‘Them!’: The 1950s monster movie that inspired Van Morrison’s first band name
Of all the great folk records released in the 1960s, Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks is easily regarded as one of the best. The musician blended pop, jazz, and blues influences into the album, which was his second release as a solo artist. It didn’t become an instant classic, though, taking several years to become known as an incredible body of work.
Still, fast forward to the present day, and Morrison is considered a musical legend. He has written many hit songs, like ‘Brown-Eyed Girl’, and released 45 albums, which is quite the feat. It was his efforts in the 1970s that really helped to expose him to a wider audience, allowing him to dedicate his whole life to music.
Yet, before his solo career, Morrison cut his teeth in a rhythm and blues band called Them – a prime example of a band named before the invention of Google. They were a five-piece band, and Morrison took on the role of the lead singer (sharing this duty with Billy Harrison) from the group’s inception in 1964 until his departure two years later. He also played the saxophone and the harmonica in Them, who managed to score a few hits during their short time.
Morrison had already been playing in a band called the Golden Eagles, but when he found out about a band that needed to play at a local dance hall, he formed a new one. This decision would prove to be incredibly smart, and the band soon signed to Decca Records. They released various hits, such as ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’, although one of the most impactful songs Morrison wrote during this time was ‘Gloria’, which was later performed by The Doors and Patti Smith.
There are various questions fans often have regarding the band, like why didn’t they gain more international success considering the popularity of ‘Gloria’? And why did Morrison leave so soon? However, one question seems to come up the most: Why were they called Them? It was the band’s youngest member, Eric Wrixon, who came up with the name, inspired by a certain sci-fi movie that was released in 1954.
Them!, directed by Gordon Douglas, was one of the first sci-fi/horror movies to use genre as a way to explore the threat of nuclear warfare and its effects on individuals. The film centres around an outbreak of dangerous insects which threaten the stability of New Mexico. The insects cause absolute terror due to their sheer size, which nearby atomic tests have caused.
It was reviewed much more kindly than some other sci-fi B-movies of the period, with critics taking the film more seriously. It’s a gripping thriller, and many consider it one of the best ‘50s sci-fi movies of all time. Them! might not be the most well-remembered sci-fi movie compared to later entries to the genre that came in subsequent decades, but it was an incredibly important precursor to bigger, more expansive films in the sci-fi canon.
Certain pieces of more recent media, such as Ant-Man and the Wasp, have paid tribute to the film, and it has also been championed by Steven Spielberg, who has made many successful sci-fi movies in his time.
