It seems a bit of a cliché to say that we were blessed with characters in snooker during the 1980s, but this is an inescapable fact. The heyday of the sport certainly provided ample material for a few memorable musical montages when it came to the World Championships.
Play The Entertainer to a child of the 80s and there is a fair chance that many of us will immediately think of snooker compilations. The tune is synonymous with the World Snooker Championships montages, as this blog highlights.
Kirk Stephens wearing an Elton John style hat is a strong start, and the action continues to take a in a few miscues, flukes and the variety of emotions experienced by the players. Ted Lowe’s battle with a partition barrier is shown, as the stars of the day fiddle with their cues (stop it).
One other notable item; the clip of John Virgo during his snooker player impersonations show that was another key element of watching the World Snooker Championships during the 1980s.
Sticking with the same tune and featuring a similar snooker player in hat motif (Alex Higgins), this montage highlights both the jovial and dramatic nature of the tournament.
There are a lot of smiles and laughter involved, naturally. My personal favourite involves John Spencer offering Willie Thorne his chair to help with a tricky shot. And who doesn’t like to recall the days of Dennis Taylor before he wore his glasses? But a couple of clips of Alex Higgins indicate that there is still room for sobriety in these highlights.
Sucking his daughter’s dummy that he was using as a lucky mascot, we also see an emotional embrace between Higgins and Jimmy White after their gripping semi-final. Great memories of a fortnight that cemented Higgins’ status as the People’s Champion.
Same tune, a lot of flukes, including a significant one at the start of a famous break, and a woman falling asleep during this package. Perhaps she was following one of Cliff Thorburn’s lengthy matches during the championship?
Understandably, Thorburn appears a few times in this compilation. The fluke that started his journey to that famous 147 at the Crucible is included, and the montage concludes with the final six colours that saw Thorburn sink to his knees and claim a place in Crucible history.
Nice to see Tony Meo trying to divert cigarette smoke away from his seat too. Different times my friends.
1984: Zorba's Dance
I’m not sure I like change. So when the BBC put together this montage for the 1984 tournament using Zorba’s Dance as the soundtrack, I’m hoping thousands wrote into Points of View to inform Barry Took that they were not amused.
I’m not sure I like change. So when the BBC put together this montage for the 1984 tournament using Zorba’s Dance as the soundtrack, I’m hoping thousands wrote into Points of View to inform Barry Took that they were not amused.
The track lends itself to balls flying around the green baize, as in-offs and flukes feature heavily in the montage. But The Entertainer this isn’t. Call me an old stick in the mud if you like. Yet it reminds me of the time they changed the theme tune to Thomas the Tank Engine, which was unforgivable.
Thankfully we revert to the old favourite in 1988, as Bill Werbeniuk drinks a lager or eight, and is shown making trips to the toilet and back. A 10-year-old Stephen Hendry looks on, although this might be clever editing, as the two didn’t play against each other during this tournament.
There’s a Tony Knowles two-for-one shot, Terry Griffiths not quite getting his leg over (stop it, Aggers) and some lovely banter between Joe Johnson and Cliff Wilson. A return to the classic format, and we can all be grateful for that.
I’ve been a little sarcastic at times in my ramblings above. But this montage is a thing of beauty. Looking back at the previous memories of the Crucible, the tune is an ideal accompaniment as we catch glimpses of champions and other great snooker names of the 70s and 80s.
That 1985 black sunk by Taylor; Steve Davis, Higgins, Werbeniuk, Doug Mountjoy; the questionable hairstyles of Griffiths and Virgo; that 147; clips of David Vine; Willie Thorne, with and without hair.
The package has a slightly mournful quality. Almost as if it is a celebration of all that has gone in the past, as the heroes of the glory days of snooker are gradually fading away. It’s fitting that Hendry appears just before the end. Davis would win a final world title in 1989, but a new era in the sport was about to begin.
Thank you ! 😀
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