The Outsiders

Chances are that, despite their having come from Cleveland, OH -- and, thus, having a certain home field advantage -- the Outsiders will never be considered for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Bands with just two big hits ("Time Won't Let Me," "Respectable") and a history mostly confined to AM radio in the '60s don't seem to rate that kind of recognition. But if any two-hit, dance-oriented band from the '60s ever deserved a crack at being voted in, the Outsiders do, simply based on the quality of their work over three years and four albums. The Outsiders started life as the Starfires, a hard-working popular local band in Cleveland founded by guitarist/singer Tom King in 1958. By 1965, the group had decided to add more vocals to its repertory, adding lead singer Sonny Geraci. Tom King and his brother-in-law, Chet Kelley, co-authored a song called "Time Won't Let Me," and King turned the new number into a rock & roll tour de force. Recording it on their own, the band (under King's direction) melded the group's core sound -- augmented by the presence of Al Austin on lead guitar -- to brass and horn sections, in what was a fairly complex dual-layer arrangement. The group was signed by Capitol Records on the strength of the recording, but the label insisted that the band get a new name. King had been forced to abandon Pama Records, the label for which the Starfires had cut a dozen sides and was owned by his uncle, who accused his nephew of being an "outsider" to the family.

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