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BBC & ITV musical montages

Postby gmg

Musical montages that captured tournaments most memorable moments were a regular feature of the BBC & ITV coverage back in the 1980's but were phased out in all except for the World Championship in the 1990's, which itself dropped them at the end of that decade. I've compiled the following list of montages that I'm aware of and am curious about whether I've missed any and also which ones people remember most fondly:

Embassy World Championship
1978 When I’m Sixty-Four (The Beatles)
1979-88 The Entertainer (Scott Joplin) (1979/81/82/83/86/87/88)
1981 Making Your Mind Up (Bucks Fizz)
1983 Get it Right Next Time (Gerry Rafferty)
1983 Private Investigations (Dire Straits)
1984 While You See a Chance (Steve Winwood)
1984 Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler)
1984 Sartorial Eloquence (Elton John)
1984 Zorba the Greek theme
1984 Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow (Leo Sayer)
1985 Standing On the Inside (Neil Sedaka)
1985 With A Little Bit of Luck (Frederick Lowe - My Fair Lady)
1985 Pressure (Billy Joel)
1986 Boss O’ the Black (Jed Ford)
1987 Memories (Barbara Streisand)
1989 Radetzky March (Strauss)
1989 With A little Bit of Luck (Frederick Lowe - My Fair Lady)
1990 Radetzky March (Strauss)
1991 Souvenir (OMD)
1991 The Anvil Chorus (Verdi)
1992 These Are the Days of Our Lives (Queen)
1993 Hero (Tasmin Archer)
1994 Every Breath You Take (Police)
1995 You Gotta Be (Desree)
1996 Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen)
1997 Who Do You Think You Are (Spice Girls)
1997 Unforgettable (Nat King Cole)
1998 Stuck In The Middle With You (Stealers Wheel)

Other tournaments
1983 Jameson International (You Got What it Takes, Showaddywaddy)
1984 B&H Masters (That's All, Genesis)
1984 Jameson International (Help, The Beatles)
1984 Hofmeister Doubles (I Got You Babe, Sonny & Cher)
1985 B&H Masters (Tell Me What You See, The Beatles)
1985 Dulux British Open (Wouldn’t It Be Good, Nik Kershaw)
1985 Goya Trophy (Holding out for a Hero, Bonnie Tyler)
1985 Coral UK Champs (Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word, Elton John)
1986 B&H Masters (Through the Long Night, Billy Joel)
1986 B&H Irish Masters (Walk of Life, Dire Straits)
1986 Tennents UK Champs (Carmen Overture, George Bizet)
1987 Rothmans Grand Prix (I Missed Again, Phil Collins)
1987 Tennents UK Champs (Albatross, Fleetwood Mac)
1988 Tennents UK Champs (Knew You Were Waiting, George Michael & Aretha Franklin)
1989 Anglian British Open (At the Hop, Danny and the Juniors)

Re: BBC & ITV musical montages

Postby TrevSS

For me growing up I always liked The Entertainer montages

1983 Get it Right Next Time (Gerry Rafferty) As I liked the song

1984 While You See a Chance (Steve Winwood) Same as above

1987 Memories (Barbara Streisand) Was good looking at the players changing over the years and from memory I think Eddie Charlton was the only one that had more hair later on than before!

1988 Tennents UK Champs (Knew You Were Waiting, George Michael & Aretha Franklin) Doug rolling back the years to win the UK after completely remodelling his game under Frank Callan

Re: BBC & ITV musical montages

Postby gmg

Nice choices Trevor. I like that song by Gerry Rafferty too and agree and that Memories and Knew You Were Waiting are two of the best montages they ever did. Mountjoy punching the air after his quarter-final victory over Virgo in the latter really sticks out. JV mentioned recently that Doug continued that celebration the whole way back to his dressing room by which time Virgo had had enough and pinned him up to a wall! Amazing to think how different things mighta been if John had won that decider.

I like virtually all of these montages btw but my absolute fave would probably be Those Are the Days of Our Lives from the 1992 World Championship, it works beautifully. I'd love to get hold of the 1985 British Open one by Nik Kershaw, I remember that being the first montage I ever saw when it was originally broadcast. It popped up briefly on Youtube more than a decade ago but I haven't seen it since it was taken down.

Re: BBC & ITV musical montages

Postby gmg

TrevSS wrote:Doug was most likely relieved to fall over the line as he led 8-3 v JV. You're not the first person to tell me they would like to see the British Open one by Nik Kershaw. However reading between the lines I'm probably speaking to Gareth! :-).


Correct Trevor, clearly a small world when it comes to 80's snooker enthusiasts!

Re: BBC & ITV musical montages

Postby vodkadiet1

One of the ITV events in the late 80s played a montage with Albatross by Fleetwood Mac as the accompaniment.

And don't forget the wonderful music played to 'Frame of the day' at The Worlds in the early 80s.

Re: BBC & ITV musical montages

Postby gmg

vodkadiet1 wrote:One of the ITV events in the late 80s played a montage with Albatross by Fleetwood Mac as the accompaniment.

And don't forget the wonderful music played to 'Frame of the day' at The Worlds in the early 80s.


The one with Fleetwood Mac's Albatross was the 1987 UK Championship unless there was another one that used the same tune. The 'Frame of the Day' theme tune was 'To the Unknown Man' by Vangelis. Great track and it had its own musical montage as well from around 1984. I've got an additional list of snooker-related songs like this if anyone's interested in seeing it.