B-side "Oo-Wee" Genre Rock Label Apple Records | Format vinyl record 7" Length 3:29 | |
Released 21 February 1975 (UK only) | ||
"Snookeroo" was Elton John and Bernie Taupin's contribution to Ringo Starr's 1974 album Goodnight Vienna.
Writing and release
The song, which concerns a happy-go-lucky lout from northern England, was written about Starr himself. Bernie Taupin backs this up by calling it "a simple biographical thing". Ringo, when he approached Elton to write a song for him, told Elton to "make it nice and commercial". Elton said "Bernie wrote really simple lyrics, very Ringo type lyrics and I tried to write a simple sort of melody to it". Elton also plays piano on the track.
The title refers to the billiards game snooker. Charting as a tag-along with "No No Song" in the US, it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. On the Cash Box chart, which listed single sides separately, it "bubbled under" at number 105.
The UK version of the single, released on 21 February 1975, with "Oo-Wee" on the B-side, both tracks were taken from the album Goodnight Vienna. The record failed to chart in the UK.