The Starfires-Cleveland

THE STARFIRES (Cleveland Band)

The Starfires is an American rock and roll band, founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1958, by Tom King when he was aged 15. The band is sometimes identified as Tom King and the Starfires. King is best known as the original bandleader of the Outsiders; however, it was only at the insistence of Capitol Records that the band’s name was changed when they created their breakout hit “Time Won’t Let Me”. (More from Wikipedia)

Back in 1958, Tom King, at the tender age of 15, started things off with a rhythm and blues band that he formed called the Starfires. Their repertoire was mostly instrumentals, with occasional vocals by King; they were local favorites, playing up to six shows per week, and had a minor local hit based on the popular TV commercial, “Stronger than Dirt” for Ajax laundry detergent. (Ajax had basically invented advertising jingles years earlier). When King began to lose his voice, he brought in Sonny Geraci and his brother Mike Geraci; and the band quickly began to transition to the more modern sounds being ushered in by Motown and the nascent British Invasion. Their legacy as a hard-working R&B band helped them successfully compete against the Brits.

Tom King and his brother-in-law Chet Kelley came up with a gem called “Time Won’t Let Me”, a near-perfect amalgam of Motown and Merseybeat that even 45 years later is one of those songs that I never get tired of hearing. Under pressure from Capitol Records, the band changed its name to the Outsiders.

In most places, bands formed and kept a stable line-up for years, sometimes decades; but in Cleveland, musicians were constantly being lured from one band to another in order to get the freshest sound and keep the locals’ respect. As an example, no fewer than eight members of the predecessor band the Starfires were members of the quartet the Outsiders at one time or another.

Though the James Gang and the Raspberries each had a generous write-up, there was nothing at all in Wikipedia on the Starfires or the Choir, so I also contributed those articles.

(February 2010)

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Items: The Starfires