The Exciters

With their no-nonsense, street-smart approach, the Exciters ushered in the heyday of the girl group sound via the 1962 classic "Tell Him." Queens, NY, classmates Brenda Reid, Carol Johnson, Lillian Walker, and Sylvia Wilbur formed the group in 1961 when they were all 17 years old. Originally dubbed the Masterettes, they were the sister act to the Masters, a local doo wop quintet with the End Records single "A Man Is Not Supposed to Cry" to its credit. When the Masters secured a record deal with the Le Sage label, they wrangled session time for the Masterettes as well, and in early 1962 the group issued its debut effort, "Follow the Leader." Wilbur left the lineup soon after, and with replacement Penny Carter, the Masterettes auditioned for the famed writing/producing duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller -- Carter's tenure with the group proved brief, however, and following creative differences with his bandmates, Masters member Herb Rooney signed on with the Masterettes in time for their first session for United Artists. Galvanized by Reid's aggressive lead vocal, "Tell Him" -- credited to the Exciters, a moniker devised by Leiber & Stoller -- hit radio and retail in the fall of 1962, reaching the Top Five on the Billboard pop and R&B charts early the following year. Eschewing the demure puppy-love sensibilities of previous girl group records, "Tell Him" boasted an intensity that signified a sea change in the presentation and perception of femininity in popular music, paving the way for such tough, sexy acts as the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes. The Exciters resurfaced in the spring of 1963 with "He's Got the Power" -- though as potent (if not more so) than "Tell Him," the single sputtered to a halt at number 57 on the Billboard chart, portending the commercial...