"Snooker Loopy" is a humorous song which was released as a single in May 1986, and entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, reaching #6. It was written and performed by

Chas & Dave Chas & Dave (often billed as Chas 'n' Dave) were a British pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock. Hodges died in 2018. They were most notable as creators and performers of a musical style labelled ''rockney'' (a port ...

and featured snooker players

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a ...

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) 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 ...

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champions ...

and

Tony Meo Anthony Christian Meo (born 4 October 1959) 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 Cham ...

, as backing vocalists under the name 'The Matchroom Mob' –

Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...

being the company owned by promoter Barry Hearn which employed all these snooker professionals at the time. The lyric is a mild

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

on the style and antics of the players involved: "old Willie Thorne, his hair's all gawn", for example. The verse on

also makes light of the

1985 World Snooker Championship final The 1985 World Snooker Championship final, also known as the black-ball final, was played on the weekend of 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The final of the 1985 World Snooker Championship was between defending world champi ...

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 The 1986 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1986 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986 at the Crucibl ...

- Joe Johnson - was not involved, seeing as he was a 150-1 outsider before the tournament. Upon reaching the top 10, the players joined Chas & Dave and performed the song on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

Chas & Dave performed the song 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. The song was mentioned to

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

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. A rival single was released in the same year by snooker players Tony Knowles,

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Worl ...

, Kirk Stevens and

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

; it was a cover of "The Wanderer", released under the name Four Away.

"The Romford Rap"

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,

Neal Foulds Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Blac ...

, Dennis Taylor, Tony Meo and Terry Griffiths. It was far less successful, only reaching #91 in the UK charts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snooker Loopy Songs about sportspeople 1986 singles Snooker mass media Novelty songs Sporting songs Chas & Dave songs

"The Romford Rap"

See also

References