Them or Us

Its opening and closing songs were not written by Zappa: "The Closer You Are", was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan Robinson and originally released by the Channels; and "Whipping Post", originally performed by the Allman Brothers Band.

"Ya Hozna" includes backward vocals taken from "Sofa No. 2" (from One Size Fits All, 1975), "Lonely Little Girl" (from We're Only in It for the Money, 1968) and unreleased outtakes of "Valley Girl" (vocals by Moon Zappa). "Planet of My Dreams" (featuring Bob Harris on vocals) is a 1981 studio recording taken from the score of Zappa's unrealized 1972 stage musical Hunchentoot (other titles from this show appear on the first-CD edition of the Sleep Dirt reissue from 1991). "Be in My Video", described as the best song on the album,Kelly Fisher Lowe. The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. University of Nebraska Press, 2007, p. 186 pokes fun at the cliches in music videos, particularly David Bowie's 1983 hit single "Let's Dance".

As with other Zappa rock albums of this era, many of the tracks are sourced from live recordings. Later studio overdubs were liberally applied, although there is no mention of this on the album notes.{{cite web |url= http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/lyrics/Them_Or_Us.html |title=Them or Us|work=globalia.net/donlope/fz |access-date=12 April 2016}}

Following problems with the album Thing-Fish, which MCA Records refused to distribute,{{cite book| title = The Real Frank Zappa Book| url = https://archive.org/details/realfrankzappabo0000zapp| url-access = registration| first = Frank with Occhiogrosso, Peter| last = Zappa| year = 1989| publisher=Poseidon Press| location = New York| isbn = 0-671-63870-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/realfrankzappabo0000zapp/page/278 278–279]}} Zappa made a deal with EMI Records, which would allow Them or Us and Thing-Fish to be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States. Zappa wrote a "warning" which appeared on the inner sleeves of these albums, as well as Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (1985), which stated that the albums contained content "which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress", and a "guarantee" which stated that the lyrics would not "cause eternal torment in the place where the guy with the horns and pointed stick conducts his business."

{{track listing

| all_writing = Frank Zappa, except where noted.

| headline = Side one

| total_length = {{Duration|m=18|s=01}}

| title1 = The Closer You Are

| note1 = Earl Lewis, Morgan "Bobby" Robinson

| length1 = 2:55

| title2 = In France

| length2 = 3:30

| title3 = Ya Hozna

| length3 = 6:26

| title4 = Sharleena

| length4 = 4:33

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| total_length = {{Duration|m=18|s=14}}

| title5 = Sinister Footwear II

| length5 = 8:39

| title6 = Truck Driver Divorce

| length6 = 8:59

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side three

| total_length = {{Duration|m=17|s=05}}

| title7 = Stevie's Spanking

| length7 = 5:23

| title8 = Baby, Take Your Teeth Out

| length8 = 1:54

| title9 = Marque-son's Chicken

| length9 = 7:33

| title10 = Planet of My Dreams

| length10 = 1:37

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side four

| total_length = {{Duration|m=19|s=40}}

| title11 = Be in My Video

| length11 = 3:39

| title12 = Them or Us

| length12 = 5:23

| title13 = Frogs with Dirty Little Lips

| note13 = Frank Zappa, Ahmet Zappa

| length13 = 2:42

| title14 = Whipping Post

| note14 = Gregg Allman

| length14 = 7:32

}}

• Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals
• Ray White – guitar, vocals
• Steve Vai – guitar
• Dweezil Zappa – guitar
• Tommy Mars – keyboards
• Bobby Martin – keyboards, saxophone, vocals, harmonica
• George Duke – piano, vocals
• Brad Cole – piano
• Scott Thunes – bass, Minimoog
• Arthur Barrow – bass
• Patrick O'Hearn – bass
• Ed Mann – percussion
• Chad Wackerman – drums
• Ike Willis – vocals
• Napoleon Murphy Brock – vocals
• Roy Estrada – vocals
• Johnny "Guitar" Watson – vocals
• Moon Zappa – vocals
• Bob Harris – vocals
• Thana Harris – vocals

• Mark Pinske – chief engineer
• John Matousek – mastering
• Gabrielle Raumberger – artwork, graphic design
• Steve Schapiro – photography
• Bob Stone – engineer
• Donald Roller Wilson – cover art

{{Reflist}}

• {{discogs master|36133}}
• [http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/them-or-us.html Release information]

{{Frank Zappa albums}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Them Or Us}}

Category:1984 albums

Category:Albums produced by Frank Zappa

Category:Barking Pumpkin Records albums

Category:Frank Zappa albums