In the slum clearances of the 1960s, it was not unknown for the wrecking ball operator to become so sated with the destruction of Victorian terraced houses, that he had to be lead away weeping from his crane. At such times the rest of the demolition gang would swing the ball manually with the aid of ropes.

The timing of the haul and release was crucial if the dangerous weight was not to swing out of control and a particular form of shanty was developed to aid the ropemen. The songs became popular in and around the communities whose houses were being taken down but were brought to public notice and finally banned after a recalcitrant dowager some believed to be a witch, spread Nobby's Lament to the ears of comatose navvies during a Friday lock-in. The chant's curious timing began laying low wrecking crews with various muscular ailments, mostly the result of whiplash injuries and was finally identified by Dr Wong as Refrain Snatch, though it was more commonly known by earthier titles.

The old woman was removed to the 19th floor of Wormwood Towers, a notorious high rise based on Le Corbusier's absinthe period and she died shortly afterwards of a licquorice overdose. There was a brief Snatch revival in the 80s lead by The Wreckers and Boys With Massive Balls who combined leather jerkins with surgical collars but it came to nothing and none of the original material is extant.