Them was a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, best known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's career. The group was marketed in the USA as part of the British Invasion.

Them forged their hard-nosed R&B sound in Belfast, Ireland, moving to England in 1964 after landing a deal with Decca Records. The band's simmering sound was dominated by boiling organ riffs, lean guitars, and the tough vocals of lead singer Van Morrison, whose recordings with Them rank among the very best performances of the British Invasion. Morrison also wrote top-notch original material for the outfit, whose lineup changed numerous times over the course of their brief existence. As a hit-making act, their résumé was brief — "Here Comes the Night" and "Baby Please Don't Go" were Top Ten hits in England, "Mystic Eyes" and "Here Comes the Night" made the Top 40 in the U.S. — but their influence was considerable, reaching bands like the Doors, whom Them played with during a residency in Los Angeles just before Van Morrison quit the band in 1966. Their most influential song of all, the classic three-chord stormer "Gloria," was actually a B-side.

In mid 1966, Van Morrison left Them to pursue a successful solo career. The rest of the band continued on into the early 1970s, releasing four albums and touring steadily after relocating to California around 1967. Them splintered into the Belfast Gypsies, who released an album that (except for the vocals) approximated Them's early records, and a psychedelic outfit that kept the name Them, releasing four LPs with little resemblance to the tough sounds of their mid-'60s heyday.

The song GLORIA by THEM was :

• inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007
• rated at #69 on Dave Marsh's 1989 book, The Heart of Rock and Soul, The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever and "Mystic Eyes" was rated at #458.
• #208 on the 2004 Rolling Stone magazine's feature, The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

* reference Wikipedia & AllMusic