Harvey Lisberg’s new memoir, Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, dives into the untold, sordid stories behind the snooker scene
When you think about it, professional snooker is a lot like rock ’n’ roll: They both involve a certain amount of gambling, and in each one, your success hinges on staying in the pocket. But there’s one key difference: Snooker players are wilder. A lot wilder.
That’s Lisberg’s story, anyway. A legendary manager who’s handled both rock stars and giants of sport, he’s chosen to spill the juicy details of the latter in his new ebook, Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins. And the way he describes it, looking after the likes of “Hurricane” Higgins and “Whirlwind” White was a brush with utter madness that not even his years in the trenches of pop could have prepared him for.
“The snooker players were way more rock ‘n roll than the rock ’n’ roll stars, and there’s huge irony in that. But it’s true! Some of the stories are just irresistible, so I decided to write them into a book.”
To be precise, the new book is an outgrowth of his earlier memoir, I’m Into Something Good, which told how a 22-year-old accountant from Salford came to guide the careers of Herman’s Hermits, 10cc, Tony Christie and other stalwarts of the charts. In the midst of all that musical activity was an early ’80s detour into sports management—brought about, he says, by a lack of interest in working with the punk and New Wave artists of the day, but which ended up yielding its own special brand of anarchy.
“Between 1980 and 1984, I got more publicity in snooker than in almost 20 years of music, and the stories are amazing … from a winter trip with Alex Higgins in deep snow on the M62 from Yorkshire back to Manchester over the Pennines … to Jimmy White’s involvement with the ‘Two Ronnies’ — not the comedy duo, but Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones and Ronnie Kray of the Kray twins.”
Any account that features an appearance by one of the most notorious gangsters in British history has to be a wild ride. The Audible version of the book makes the author’s stories even more immersive by working in a playable sample of original music. Because while his sojourn into snooker was a relatively brief interlude in a career that’s focused largely on music — now living in Rancho Mirage, Calif., he’s been responsible for booking stadium acts like Eagles, Tom Petty, The Who and Luis Miguel into the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs — the snooker years were simply unforgettable. And revisiting them for his two books has brought those days to life again in more ways than one.
“The best rewards of writing my memoir were the wonderful reviews, podcasts, personal appearances and broadcasts, and then rekindling old friendships as a result,” Lisberg says. “Now I’m in daily contact with Jimmy White and share a weekly football bet with him — on the understanding it is the only betting we do. We’re born-again recovering gamblers!”
Pick up Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker, and let yourself in on a sure bet. Find the book on Audible and Amazon, check out Lisberg’s website, and listen to Harvey on the Bob Lefsetz Show.
