 2012, leading to Freddie Flintoff singing the chorus, with the audience joining in at the end. [10]
A rival single was released in the same year by snooker players Tony Knowles, Alex Higgins, Kirk Stevens and Jimmy White; it was a cover of "The Wanderer", released under the name Four Away. [11]
A Dutch cover of the song was released in 1986. [12] In 2001, the song was covered by V/Vm and released on Vinyl. It was pressed in all snooker ball colours (White, Red, Yellow, Green, Brown, Blue, Pink, Black), in editions of 147 handnumbered copies. [13]
In January 2023, comedian Tom Mayhew and YouTuber Joe Hannard launched The Snooker Loopy Podcast, which takes its name from the song. The podcast features a regular section, Cue the Music, where Joe and Tom review music either related to snooker, or recorded by snooker players. This has included numerous different recordings of the song itself, including solo versions by Dennis Taylor, John Virgo, and listeners of the podcast. [14]
Steve Davis is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World Snooker Championship finals in nine years, winning six world titles, and held the world number one ranking for seven consecutive seasons. He was runner-up to Dennis Taylor in one of snooker's most famous matches, the 1985 World Championship final, which ended in a dramatic black-ball conclusion that attracted 18.5 million viewers, still the largest British television audience for any broadcast after midnight and any broadcast on BBC Two.
Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and snooker commentator for Eurosport. He became the British under-19 champion in 1971 as an amateur, defeating Tony Knowles in the final. After reaching the finals of the 1978 English Amateur Championship and the 1978 World Amateur Championship, Johnson turned professional in 1979. He reached his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and reached the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic.
John Virgo is an English snooker commentator and former professional snooker player. Virgo won four professional titles, including the 1979 UK Championship, the 1980 Bombay International and the 1984 Premiere League. A member of the sport's elite Top 16 for seven seasons, Virgo is also a former British Open and World Championship semi-finalist and was runner-up of the 1980 Champion of Champions and the 1984 Australian Masters.
Anthony Christian Meo is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles Championship titles, partnering Davis, and the 1983 World Team Classic representing England alongside Davis and Tony Knowles.
Terence Martin Griffiths is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, including the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975 and back-to-back English Amateur Championships in 1977 and 1978, Griffiths turned professional in June 1978 at the age of 30. In his second professional tournament, he qualified for the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He reached the final of the event where he defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16. This was only the second time a qualifier had won the World Snooker Championship, after Alex Higgins in 1972; only Shaun Murphy in 2005 has since emulated the achievement. In 1988, Griffiths again reached the final of the competition. He was tied with Steve Davis, 8–8, but lost the match 11–18.
William Joseph Thorne was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8. He was noted for his break-building, and was among the first players to compile 100 century breaks. He earned the nickname "Mr Maximum". After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for the BBC.
Anthony Knowles is an English former professional snooker player. He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.
Chas & Dave were an English pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock.
Barry Maurice William Hearn is a British sports promoter who is founder and president of Matchroom Sport. Through Matchroom Hearn is also involved in many sports including boxing, snooker, darts, pool, tenpin bowling, golf, table tennis and fishing. Until April 2021 Hearn was the chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation and until July 2010, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Until July 2014, he was the chairman of Leyton Orient F.C.
Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf, fishing, darts, table tennis, poker and gymnastics. The company is based in Brentwood, Essex.
The 1986 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 26 January and 2 February 1986 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The top 16 ranked players took part in the competition.
Dennis Taylor is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. In the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, against defending champion Steve Davis, Taylor lost the first eight frames, but recovered to win 18–17 in a duel on the last black ball. The final's conclusion attracted 18.5 million viewers, setting UK viewership records for any post-midnight broadcast and for any broadcast on BBC Two that still stand.
The 1992 Forte Hotels Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 12 January to 31 May 1992.
The 1991 Trust House Forte Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 1 February to 31 May 1991.
The 1990 Stormseal Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 25 January to 20 May 1990.
The 1989 Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from January to May 1989.
The 1988 Rothmans Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 23 January to 15 May 1988.
The 1987 Rothmans Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from January to May 1987.
The Matchroom Professional Championship was a non-ranking snooker tournament staged between 1986 and 1988. All three editions were held at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea. In its final year the tournament was sponsored by LEP.
The 1987 Matchroom Professional Championship was the second edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament which took place between 4 and 7 November 1987 in Southend-on-Sea, England.