Amidst the proliferation of new styles of music generated by rock in the mid-1960s, some groups managed to succeed with sounds that couldn't really be called anything else than mainstream pop-rock. The Outsiders were one such group, and "Time Won't Let Me" was one of the biggest hits by such an act, reaching #5 in 1966.

If there was anything to distinguish them from the uncounted other groups making records in America at the time, it was that they, like several acts from the Midwest, made prominent use of horns on their records. The first of several cornfield-sized hooks on "Time Won't Let Me," following an introductory drum roll, was a wiry, nigglingly insistent guitar riff, quickly reinforced by football marching-band strength brass. Those horns, and a steady organ, underpinned Sonny Geraci's rather delicate lead vocal in the verse.

The band exploded into "Time Won't Let Me"'s ultra-catchy chorus with strong background harmonies in which the singers exclaimed "oh no" and the horns rose in force, culminating in a dramatic squawk.

On the second go-round through the chorus, a James Brown-like white-boy scream kicked off an instrumental break in which a rather weedy guitar solo was followed by more of those swelling harmonies and squawking horns. As a final attention-grabbing device, the song kicked into double-time on the fadeout.

There's nothing profound about "Time Won't Let Me," musically or lyrically; it's just an instantly memorable, fun good-time song, and if it was as easy to make those things as it sounded, there would have been a lot more #5 hits like this. The unlikely figure of Iggy Pop covered the tune on his 1981 album Party. ~ All Music Guide