The Outsiders started out as the Starfires, a hard-working popular local band in Cleveland founded by 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 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. The name the Outsiders fit the new band and the times perfectly and "Time Won't Let Me" was issued in January 1966, rising to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1966.
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