Today’s classic song of the day is “Tell Him” by the Exciters. This version of the song (SPOILER ALERT: it wasn’t the first) was released in October of 1962 and it went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on Billboard’s Hot Rhythm & Blues Songs list.
“Tell Him” was originally written as “Tell Her” by legendary songwriter Bert Berns, under the pen name of Bert Russell. It was first recorded, earlier in 1962, as “Tell Her” by Gil Hamilton (AKA Johnny Thunder), with Berns himself producing. Ed Townsend also released a version of the song, also as “Tell Her,” also in 1962.
The version of the song that we know, under the title “Tell Him,” was produced by the legendary team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller at Bell Sound Records in New York City. It was released on the United Artists label and was a huge hit.
After the Exciters had their hit with “Tell Him,” several other artists released other cover versions. These included Billie Davis, whose version hit #10 in the UK, and Alma Cogan, whose version charted high in France and the Netherlands.
The real legacy of “Tell Him” concerns who it inspired to do what. In 1962 Dusty Springfield, then a member of the folk group the Springfields, was on her way from London to Nashville to make a country music album with her group. She was doing a stopover in New York, walking down Broadway, when she heard “Tell Him” blaring from the loudspeakers outside Colony Record Store. She was mesmerized by the recording and it inspired her to break out as a solo artist and embrace a pop/soul direction. As Dusty remembers it:
“The Exciters sort of got you by the throat. We first heard it briefly in New York; we were stopping in New York for the first time ever, and, I was going past a record shop; a Colony record shop, open till at least 4, if not all night, and I just walked past, I mean it was the thrill of being in New York and it was night time; the buildings were so huge and it was like—who needed drugs? It was just incredible, and I… out of the blue comes blasting at you “I know something about love”, and that’s it. That’s what I wanna do. It’s 3 o’clock in the morning, wherever it is—Broadway or something—that’s it! That’s what I wanna do. And we were going to Nashville to make a country album, so I, you know, took the scenic route to it.”
So without the Exciters’ recording of “Tell Him” we may never have had Dusty Springfield as a solo artist. No “I Only Want to Be With You.” No “Wishin’ and Hopin’.” No “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” No “The Look of Love.” No “Son of a Preacher Man.” No Dusty in Memphis.
So, thank you Bert Berns and the Exciters. You gave us a great song and inspired one of the greatest singers of the ’60s. That’s how things happened back then.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, a very, very, very early music video (actually, a Scopitone) for the Exciters’ version of “Tell Him.” This song took the Girl Group song to an exciting (pardon the pun) new level—more energetic, more soulful, less girly. It’s a terrific tune.
