The Outsiders

The Outsiders were a rock band out of Cleveland, Ohio. They started out as Tom King and the Starfires and had a modicum of success in the Cleveland area, but it wasn't until vocalist Sonny Geraci came on board that the group really broke out. Band leader Tom King and fellow bandmate (and brother-in-law) Chet Kelley had written a hard-driving song called "Time Won't Let Me", which--fairly unusual for the time--had brass and horns as an integral part of the arrangement. In 1965 King and Kelley rented a studio and the band recorded the song on their own. Execs from Capitol Records heard it, liked it and signed the group, but ordered that their "Tom King and the Starfires" name be changed. King recalled that the band had recorded several songs for local Fama Records, which was owned by his uncle, and that a disagreement between King and his uncle resulted in them being dropped by the label and his uncle accusing him of being "an outsider" to the family. He liked that word and the band's new name became The Outsiders. Capitol released "Time Won't Let Me" in January of 1966 and it was an immediate hit, climbing to #5 on the national charts, and sold over a million copies. They followed with a string of additional hits, including "Girl in Love". Former band member Jim Fox--later to help form James Gang--was brought in as the band's drummer for its debut album, "Outsiders #2". One of the songs on that album, a cover of a song by The Isley Brothers called "Respectable", was picked to be the band's third single and it climbed the charts at #15. A follow-up single, "Help Me Girl", didn't go anywhere (although it did become a hit years later when it was recorded by The Animals). Bad luck seemed to follow the group after that. They were offered and turned down a song called "Bend Me, Shape Me", which became a major hit for American Breed. Their next album, "In", was released in 1967 and never made it to the charts, and none of the band's singles after that even made the Top 100. The band went through some personnel and producer changes, but that didn't seem to help. They effectively dissolved in 1970, although it has been reformed with the participation of various original members several times over the years--most recently by Geraci--and still (as of 2011) plays concerts across the US.