Gloria – Them

I was terrible at English lessons in school, I'm pretty sure I’ve got dyslexia and can spell to save my life. We used to be set assignments to read books and write long essays about them. Being a slow reader I was always still reading the book when I was meant to be giving in the homework. 

 

We were reading a book called The Outsiders by a teenage American writer called S. E. Hinton. It was getting near the end of term and we wouldn’t have got it read in time, so on this particular day our English teacher wheeled in one of those old wooden boxed TVs they used to use at school in the 80s. He had found the movie made of the book on VHS tape and showed us the film during one double period. 

 

Now this was much better I could understand every word and best of all it had a 1950/60s soundtrack, right up my street. Only when I re-watched it years later did I realise the big hits it had in there. This song being one of them and also a personal favourite. The film's cast was also incredible with the likes of Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze featuring as very young unknown actors.

Them were the band that Van Morrison stepped out of, they were a bit rockier than Van's solo offerings. I think it's a great name for a band, as everyone else around at the time were called 'The Somethings.'

This song sweeps along with it's repetitive beats and great sing along sections, how Van manages to get such a long note out of a simple 'i' is brilliant.

Favourite lyric : She about five feet four / A from her head to the ground