''The Starfires'' is an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

band founded in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, in 1958 by Tom King when he was 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 Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

that the band's name was changed when they created their breakout hit "Time Won't Let Me". (This is not the same band as the Starfires, a 1960s Los Angeles

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band best known for their track, "I Never Loved Her".)

History

The Starfires were formed by Tom King at Shaw High School in Cleveland in 1958, and remained a popular local band through the mid-1960s. Their forte was

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

s, with occasional vocals by King. Also, his uncle, Patrick Connelly owned a record company, Pama Records; and the band (along with at least one single by Tom King individually) produced several sides over this period, notably "Stronger than Dirt" (which charted locally) that was based on a well-known

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

for Ajax Laundry Detergent. King had a

tonsillectomy Tonsillectomy is a list of surgical procedures, surgical procedure in which both palatine tonsils are fully removed from the back of the throat. The procedure is mainly performed for recurrent tonsillitis, throat infections and obstructive sleep ...

, limiting his singing, so he added a new lead singer –

Sonny Geraci Emmett Peter "Sonny" Geraci ("Jer-ah-see"); November 22, 1946 – February 5, 2017) was an American singer, best known as lead singer of musical groups The Outsiders and Climax. Biography Geraci first became known as the original lead vocal ...

– and changed the band's sound somewhat to match the musical tastes of the period. This led to the eventual creation of the Outsiders.

Post break-up

Geraci and Nims were among the founding members of

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

. Jimmy (Jim) Fox and Richard Kriss's brother, Tommy Kriss, were the founders of the

James Gang James Gang is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and ...

. Harkai was a member of The Pilgrims a popular Cleveland rock band in the early to mid-1960s, prior to joining The Starfires.

Band members

Bruce Eder, op. cit. * Tom King, ''guitarist, vocals'' * Walter Nims, ''lead guitar'' * Howard Blank, ''drums'' * Dennis Slifko, ''saxophone'' * Mert Madsen, ''bass guitar, harmonica'' * Richard Kriss, "lead guitar" * Tony Sawyer, ''saxophone'' (joined in the early 1960s) * Ray Miller, ''lead guitar'' (early 1964) * Jimmy Fox, ''drums'' (played with the Starfires for a short time while attending college) * Sonny Geraci, ''lead vocals'' (joined in 1964) * Ronnie Harkai, ''drums'' (joined in 1964-during which time The Starfires transitioned into the band, The Outsiders)

Albums

*''

Roots of the Outsiders ''Roots of the Outsiders'' is a retrospective album by the Starfires that has been released in CD format. This album lists the band name as Tom King and the Starfires, an alternate name for the group and also highlighting the original bandleader ...

''; Collectables Records Jazz sax player, Tony "The Big T" Lovano also played with the Starfires on numerous gigs throughout Cleveland. Tony (deceased) was the Dad of Grammy Award-winning sax player, Joe Lovano.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starfires (Cleveland band), The Rock music groups from Ohio Musical groups established in 1958 Musical groups from Cleveland Rock and roll music groups 1958 establishments in Ohio