THEM - BELFAST GYPSIES [RSD Black Friday 2026] THEM

This product is an RSD Black Friday 2026 title, which is available to buy in-store from 8am on Friday 27/11/2026, and online from 8am on Saturday 28/11/2026.

Though it received little attention at the time of its Swedish/Netherlands-only release in 1967, the album “Them: Belfast Gypsies” has long been established as a stone-cold classic of rabid British garage punk/R&B.

The album had been recorded over four sessions in May/June 1966 in London and Copenhagen (where the band had relocated for several months), a year or so after brothers Pat and Jackie McAuley had left Them and put together a new band of that name.

However, a court case left the McAuley group only able to use the name Them outside of the UK, although they were allowed to call themselves "The Other Them" while on home territory. As a flag of convenience, they were christened The Belfast Gypsies by their producer, Hollywood hustler Kim Fowley, although the band themselves never used that name.

Previous releases of this material have grappled manfully with the lack of master tapes and solid information regarding this most elusive of bands. However, the unexpected discovery of the master tapes for the London recordings (which constituted seven of the album’s twelve tracks) means that this latest anthology is quite the sonic upgrade on previous releases.