As today is New Year’s Eve, time is running out for the old year—which leads us to today’s end-of-year classic song of the day, “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders. Released in January of 1966, this garage rock classic shot to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It also hit #5 in Canada.)
The Outsiders were a band from Cleveland that had been active since 1958. Originally known as the Starfires, the band was under contract to the small label Pama Records, owned by the uncle of the group’s founding member and rhythm guitarist Tom King. Other members of the Outsiders in 1965 were Al Austin on lead guitar, Mert Madsen on bass, and Ronnie Harkai on drums. Sonny Geraci sang lead.
“Time Won’t Let Me” was written by Tom King and his pal Chet Kelley. The band cut the track in September of 1965 and the recording caught the attention of execs at Capitol Records. The much bigger label signed the band away from Pama, changed the name of the group from the Starfires to the Outsiders, and released the single nationally. That was a win for all involved.
While “Time Won’t Let Me” was the group’s biggest hit, they also had top forty hits with “Girl in Love,” “Respectable,” and “Help Me Girl,” all released in 1966. The group continued recording for a few years and still continues to perform live, with multiple replacement members. Interestingly, Sonny Geraci, along with two later Outsiders (guitarist Walter Nims and keyboardist Nick D’Amico) left the group in 1970 to form the band Climax, which had a monster hit early in 1972 with the single “Precious and Few.”
Tom King, the Outsiders’ erstwhile leader and co-writer of “Time Won’t Let Me,” passed away in 2011 at age 68. Lead singer singer Sonny Geraci died in 2017, aged 70.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Sonny Geraci and the Outsiders lip synching “Time Won’t Let Me” on Happening Now in 1966. No cords on those guitars, folks!
