Frogtoon Music

Toptracks by The Tokens

Artist Biography For The Tokens

The Tokens Are An American Male Doo-Wop-Style Vocal Group And Record Production Company Group From Brooklyn New York. They Are Known Best For Their Chart-Topping 1961 Single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". The Group Was Formed In 1955 At Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School And Was Known First As The Linc-Tones. Originally Featuring Members Neil Sedaka Hank Medress Eddie Rabkin And Cynthia Zolotin Rabkin Was Replaced By Jay Siegel In 1956 And The Band Recorded Its First Single "While I Dream" That Same Year. In 1957 Sedaka And Zolotin Left The Band Leaving Only Siegel And Medress Who Would Recruit Two Additional Band Members And Record The Single "Picture In My Wallet" As Darrell & The Oxfords. Finally Establishing Its Most Famous Name And Crew The Band Became Known As The Tokens In 1960 After They Recruited The 13-Year-Old Multi-Instrumentalist And First Tenor Mitch Margo And His Baritone Brother Phil Margo. In Early 1961 The Tokens Released A Single For Warwick Records Titled "Tonight I Fell In Love " Which Scored No. 15 On The Billboard Hot 100 Chart And Earned The Group An Opportunity To Perform On The Television Program American Bandstand. The Popularity That The Band Garnered As A Result Of This Performance Brought It New Recording Opportunities Culminating In Its Cover Of Solomon Linda's "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" For RCA Victor Records. It Reached No. 1 On The Billboard Hot 100 Chart Where It Remained For Three Weeks. The Same Track Peaked At No. 11 In The UK Singles Chart. Both "Tonight I Fell In Love" And "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" Sold More Than 1 Million Copies And Were Awarded Gold Discs. From 1962 To 1970 The Group Released Nine More Songs That Scored The Top 100. Jay Siegel Was The Lead Vocalist On All The Tokens' Hits Including "I Hear Trumpets Blow" 1966 And "Portrait Of My Love" 1967 . Beginning In 1963 The Tokens Also Began Serving As Record Producers For Other Artists Such As The Chiffons Randy & The Rainbows And The Happenings. Their Production Company Was Called Bright Tunes And They Also Created Their Own Record Company B.T. Bright Tunes Puppy Records. In 1972 Jay Siegel Did Background Vocals For A Re-Recording Of Lion Sleeps Tonight With Robert John As The Lead Vocalist. This Version Hit #3 On The Charts And Was Awarded A Gold Disc. In 1970 Hank Medress Began Producing An Act For Bell Records Dawn Which Featured The Former Teen-Idol Tony Orlando. It Was As A Favor To Medress That Orlando Sang The Lead On The First Record "Candida" Which Became A Top 3 Hit. In 1973 Medress Ended His Relationship With The Group And Siegel Teamed With The Margo Brothers To Form The Group Cross Country Which Would Have Some Success With Its Cover Version Of "In The Midnight Hour." The Tokens Reunited During 1975 For Occasional Weeks As Singing Regulars On The Adam Wade Hosted Game Show Musical Chairs And In 1978 Recorded A Song For ABC's Schoolhouse Rock Named "A Victim Of Gravity". Brothers Mitch And Philip Margo Continue To Perform With New Members Jay Leslie Mike Johnson And Noah Margo One Of Margo's Sons Playing Drums. Mitch Margo's Sons Damien Margo And Ari Margo Also Make Occasional Guest Performances With The Band Exemplifying Phil Margo's Saying That "If You Hang Around Long Enough You Can Grow Your Own Band." Siegel Continues To Perform With His Own Version Of The Tokens As Well Featuring Bass Singer Bill Reid And More Recently John "Jay" Traynor The Original Lead Singer Before Jay Black Of Jay & The Americans And The Mystics. Siegel's Son Is Also Part Of The Group As Keyboardist And Occasional Vocalist. John "Jay" Traynor Died January 2 2014 Of Liver Cancer At A Hospital In Tampa Florida. Jay Siegel's Tokens And The Margo Brothers Reunited In 2000 To Perform On The PBS Special Doo Wop 51. At The Time Siegel's Tokens Were Siegel Reid And Eddy Rezzonico Rezzonico Had Replaced Richie Grasso During The 1990s. Mitch Margo Died On November 24 2017 Aged 70. Decades After Not Receiving Any Publishing Credit For Their Specific Original Musical Composition Part Of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" The Band Began A Lawsuit In Order To Regain Some Of These Publishing Rights. The Case Was Dismissed Due To The Statute Of Limitations. To This Day The Tokens Claim That Some Of The Original Musical Composition Of The 1961 Song Was Created By Them Even Though They Have Not Been Awarded This Status By Their Record Company. On October 19 2009 Phil And Mitch Margo Filed Suit In Manhattan For The Rights To The Tokens Name. They Claim In Their Filing That Henry Medress Suggested The Name. In A Competing Suit Filed In California By Siegel He Claims Siegel Medress And Sedaka Released An Album Named Neil Sedaka And The Tokens Previously. 9 On Sedaka's Own Website There Is A Listing In His Discography Catalog For A 1958 Release Of Neil Sedaka And The Tokens As Well As A Second Album Also During 1958 Named Neil Sedaka And The Tokens And Coins. As Well As Being Performing And Recording Artists The Tokens Were Also Record Producers. Here Are Some Of The Records They Produced "He's So Fine" By The Chiffons
"One Fine Day" By The Chiffons
"Denise" By Randy & The Rainbows
"See You In September" By The Happenings
"I Got Rhythm" By The Happenings
"Go Away Little Girl" By The Happenings
"Candida" By Tony Orlando And Dawn
"Knock Three Times" By Tony Orlando And Dawn
"Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" By Tony Orlando And Dawn Awards And Recognition
The Tokens Were Inducted Into The Vocal Group Hall Of Fame In 2004. In 1998 The Tokens Were Mentioned By The Guinness World Records For Performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" At All 30 Major League Baseball Stadiums In The United States And Canada. Band Members
Classic Lineup
Original Tokens Jay Siegel – Lead Singer
Mitch Margo
Neil Sedaka
Phil Margo
Hank Medress
Joe Venneri – Guitar Current Groups
Jay Siegel's Tokens
Jay Siegel Original Lead Vocalist Bill Reid
Kurt “Frenchy” Yahjian Replaced Jay Traynor After His Passing January 2 2014 The Margo Brothers' Tokens
Mitch Margo – Lead Vocals Guitar Died November 2017 Phil Margo – Vocals Percussion
Jay Leslie – Vocals Horns
Mike Johnson – Vocals Keyboard
Noah Margo – Drums
Ari Margo – Guest Performer Vocals
Damien Margo – Guest Performer Vocals Drums

HOME THE TOKENS
POPULAR TRACKS MIXES ALBUMS
Video 1 : 50

The Tokens - Top Tracks

In The Jungle The Mighty Jungle...The TokensOK I Know That This Is Not The Most Original Thing In The World But It Is The Whole Song Or That's What I Believe. Hope U Lik It Bye, ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - MBC CoverThe TokensPressure... Peer Pressure... The Only Reason Why These Wonderful MEN Ended Up Singing This Song In Their Bathroom... You Guys ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Views: 662.5K
The Tokens A Colorful Video Of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" By The Tokens From Their "Oldies Are Now" Album ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Views: 381.2K
The TokensProvided To YouTube By RCA The Lion Sleeps Tonight · The Tokens · Weiss · Peretti · Creatore · Weiss · Peretti · Creatore The ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Views: 286.9K
The TokensProvided To YouTube By Symphonic Distribution The Lion Sleeps Tonight · The Tokens The Great Rock Revival, Vol. 1 1972 ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight RemasteredThe TokensProvided To YouTube By La Cupula Music SL The Lion Sleeps Tonight Remastered · The Tokens The Lions Sleeps Tonight ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight WimowehThe TokensProvided To YouTube By RCA Records Label The Lion Sleeps Tonight Wimoweh · The Tokens RCA Collection Recorded Prior ...
The Tokens At The Big E Doo Wop ShowThe TokensThe Tokens Perform Their Hits Including "Tonight I Fell In Love", "Portrait Of My Love", And "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" At The Big E's ...
Earth Angel You Will Be MineThe TokensProvided To YouTube By Legacy Recordings Earth Angel You Will Be Mine · The Tokens The Tokens Again Originally ...
The Tokens - He' S In Town - 1964 45rpmThe TokensThree Years After Telling Us 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', The Brooklyn Vocal Group Did A Neat Job Of This Goffin/King Song. Covered In ...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Views: 51.6K
The TokensProvided To YouTube By The Orchard Enterprises The Lion Sleeps Tonight · The Tokens The Best Of The Tokens - EP 2012 One ...
Jay Siegel Of The Tokens
Views: 26.2K
The TokensThe Tokens Were Students At Abraham Lincoln High School In Brooklyn. At First, They Were Named The Linc-Tones. Originally ...