The Paternal Influence

By Elliott West

“I first got into snooker as a child because my father took me to play Chinese Eight Ball pool every weekend. He would take me downstairs because it was just next to our flat. We started when I was eight years old, and after a couple of months of Eight Ball we moved on to snooker and I loved it”.

Ding Junhui
Introduction

Behind every sporting great is a person who helps the dream happen. In snooker, the Chinese player Ding Junhui has risen from obscurity to stardom in China and across the globe. His natural talent and brilliance have shone through on the snooker table, resulting in Ding becoming the holder of 14 ranking titles. Yet where did this wave of genius stem from and who put Ding on this glittering career path? It doesn’t take very long to find out the answers to these burning questions with some further research. The answers lie in his influential father Ding Wenjun.

Back to Basics

When Ding was potting his way to victory as an 18-year-old at the 2005 UK Championship, his parents were busy packing up the contents of their apartment in Dongguan, Guangdong. It would take four truckloads to move furniture, belongings and of course their son’s cues. The motorcade would set off the next morning to begin a new family chapter in Shanghai. Ding’s father was unaware of what was unfolding at the Barbican in York. Yet he knew his son had the potential after having already won the China Open earlier in the year after defeating Stephen Hendry 9-5 in the final at the Haidian Stadium in Beijing.

The final wasn’t broadcast on Chinese domestic networks so Ding Senior asked a friend to watch the match on the Internet and keep him updated via text messages. When he found out his son had won, beating Steve Davis 10-6 and winning £70,000, he was happy but his primary focus was on establishing his new family home. Their Shanghai plan he believed was more important to Ding and the family as well. It was a hard decision to leave Dongguan. Ding had been brought up in a strict Chinese household where the focus was spilling blood, sweat and tears to make this prodigal son a future snooker champion. His parents were willing to sacrifice everything to make this dream come true. A dream that led to his father applying for an undergraduate programme at Shanghai’s Fudan University and opening a snooker club in which his father had invested. Ding Senior believed that although his son wouldn’t be able to attend full-time education because of his snooker commitments, he could attend on a part-time basis because in his words “he’s way too shy”.

The Road to Victory

Ding first picked up a cue when he was eight years old and soon grabbed the attention of his local community in Yixing, a city in the eastern Jiangsu province renowned for its handmade pottery tea wear rather than snooker. Ding Senior was a former tobacco dealer and saw that his son had what it takes to become a snooker champion. He spoke to prominent Chinese players and coaches about his son and they all agreed he was born out of championship stock. However, Ding didn’t have a billiard culture and that’s why his father decided to up sticks and move to Dongguan, the epicentre of Chinese snooker. He sold his tobacco business and asked his son to leave school and by the end of 1998, they had sold their family home in Yixing.

The family travelled south and settled in Dongguan. His father found a job as a waiter in a billiard hall. The astute father made sure that his contract allowed his son to practice for free in the club. It was a plan that paid off quickly. Dongguan was a stronghold for the mainland billiard sport but had fallen out of favour with the sports authorities in Beijing due to its non-Olympic status. Yet with the help of an influx of cueists from Hong Kong and Macau and plenty of practice, Ding began to learn that killer instinct is required to become a great player.

Ding would explode onto the snooker scene in 2002. He took the national crown in the spring and dominated the Asian Championship halfway through the year. This was followed by a victorious World Youth Championship campaign and ending the season in glory by lifting the Asian Games trophy in Korea. So impressed were the WPBSA by his performances that they awarded him a tour card on the UK snooker circuit. Within six months, he was second to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the highest number of century breaks. He would go on to win the 2005 China Open and the UK Championship.

Afterthoughts

Ding’s father has been highly influential in his son’s career. He was prepared to sacrifice everything to make it work. However, he remains to this day humble and grounded. He doesn’t want any of the red-carpet treatment that his son has in China and across the globe and prefers to not travel to tournaments and remain in China. The reason he gives is that it is boring there and he misses his friends. Ding spends most of his time at his family home in Sheffield with his wife Apple but always makes time to visit his father in China. His mother Chen sadly died from cancer at the age of 55 in 2017 and her passing had a profound effect on her son, describing it as a painful experience. Yet he was determined to soldier on in her mum’s memory. His father proudly watches his son on the internet in China. The two were recently filmed sharing noodles.

The Snooker Disneyland

By Elliott West

“China want to make Yushan a home for snooker”.

Jason Ferguson
Introduction

Situated in the Jiangxi province of China, a five-hour drive south-west of Shanghai lies the grandiose Yushan Sports Center. A purpose-built venue designed specifically for snooker and billiards events. A building that has a Disney vibe to it with a construction area of 35,500 metres and is 25.7 metres high, the equivalent of an eight-floor building. It has 3,000 fixed seats with a capacity to have another 1,000. The Sports Centre is part of an ambitious project to form the Yushan International Culture City project which is estimated to cost £200 million. It has a high-quality maple floor, imported from Canada to avoid vibrations so the snooker tables remain stable at all times and has advanced sound-proofing materials to minimise distractions for the players.

State of the Art

The centre has LED screens installed at all the entrances so that fans can keep up to date with the scores between frames and there are 45 bespoke function rooms for snooker and other indoor sports. There are also other rooms for staff, commentators and drug testers. The building houses a heated swimming pool, gymnasium, children’s playground and fitness training area. The centre also recently opened a billiards museum and Hall of Fame. A perfect site and was chosen specifically because the Yushan has quarries from where the slate in snooker tables is mined.

A Snooker Palace

After a Covid hiatus, the World Open was staged here this year with £170,000 in prize money on offer to the winner and a total prize fund of £815,000. In the tournament, Zak Surety achieved a 147 break and in the final between Ding Junghui and Judd Trump, Judd claimed a 10-4 victory. This win, his 28th career ranking title, equals Steve Davis and was his fifth ranking win of the season. It remains to be seen what happens with this venue but some say it could be touted as a possible successor to The Crucible if the World Championship were ever to leave Sheffield. A remote possibility at this present time.

The Pocket Dynamo

By Elliott West

“Success takes practice”.

O’Shea Scott
Introduction

Learning about young and aspiring talent in snooker always warms my heart. It is the lifeblood of the sport and one that will drive the game forward to a bright future. One of these future stars that has caught my eye is O’Shay Scott. The 15-year-old from Eastleigh looks the part, walks the walk and is pretty nifty around a snooker table, having already added a whole host of prized trophies to his cabinet. The “King of the Long Pot” who has already picked up some key sponsorship has a great ethos. He wants to be a professional snooker player and a future world champion. He first started playing snooker when he was six years old and amazingly he could play on a full-size snooker table. Somehow he managed to combat the challenge of being able to reach. He started off playing at his grandfather’s house which had a snooker table. His grandfather Pepe Zagaroli is very proud of him, describing him as a “special boy”. Pepe gives him a start and O’Shea still thrashes him. In the under-14 qualifiers, he won every game and got a 90-break. He is already sponsored by the same cue tip manufacturer as Mark Selby, Century Cue Tips. A brand ambassador for this, Taom Billiards and Winchester Tailoring. He was also featured on BBC South Today in 2012.

A Buzz in the Air

O’Shea Scott is fascinating to watch. In my research on this gifted teenager, I came across several videos of him on the practice table. Now a Cuestars Under-21 Goldstar player, he glides around the table with ease, can calculate the angles of his advanced shot choices, is great at a double and is clinical when making a century break. In practice, he sets up a line of reds, a method we call in the game “the drill” and floats them one by one into what seem very tight pockets. The pockets surrender under the force of his cue power and create a sound that is beautiful to hear the thud of a ball hitting leather.

A Great Work Ethic

O’Shea has a great work ethic. He practices hard and when he loses, he never beats himself up about it. He just moves on to the match and says he could have done better in the last. Often travelling with his mum to tournaments, Scott recently won £240 in February at the Will Forster’s tournament at Waterlooville Sports Bar. An astounding victory that saw him beat Ronnie Blake 4-1, Harry Wyatt 4-0 (including a break of 84), Oliver Sykes 4-3 from 4-0 down and Bradley Cowdroy 4-3 from 2-0 down.

He has just scooped another trophy at the Cuestars Under-21 Gold Tour where he posed proudly with his sister Ellise Scott for a winner’s photograph. A player who works closely with his coach Tim Dunkley. He reached the last 32 of both the Under-16 and Under-18 European Championships. His favourite player is Ronnie O’Sullivan and he has already been pictured with Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams. Someone who has already spent some time with Joe Perry in the practice room too. The Southern Regional Champion who practices at the Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club, comes from good stock. His uncle was a professional snooker player and he has also inspired his sister to pick up a cue and to start playing.

Seeping into your Consciousness

By Elliott West

“I felt like an awkward country lass who’d come to the big city. The nervousness was different to the way I’d later feel with ABBA, when it was because expectations were so high. On the stairs down to the studio I suddenly heard the backing to my song being played by Sven-Olof Waldorf’s orchestra. My heart missed a beat. What a blast!”

Agnetha Fältskog
Introduction

ABBA is Sweden’s biggest music export. Their music touches a nerve that brings joy, elation and the pain of sorrow to every fan. It’s a definitive sound and vocal uniqueness which echoes an era that has influenced a generation of musicians. An export that fizzes in your soul like a Swedish lager, full of bubbles and a unique type of music that makes you want to get up and dance. It’s music that when listened to, makes every day seem like Christmas Day. An echo of Sweden that implores an English-speaking audience. It does what it says on the tin, born to entertain.

Defined from Folk

ABBA started a very different musical journey from what they developed into. You have to cast your mind back to 1958 to see where the origins of this iconic band come from. Influenced by the launch of The Beatles, Benny, Björn, Anni-Frid and Agnetha were part of the Swedish folk music scene that was insular and whose sounds and records were confined to this Nordic peninsula. Yet their sound at this time had a tinge of difference to the very left-wing feel of Sweden at the time. Benny performed in the Hep Stars, Björn in the Hootenanny Singers, and Ani-Frid and Agnetha performed in local bands and did some solo work too.

Yet it wasn’t until these four found love and became couples that the early inklings of magic started to emerge. The four went on holiday together to the island of Cyprus in 1971. They sang on the beach and had a great time. This fun in the sun would lead to them performing an improvised live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers and so coming together to form a stage act “Festfolket”. It didn’t go down well and they received lukewarm reviews. It persuaded the four to split and pursue solo careers. Yet it would be a split that wouldn’t last long as they were working together again later in 1971. They started to perform at the Swedish folk parks

Stig

Stig Anderson was the founder and owner of Polar Records. A Brian Epstein of the Swedish music industry who had his finger on the pulse of success. He wanted to break into the mainstream International market and saw this promising group as a means of achieving it. Persuading them to record new singles, the four had hits like Säg det med en sång, “She’s My Kind of Girl”, “People Need Love” and “Ring Ring”. Stig started experimenting with new recording technology and formulated the wall of sound that would go on to define the ABBA journey. The name of the band itself is a palindrome, an acronym of their names, a name that started as a fond pet name for the group by Stig. It was also the name of a well-known fish canning company in Sweden. Anderson knew that it wouldn’t be known outside Sweden and so in the Summer of 1973, after attaining the rights to the name, the band was launched. They used a striking logo designed by Rune Söderqvist.

Their Waterloo Moment 

Travelling to Brighton in April 1974, ABBA looked on paper as having a slim chance of winning the Eurovision Song Contest. Yet all good things come to those who wait. This was their chance to perform for an international audience with coverage going out across the globe. They wore fashionable glam rock clothes from the time and most importantly sang in English. A universal language that could appeal to a massive audience. A ticket to television deals and concerts if they won. Their entry song “Waterloo” was punchy, upbeat and got the audience going. When the final scores came in, it was ABBA who won the day.

A Slow Burner

Despite the overnight success of “Waterloo”, ABBA really had to work hard to reach the heights of stardom. Songs like “Honey Honey”, “So Long” and “ I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” had limited success. The band didn’t really have an individual style and looked more like The Sweet than an iconic Swedish group. It wasn’t until “SOS” in 1975 that we really begin to see the magic work. ABBA started to experiment with early music videos to promote their songs and it worked. “SOS” got to number 13 in the UK charts and was a number one hit in Germany, Australia, France and Italy. ABBA would record nine studio albums, two live albums, seven compilation albums, four box sets, five video albums, 50 singles, and 43 music videos. To date, ABBA have sold 150 million records worldwide becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. Their biggest hits being “Dancing Queen”, “Super Trouper”, “Knowing Me Knowing You”, “Take A Chance On Me”, “Fernando”, “The Winner Takes It All”, “Mamma Mia”, “The Name Of The Game” and “Waterloo”.

The Legacy 

ABBA managed to stay together despite marriage splits. They were and always will be firm friends. Their greatest hits albums in the early 1990s and a massive gay club revival in the same decade in London attracted a new audience despite having last sung for the last time in December 1982. With their music still alive in the musical Mamma Mia and the current smash holographic Voyage show in London, there seems to be no lack of enthusiasm for this iconic Swedish group. Their songs ring out in cars, homes, weddings and are a firm favourite for karaoke renditions. A breath of fresh air whose songs fit your mood and life situation. Loud, upbeat and whose lyrics are repeated millions of times. A unique blend of voices and complex arrangements.

Jollees

By Elliott West

“It was a magical place with absolutely fantastic memories for me. It wasn’t in the right place, being in a small town, but as soon as walked through the doors you were no longer in England”.

Mel Scholes
Introduction

Situated over the bus station in Longton, Jollees was the must-go-to Stoke-On-Trent nightclub. The largest-capacity cabaret venue in the UK, attracting a wealth of stars from show business, entertainment and darts. In its heyday in the 1970s, this club which had a capacity audience of 1,690 was filled to the rafters and people would flock to come here to see the likes of Bob Monkhouse, Cilla Black, Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison, Les Dawson, Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper and Frankie Howerd. Launched in 1973, this converted bowling alley which cost £200,000 to modify opened to a fanfare of show business. The star-studded opening night included Little and Large, the 1960s chart-toppers The Fourmost with the Lord and Lady Mayoress of Stoke-on-Trent and Stoke City football stars Geoff Hurst and Gordon Banks also in attendance. Mel Scholes who died in 2004, was the Master of Ceremonies. A man who was a Signal Radio DJ and became synonymous with the venue.

The Place to Visit

Jollees was so successful precisely because it had great staff and a brilliant management team. It was a northern nightclub that provided people with the opportunity to dress up and have a good night out. At its peak, the club employed 180 staff including lighting staff, doormen, sales and day staff, and was serving around 1,100 meals in baskets each night. The nightclub was awarded the Club of the Year in 1977 and was the host of the World Darts Championships from 1979 to 1985 and the Miss Stoke-on-Trent beauty competitions. The nightclub was even graced by royalty. Princess Margaret in 1977 and 1980 and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1980. Both were treated to a star cabaret with Margaret watching the likes of Frankie Vaughan, Norman Collier, and Lena Zavaroni with Hughie Green as compere. The Duke of Edinburgh got to see Bob Monkhouse, Faith Brown and Little and Large with David Frost flown in, especially by Concorde to host the event. The Duke of Edinburgh left by the royal train at 11.30 pm.

Some residents complained about the safety of the club as it was situated above a bus station and only a few pillars were holding up the concrete floor. However, after complaints to the local council, the structure was thoroughly checked and deemed safe. Yet when Mel Scholes used to belt out Rock Around the Clock, the wooden seating on top of the flooring used to shake. A Rock and Roll atmosphere that allowed the residents of Stoke-on-Trent to have one of the country’s top cabaret clubs on their doorstep. One of the regular acts was Pete Conway, the father of the singer Robbie Williams. He called it “the best variety club in Europe”. An act that often got a late-night call to appear to replace an act that hadn’t turned up. A club that he praised for having a great reputation and facilities that were renowned throughout the country on the entertainment circuit.

Darts at Jollees

This nightclub would go down in history books as not only a fantastic entertainment venue but also as an iconic darts location. All the darting greats came here to battle it out for the World Championship between 1979 and 1985. Keith Deller sent shockwaves through the world of darts in 1983 when he beat his friend Eric Bristow with a dream checkout of treble 20, treble 18 and double 12 to win the title. A checkout of 138 has come to be known as the “Deller checkout”. A win that was described as one of the biggest shocks in the history of sport. Deller beat three top seeds on the way to the title.

Eric Bristow would take the title here in 1980, 1981, 1984 and 1985. The Crafty Cockney ruled this stage. A nightclub where the beer flowed in a cloud of cigarette smoke. Accompanied by the dulcet tones of Tony Green and Sid Waddell. The oche was truly magical in those days and it was a must-see for all sports fans. Darts like snooker ruled the waves in the 1980s and produced so many well-known names, sadly many of whom are no longer with us.

The End of an Era

All good things must come to an end and on October 2, the club closed as a cabaret venue. On the last night, the audience sang We’ll Meet Again. A fantastic entertainment venue for eight years but it did stay open. It continued as a night spot, later holding raves, renamed Shelly’s Laserdome. It closed in 1992 but the owners of a Stoke bar bought it in 2016 and bought the rights to the name. A bar with a 300-capacity. The original site including the bus station was demolished in 2004 and turned into a branch of Wilko’s.

Queenie

By Elliott West

“She’s one of those referees, it’s apparent she’s got what you need, quiet efficiency”.

Phil Yates
Introduction

Lyu Xilin or Queenie Lyu as she is known amongst the snooker community is fast becoming a familiar face on the snooker circuit. The wife of the famous Chinese snooker referee Deng Shihao, Queenie is currently appearing at the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship. A lady who is not phased by the drama of the green baize and has a calming influence and can keep control at all times. Those who haven’t come across this Chinese referee yet, just have to research her snooker portfolio to date. She has already refereed the semi-finals of the 2014 International Championship, and the semi-finals of the 2016 Shanghai Masters, and went to Thailand to referee the Six-Red Ball World Championship. At the 2015 Players Championship held in Thailand, Lu Xilin became the only Chinese referee. She refereed her first-ranking final at the 2019 World Snooker International Championship and her second was at the 2023 World Snooker International Championship where she witnessed Zhang Anda get a 147 break. Her first maximum break as a professional referee.

Rising Stars 

Queenie joins a growing band of female Chinese snooker referees. This lady herself juggles being the mother of a young daughter with the heavy workload and hours that being a snooker referee entails. With long hours spent on your feet and plenty of early starts and late finishes, this job is not for the faint-hearted but even her daughter is getting a taste for the bug that her parents do so well. Maybe she will take over the mantle from her parents in the future. Queenie has joined the regular faces of Zhu Ying and Li An on the tour. A welcome addition to a group of women who are just brilliant at what they do and give the men a run for their money.

I was once told by a German referee in Berlin that being a snooker referee is not just a job but a passion. I couldn’t agree more. Unlike the potential earnings for top professional snooker players, snooker referees earn frankly next to nothing for what they do. Yes, their profiles are raised with social media and media exposure but when the lights go out and the balls have been replaced in their case, they just fade back into the background of an ordinary day. In reality, their jobs are just as hard as a snooker player’s. They have to keep deep concentration at all times, keep score and have the rule book stored in their brain. Ready to pull out a rule when it needs implementing, controlling the audience and remembering exactly where the balls land in case there is a foul, a miss or both.

Aided by the keen eye of a second referee as a marker at the back of the snooker stage, these Chinese ladies are aided by the advanced technology of VT, Hawkeye and the more advanced technology in China that tracks the balls. With China now firmly out of the grip of COVID-19, a multitude of tournaments and exhibitions have emerged and drawn a hungry Chinese audience to watch the brilliance that snooker constantly produces. Queenie is one of the people at the centre of this snooker furore where mobile phone message alerts still ring out across the auditorium and people are employed to walk around with placards advising the audience to have their phones on silent. A message that all too often falls on deaf ears.

This is a challenging role for Queenie and her other female Chinese colleagues. They must call out rule-breaking in the crowd and press the ejection button if they have to. Plenty choose to leave the arena for a toilet break at an inopportune moment or start walking about when the player is down on the shot. A stern look and a vocal warning are sometimes all it needs to stop the disruption but faced with a sea of faces, it is often difficult to find the culprit in question at first. Yet their decisions are rarely wrong and their work gets the utmost respect from fans and players alike. This a clear example of the brilliance of equality and inclusion in action and long may it rule the snooker stage!








The Demons of Laughter

By Elliott West

“Everything you have ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear”.

Robin Williams
Introduction

Robin Williams made it his life’s mission to make people laugh. His manic brand of comedy often had no filters, a prized chat show guest who was unpredictable but whose result always left the audience having the biggest laugh. He was the golden ticket that Willy Wonka concealed in a chocolate bar. A light relief to a world that conjures up so many daily challenges. A comedian who looked like he just got out of bed and dressed in the dark. A child who had never quite grown up, the Peter Pan of his field. Yet his brilliant style was unique. It touched the core of comedy. Whether he was playing Mork or Mrs Doubtfire, his frenzied humour shone through. A natural for the camera lens but as they say the camera never lies. You could always sense that there was something not quite right and  Williams was trying to mask his inner demons.

Owning the Stage

Born on July 21, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. Robin Williams was the son of a Ford Motor Company executive and a former fashion model. As a child, he was naturally funny and loved to entertain his family and classmates making them howl with laughter. A life and career choice that took a nanosecond to decide. As a teenager, the family moved to California and Williams attended Claremont Men’s College and College of Marin before briefly moving to New York to attend Julliard School. Yet his heart was in California and it wasn’t long before he gave the comedy circuit a shot, becoming a highly popular act in the sprawling comedy clubs that existed in the 1970s. His act was loud, funny and brash, gaining the attention of US television executives. It wasn’t long before he was cast as the loveable alien in Mork and Mindy and numerous appearances in other television shows of the time.

However, Robin’s big break came in 1980 when he was offered the lead role in the film Popeye. A part that he took to like a duck to water. The spinach-chewing, pipe-smoking sailor, branded with an anchor tattoo on his rippling arm. A sailor who ruled the land and sea with his brawn and somehow squeezed a sentence out the side of his mouth. A childhood cartoon character whom Robin loved and had perfected in voice, facial expressions and stance. Now through a muscular latex costume. It was a break that would lead to a catalogue of film roles including epics like Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society.

The Personal Demons

Robin Williams’ acting career would run for decades but behind the laughter and the smile, was a troubled man. Someone who struggled with his inner demons. During the height of his success in the 1980s, he fell into the trap of drug addiction and got hooked on cocaine. It would be a habit that ruled his life for several years and it wasn’t until his good friend John Belushi. the Blues Brothers’ star died from the habit, aged only 33 in 1982 when Robin finally decided to wave goodbye to the drug. A friend with whom he had only been partying with the night before.

This and the death of his close friend Christopher Reeve in 2004, led him to drink heavily in the early 2000s. An addiction that was fuelled by depression. His public life was at an all-time high but his private life was full of ups and downs. Yet just when he seemed to be seeing the light and his darkest days were behind him, he received a shocking bolt from the blue. Called to see his doctor, Williams was given a heartbreaking diagnosis. He was told he had the onset of Parkinson’s Disease. A diagnosis that he shared with his wife Susan Schneider Williams and his three children but kept a secret from the media and his fans.

Yet all this while, Robin struggled to understand why he was still feeling anxious, paranoid and depressed. He could fathom how Parkinson’s Disease would cause this. So he decided to attend a neurocognitive testing facility to see if there was something else healthwise going on. Yet tragically he would never attend. On what seemed an ordinary night on 11 August 2014, his wife left her husband on his iPad in the living room and went to bed. Robin gave a parting comment “Goodnight, my love… goodnight, goodnight.” That was the last time she saw him alive.

Robin had gone to another bedroom and locked the door. It wasn’t until the next morning when Susan couldn’t get a response that the lock was picked. Williams was discovered in a seated position on the floor with a belt around his neck. He had hung himself, using one end of the belt around his neck and the other secured between a closet door and door frame in the bedroom. He also had a cut to his wrist. On a chair close by was his iPad, two types of antidepressants and a pocket knife with blood on it. The later coronary enquiry concluded with a suicide caused by asphyxia due to hanging. The post-mortem showed that there was nothing in his bloodstream apart from caffeine and antidepressants. Yet it also showed that Robin was misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and we still don’t know what he had. Although it is reported that he had some form of dementia.

The Swift Effect

By Elliott West

“I think fearless is having fears but jumping anyway”.

Taylor Swift
Introduction

Empowered women always bring joy to my heart. In a world where successful women are on the rise, I love to hear about those who have defied the odds and shown that with hard work and determination, anything is possible. You may or may not like her brand of music but Taylor Swift is one of those gutsy females who have gone from being ordinary to a globally recognised star in her 34 years of life. A gifted songwriter who began writing songs at the tender age of 14, she has gone on to record eleven albums with her record label Big Machine Records and then Republic Records. A country-pop singer who has become one of the world’s best-selling digital artists and sold over 200 million records worldwide. Now one of the people on Forbes World’s Billionaires List, her wealth is estimated at a staggering $1.1 billion following her record-breaking Eras tour and concert film.

The Swift Factor

Taylor Swift is an artist who packs out music venues and parents accompany their children in their droves to watch, secretly liking the music themselves. Yet there is a burning question you must ask yourselves, where has this overnight sensation come from? I suppose you could say Taylor is the Britney Spears of her era. Yet it wasn’t always that way. Swift was born in 1989 in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her parents Scott and Andrea both worked in the financial sector. Her younger brother Austin is an actor and her grandmother Marjorie Finlay was an opera singer. A lady who shaped her future singing career when she used to go and watch her singing in church. Taylor has a mix of German, Scottish, English and Italian blood thanks to her parents, performing at Berks Youth Theatre Academy and singing in her local coffee shop. Raised on a Pennsylvanian farm, she would regularly travel to New York for acting and singing lessons.

Swift used to perform at local festivals, gaining much of her musical influence from artists like Shania Twain, Patsy Cline, LeeAnn Rimes and the Dixie Chicks. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, she decided to pursue a career as a country music singer in Nashville. At the age of 11, Taylor travelled there and submitted several demo tracks of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks numbers but was rejected by all the record labels. She started to learn to play the guitar at the age of 12 and with the help of a computer repair man, Ronnie Cremer, wrote her first original song. Teamed up with the talent manager Dan Dymtrow, Swift would go on to model for Abercrombie & Fitch and had a song included on a Maybelline compilation CD. She would go on to seal an artist development deal with RCA Records at the age of 13 and would combine touring and homeschooling through Aaron Academy.

Nashville 

Working with experienced Music Row songwriters like Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Mac McAnally and the Warren Brothers and a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose, Taylor would meet them for two-hour writing sessions after school every Tuesday. Her style was impressive, combining recent life experiences with hooks. She wanted to put these experiences down on paper, freshly after they happened, so they were relevant and represented what she was going through.

Catching the eye of Scott Borchetta at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift was quickly signed to his new independent record label Big Machine Records. One of his first signings, her father Scott bought a three percent stake in the company, an estimated $120,000 and Swift started working on her first album with Nathan Chapman. An album that was released in October 2006, reaching number 5 in the US charts and spending 157 weeks in the charts, the longest stay in the charts by any release in the US in the 2000s decade. An album that became platinum certificated. An album entitled “Taylor Swift”.

The Taylor Vision 

Taylor Swift bases her music on female empowerment and is an advocate of artists’ rights. It’s a powerful ethos and vision that has led to the massive success of her follow-up albums Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, Evermore, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department. She has also appeared in a number of films including Valentine’s Day, The Lorax, The Giver, Cats, All Too Well and Amsterdam and several documentaries and concert films. Her spectacular concert tours speak for themselves, spanning from the Fearless Tour in 2009-2010 to the Speak Now World Tour, The Red Tour, The 1989 World Tour, the Reputation Stadium Tour to The Eras Tour.

Currently dating Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs American Football star, the pair went public in September 2023. Travis has vowed to join his girlfriend on the European leg of her Eras tour and has previously travelled to Argentina, Australia and Singapore to watch Taylor perform despite his busy sports schedule. The tour will zig-zag across Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria over the next three months. A welcome break for Travis who doesn’t start his NFL training camps until July. A European tour that kicks off in May 2024.

The artist who penned the smash hit Shake It Off, is currently on the last of her tour dates in the USA which will conclude with concerts in Austin, Texas and Agoura Hills, California before moving on to Nanterre, France on the 9th of May. The music icon who appeared on American Idol multiple times with electrifying performances, famously appeared at the recent Super Bowl where she witnessed her boyfriend’s Kansas City Chiefs achieve a nail-biting victory over the San Francisco 49ers and she sealed with a passionate kiss with Travis on camera.

The Lost Tapes

By Elliott West

“If you cannot find peace within peace, you will never find it anywhere else”.

Marvin Gaye
Introduction

Marvin Gaye changed the direction of soul music. A black American singer whose soothing voice brought joy to lovers across the globe with hits like “Sexual Healing” and “Heard It Through the Grapevine”. A music icon who dreamt his father would kill him, a dream that shockingly came true when he shot the soul icon in Los Angeles in 1984, a day before his 45th birthday. The Motown great who came from a Pentecostal household and struggled with drug addiction spent some of his last years in Belgium, jogging, recording the album “Midnight Love” and using the time to detox from cocaine addiction. A move that was split between here and London, fleeing his native USA to also avoid possible imprisonment for tax evasion.

Keeping Track

Marvin used his music creativity as his therapy. Whilst at a London nightclub in 1981, the Belgian music promoter Freddy Cousaert gave him his business card and urged him to move in with him. Instead, he went to stay with a close friend. Staying at the Ostend home of the Belgian musician Charles Dumolin and his wife Greetje in 1981, he recorded a reported 66 demo tracks on tapes that have gathered dust for 42 years. A gift that he left to his friend, telling him to “do whatever you want with it”. He also left behind some costumes and notes. Dumolin died in 2019 and now the family want to release the unheard tracks. However, there is a hitch. Although the family under Belgian law own the tapes, granting ownership of the property to someone after they have had it for 30 years. Yet the problem is that the law doesn’t include intellectual property. This means that the Gaye estate still has a legal right to the deceased singer’s property. A legal battle that will probably rage on for many years to come with music lovers not able to hear these unheard jewels from Gaye’s music catalogue. A lawsuit that echoes the one between Ed Sheran and the Gaye estate when Sheran was sued for $100 million for reportedly using multiple musical elements including melody, harmony and rhythmic components from “Let’s Get It On” on his song “Thinking Out Loud”.

The Magic of Manchester

By Elliott West

“They were real good days. For these top players, it was always for the money, even in Potters. It was a late-night snooker den where all the players used to come for a late-night Friday gamble”.

John Spencer
Chorlton Snooker Club
Introduction

After a long absence, snooker has returned to Manchester with the World Mixed Doubles and the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship being held at the historic Manchester Central venue, the site of the city’s former railway station. So it only fitting with this news to celebrate the wealth of snooker history that this city has created over the years. You only have to travel to some of the memorable locations a stone’s throw away to appreciate this snooker nostalgia.

The Mancunian Effect 

Walking down the streets of Salford takes you back to a time when John Virgo, John Spencer and Alex Higgins all played here over 50 years ago. Swinton Pool Hall and Potters in Lower Broughton may have long gone, Potters now being the local McDonald’s. Players used to flock to these clubs and they were a hive for money games. Gambling was rife, a gambling den where they came for a late-night Friday gamble. Gambling was a must for the few professionals that existed at the time. John Virgo used a tactic of only taking the yellow and letting his opponent take every other colour. It was his way of making money and he was excellent at it, he would always win.

Peter Devlin, Josh Thomond and Kayden Brierley all hail from Salford and the late John Spencer had a snooker club here. In Manchester itself, the 1952 World Championship was staged at Houldsworth Hall. A tournament that only had two entrants, the Australian Horace Lindrum and the New Zealander Clark McConachy. This was due to a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players’ Association and the Billiards Association and Control Council. The BACC thought the championship was primarily about honour, and financial consideration should come second, whilst the PBPA disagreed. As a result, most players withdrew from the event. A tournament that was won by Horace Lindrum after beating Clark McConachy 94-49 over 145 frames. Lindrum became the first overseas player to gain the title. The World Championship final was also played at the City Exhibition Hall in 1973 where Ray Reardon defeated Eddie Charlton 38-32.

Hazel Grove
Hazel Grove Snooker Club

Opened in 1985, Hazel Grove Snooker Club in Stockport is a family-run business. Alex Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Judd Trump, Jimmy White, Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty have all been here. A club frequented by players from Manchester United and Manchester City, soap stars, boxers, cricket players and other sporting champions. A club that is welcoming and has a vibrant atmosphere. Spanning over 14,000 square feet, this former factory has 34 tables of snooker and pool with 26 full-size snooker tables, 5 full-size American pool tables 3 English pool tables, a bar, kitchen and lounge area as well as a large free car park.

With thousands of paying members, the club has also purchased two new Winner Supreme 8 ball tables with a plan to maximise its pool plan shortly. A game that is ideal for a cheap night out. They also want to redevelop their old toilet block and upgrade their snooker tables with new LED lighting. Manchester also has a wealth of snooker clubs including the Steven Charles Snooker Centre, Rainbow Snooker Club, Savanna Pool & Snooker and the Carlton Social Club.