"Tell Him"
Single by The Exciters
B-side	"Hard Way to Go"
Released	1962
Recorded	1962
Genre	Girl group
Length	2:21
Label	United Artists
Writer(s)	Bert Berns
The Exciters singles chronology
"Tell Him" (1962) "He's Got the Power" (1963)

"Tell Him" is the name of a song written by Bert Berns that was first recorded as "Tell Her" in 1962 by Gil Hamilton aka Johnny Thunder with Berns producing. "Tell Her" was also a single for Ed Townsend before Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced the version by the Exciters released - as "Tell Him" - in October of 1962. "Tell Him" reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 26 January 1963. A #5 R&B hit, "Tell Him" was #1 in France for two weeks and reached #5 in Australia.

In the UK the single peaked at #46 bested by a cover by Billie Davis, who took the song to #10. Another UK cover version by Alma Cogan did not chart in the UK but reached #53 in France. Cogan's friend singer Eddie Grassham says Cogan - who recorded several mutlitlingual versions of "Tell Him" including a Japanese - was acutely disappointed that "Tell Him" failed to provide her with the UK chart comeback she desperately wanted. [1] [2][3]

Dusty Springfield was on a stop-over in New York City en route to Nashville to make a country music album with the Springfields when she heard the Exciters' "Tell Him" playing while taking a late night walk by the Colony Record Store on Broadway: the experience decided Springfield to embark on a solo career with a Pop/Soul direction. She'd recall: "The Exciters sort of got you by the throat...out of the blue comes blasting at you “I know something about love”, and that’s it. That’s what I wanna do."[4]

"Tell Him" had its highest UK charting - #6 - via a 1974 remake by Hello whose producer Mike Leander had cut an earlier version with the Glitter Band which he felt could be improved upon. Hello's "Tell Him" also hit #32 in Germany.[5]. "Tell Him" would return to the UK charts in 1996 when Caroline Quentin and Leslie Ash who co-starred in the series Men Behaving Badly hit #25 with their remake credited to Quentin and Ash.

In the US "Tell Him" has reappeared on the Hot 100 twice both times as "Tell Her": in 1966 by Dean Parrish (#97) and in 1989 by Kenny Loggins (#76).

"Tell Him" has also been recorded by Sonny and Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Josie Cotton and Vonda Sheppard.

The female regulars the TV show Living Single performed a comic version of this song.

In 1984 in Bulgaria, Rositsa Kirilova, in collaboration with the Brothers Argirovi, recorded a disco version of "Tell Him" entitled “Избрах нарочно вас” (I Chose You Intentionally). The track - whose Bulgarian lyrics are unconnected to the original English version - became a major dance floor hit.

In American Dreams, Nicole Richie portrayed Brenda Reid, the lead singer of the girl group The Exciters, and sang "Tell Him" in the show. ^[1]

In 2009, The Exciters' "Tell Him" was included on the soundtrack for the DreamWorks Animation film Monsters vs. Aliens.

[edit] References

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