Them (band)
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Them was a British-Irish band formed in Belfast in 1963, featuring Van Morrison on vocals and harmonica, Billy Harrison on guitar, Eric Wrixen on piano and keyboards, Alan Henderson on bass, and Ronnie Millings on drums.
The group released its first single, "Don't Start Crying Now"/"One Two Brown Eyes", in August 1964. The single was a flop. The band then hired Jimmy Page and Peter Bardens to work with them on a cover of Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go". The single, which featured the now-legendary "Gloria" as a B-side, was a smash in the UK, sailing to #10 on the charts in December 1964. The band then released its biggest hit in the UK, "Here Comes the Night"/"All for Myself", which hit #2 in March 1965 (it went to #24 in the US that May). Later that year the instrumental "Mystic Eyes" reached #33 in the US. (The following year American band Shadows of Knight had a top ten US hit with their rendition of "Gloria".)
The band released two albums on Decca, Them and Them Again, both of which failed to sell, and in mid-1966, Van Morrison left the group to pursue a solo career. The rest of the band split up and reformed several times without Morrison, but did not duplicate its previous successes. Van Morrison went on to greater success and fame as a solo artist, but Them's combination of garage rock, blues, and soul proved a major influence on the next generation of rock musicians, and the group's best-known singles have become staples of rock and roll.
Them was also the name of the experimental hip hop group Themselves before they changed their name to avoid confusion with the 1960s Them.da:Them de:Them