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Concept Refinement
The Author..Wayne Jancik
Golden Age Of The 50s
Golden Age Of The 60s
1970s and There After
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EXCITERS
“TELL HIM”
(Bert Russell)
United Artists 544
No. 4 January 19, 1963
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Herb Rooney was born in 1941 and raised in New York City. Hankering for a better life, Herb and some of
his buddies tried for years to get a break for their vocal group, the Continentals. Luck, however, was not
on their side, and the group dispersed. With the Masters, Rooney got to record for Bingo Records, but
sales were slow.
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In 1962, Herb met what became the Masterettes, a sister group to the Masters–four singing, swinging high
school juniors from Queens. Rooney thought that the girls–Brenda Reid, Carol Johnson, Lillian Walker,
and Sylvia Wilbur–had a really hot sound. Their lone single, “Follow The Leader,” for Lesage Records,
flopped.
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Sax man Al Sears referred Rooney and the girls to United Artist Records and production legends, Jerry
Leiber and Mike Stoller. The duo concurred with Herb’s assessment, and told Herb to stick around and
sing bottom for the group, now re-dubbed the Exciters. Reportedly, Sylvia lost interest in the effort and
dropped out of the group.
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Before the year was out, the girls were out of school and the foursome’s “Tell Him”–a Bert Russell (aka
Bert Burns, author of “Twist And Shout” and a cover of a promising but inactive disk by Gil Hamilton (aka
JOHNNY THUNDER)–was chugging up the charts. Listeners noticed not but it can now be revealed that
Brenda, the lead vocalist, flubbed a number of lines and edits were made in the issued copy, along with a
tape speed up to up the pitch and intensity.
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Five more Exciters singles would place on the Hot 100: “He’s Got The Power” (#57, 1963), “Get Him”
(#76,1963), the original version of the Manfred Mann hit “Do-Wah-Diddy (#78, 1964), “I Want You To Be
My Baby” (#96, 1965), and a up-dated rendering of another Burns’ composition, THE JARMELS’ “A Little
Bit Of Soap” (#58, 1 966).
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In 1964, the Exciters switched to Roulette Records and recorded what may prove to be the first rock videos,
made by an American group--one each for “Tell Him” and “He’s Got The Power”–for Scopitone. Rooney
and girls performed in Europe and the Caribbean, toured with Wilson Pickett, and opened for the Beatles.
But after 1966 and a move to Burns’ Bang Records, the media excitement died down to a dribble. Reid and
Rooney–who had married in the ’60s –continued to carry on whoopin’ and hollerin’, but in the ’70s,
Johnson and Walker quietly walked away from the Exciters, and were replaced by Skip McPhee and
Ronnie Pace (both formerly of Mother Night). Tours of England brought the group a following on the
Northern soul circuit and a minor U. K. hit with “Reaching For The Beat” in 1975. Releases continued
through the ’70s on RCA, Elephant Y, Fargo, H & L, 20th Century, and Tomorrow–though billing shifted to
“Brenda and Herb,” reflecting the nature of the groups line-up.
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Brenda and Herb are no longer together. Herb manages a cosmetic firm. The Exciters name carries on as
a family tradition with Brenda fronting a unit comprised of offspring: Jeff, Tracy, Trisha, and sometime
Mark. Mark as “L.A. Reid” was a member of DEELE and has gone on to produce and write for Young M.C.,
Eric B. and Rakim, Lisa Lisa, and Regina Belle.
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By the turn of the last decade of the 20th Century, the act was recording for lan Levine’s Nightmare label as
The Brand new Exciters.
COPYRIGHT 1997 Wayne Jancik