The Story of Them Trivia Quiz

Answer: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Them was founded in Belfast, Northern Ireland in April of 1964. Van Morrison was its lead vocalist, and the other members included Ronnie Milling, Eric Wrixon, Alan Henderson, and Billy Harrison. Eric Wrixon went on to be a founding member of Thin Lizzy, but he left the band before the release of its first single to rejoin a reformulated Them, absent Van Morrison.

Them was marketed in the United States as being part of the so-called "British Invasion." In their short time together as the original five-member band, they released two albums, "The Angry Young Them" in 1965 and "Them Again" in 1966.

Answer: 18

Van Morrison started his career early. He formed his first school band at the age of 12, called The Sputniks, followed by Midnight Special at 14. Then he began playing with local bands, including Deanie Sands and the Javelins. At age 17, Van Morrison went on a tour of clubs on US Army bases in Europe with The International Monarchs, for whom he played saxophone, guitar, and harp. But they disbanded in 1963. Then he played with the Golden Eagles for a bit.

In April of 1964, Van Morrison, then still 18, saw an advertisement for musicians to play at the opening night of a new R&B club. The club was located in an old dance hall called the Maritime Hotel. He created a band using members from The Gamblers, which had been formed by Ronnie Millings, Alan Henderson, and Billy Harrison in 1962. He also recruited Eric Wrixon, who was then still in school, to play the piano and keyboards. They took Them as their new band name, which, according to classicrock.com, was Eric Wrixon's suggestion. He drew the name from the 1954 science-fiction / horror movie "Them!"

Answer: Turn on Your Love Light

A fan recorded Them singing this song at the Maritime Hotel, and that recording made its way to music executive Phil Solomon, who in turn contacted Dick Rowe of Decca Records. Rowe went to Belfast to hear the band perform. Them was signed to a two-year contract, and soon the group was recording at Decca's studio in West Hampstead. They recorded "Turn On Your Love Light" during their first session, along with "Gloria."

"Brown Eyed Girl" was a song on Van Morrison's debut album, "Blowin' Your Mind." Them recorded "I Put A Spell On You," which was originally written and composed by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, on their album "Them Again."

Answer: Don't Look Back

Paul Simon wrote "Richard Cory" in 1965, and it appeared on Simon and Garfunkel's album "Sounds of Silence." Them released "Richard Cory" as a single in 1966.

James Brown and Ted Wright wrote "Out of Sight," which Them covered on "Them Again."

"Bad or Good" was written by Van Morrison himself and included on "Them Again."

John Lee Hooker wrote "Don't Look Back" and released the single in 1964. Them covered it on their debut album "The Angry Young Them." Van Morrison later recorded a duet of the song with John Lee Hooker for Hooker's album "Don't Look Back," which was released in 1997 and co-produced by Van Morrison. The duet won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 1998.

The song begins:

"Don't look back to the days of yesteryear,
You cannot live on in the past,
Don't look back."

Answer: Jimmy Page

The song was written by Bert Berns and released as a single by Them in March of 1965 with "All for Myself" on the B-side. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart.

Jimmy Page was a session musician at the time, though he would go on to help form Led Zeppelin in 1968. In "Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out," Gordon Thompson quotes Jimmy Page as saying, "It was very embarrassing on the Them sessions. With each song, another member of the band would be replaced by a session player. It was really horrifying! Talk about daggers! You'd be sitting there, wishing you hadn't been booked."

Answer: Gloria

"Like to tell ya about my baby
You know she comes around
She about five feet four
A from her head to the ground
You know she comes around here
At just about midnight
She make ya feel so good, Lord
She make you feel alright
And her name is G L O R I I I A."

The single was released in December 1964 with "Baby Please Don't Go" on the A-side. Van Morrison would later do a version of this song with John Lee Hooker for his 1993 album "Too Long in Exile."

The song has been covered by numerous artists ranging from AC/DC, The Doors, and Jimi Hendrix to David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty. Them's original version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Answer: Mystic Eyes

The song continues:

"I looked into
A-yeah those mystic eyes
Her mystic eyes
Mystic eyes
Mystic eyes."

The song was recorded on "The Angry Young Them," and a single was released four months after the album's release, in November of 1965, with "If You And I Could Be As Two" on the B-Side. It peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. This was Them's second most successful single in the U.S., after "Here Comes the Night," which peaked at Number 24.

Answer: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Bob Dylan did not record "Tangled Up in Blue" until 1975, years after Them disbanded. "Hello, Josephine" was written by Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino and "I Got A Woman" by Ray Charles and Renald Richard.

"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" was first recorded on Bob Dylan's 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home." Them's version was recorded on their 1966 album "Them Again," and a single of the song was released in October of 1966 in Holland with "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" on the B-Side. A single of the song was also released in December of 1973 in Germany with "Bad or Good" on the B-Side. While it made no impact on the Dutch charts, it peaked at number 13 on the German singles chart.

Answer: Baby, Please Don't Go

First popularized by Delta blues man Big Joe Williams in 1935, the song was also recorded by the Orioles (in doo-wop fashion) in 1952. Muddy Waters gave it an electric Chicago blues spin in 1953. It became a rock standard with Them, and was later covered by AC/DC and Aerosmith.

Answer: The Doors

Them toured the U.S. in 1966, and from May 30 to June 18 they had a residency at the famed Whiskey A Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood, California. During their last week there, The Doors were an opening act, and on Them's last night, both bands played together on an improvised, elongated version of "Gloria" and "In the Midnight Hour." In his book "Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison," Brian Hinton writes that Jim Morrison learned from Van Morrison "stagecraft," "apparent recklessness," and "air of subdued menace." The Doors lead singer also learned how to "improvise poetry to a rock beat."

After their U.S. tour, Them broke up.