Who was/is The Tokens ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more

The Tokens

Tonight I Fell In Love

When they started out in the mid-'50s, The Tokens (not to be confused with the group who made Doom Lang) were ahead of their time as five Jewish teens attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn that liked rock and roll and wanted to make their own. Piano prodigy Neil Sedaka and falsetto specialist Jay Siegel recruited lead tenor Eddie Rapkin, Cynthia Zolotin, and Hank Medress (born November 19, 1938) from choral class to form The Linc-Tones. They squeezed rehearsals around Neil's piano practice (he surprisingly usually sang bass).

Zolotin's mother knew song plugger Happy Goday and set them up with an audition. That led to an audience with Morty Craft, owner of Melba Records with Ray Maxwell. Goday may also have renamed them The Tokens. Craft produced their Melba debut session in the spring of 1956, their single pairing the Rapkin-led rocker I Love My Baby and a Sedaka-fronted While I Dream, both penned by Neil and Howie Greenfield. Not too long after that, Neil left The Tokens. He signed with RCA Victor as a solo in 1958 and prepared to embrace mainstream stardom.

Medress and Siegel rebounded by joining Warren Schwartz and Fred Kalkstein in a new group, Darrell & The Oxfords, making two singles for Roulette (their Siegel-led Picture In My Wallet was a big New York favorite). Hank and Jay next hooked up with baritone Phil (born April 1, 1942) and first tenor Mitch Margo (born May 25, 1947, he was all of 13). Medress met a lady on the subway whose son was a music publisher. The guy put up $300 to pay for a session at Allegro Studios in the fall of 1960 where the new group waxed Medress and the Margos' snappy Tonight I Fell In Love (I'll Always Love You would be its B-side). Craft now ran Warwick Records and he dug the demo enough to issue it in February of '61. He didn't like their name, Those Guys, so The Tokens were back in business.

Tonight I Fell In Love cracked the pop hit parade for The Tokens in March, sailing to #15. Warwick couldn't hold them for long. Citing non-payment of royalties, they defected to RCA, where their reinvigoration of The Weavers' Wimoweh, retitled The Lion Sleeps Tonight, paced the pop charts and went gold late in the year. The group continued to record throughout the decade, delving into production (they helmed The Chiffons' '63 chart-topper He's So Fine) and later forming their own label, B.T. Puppy. Medress died of lung cancer June 18, 2007. Siegel and the Margos now front competing Tokens groups.

 

Various Street Corner Symphonies 1961 Vol.13

Read more at: https://www.bear-family.com/various-street-corner-symphonies-1961-vol.13.html
Copyright © Bear Family Records

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More information about The Tokens on Wikipedia.org

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Just For The Record - A Complete Compilation Of Their Greatest Hits (2-CD)
The Tokens: Just For The Record - A Complete Compilation Of... Art-Nr.: CDS8240

This article is deleted and can no longer be ordered!

(Sting) 58 tracks (140:57) - Single and LP sides plus rarities.
$40.68 $45.21
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (CD)
The Tokens: The Lion Sleeps Tonight (CD) Art-Nr.: CDRCA66510

the very last 2 available
Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

(RCA) 10 tracks 1961-62 (24:27) Superb sounding 2-track transfers by Dennis Ferrante and Jay Newland. Most selectionsl from the original 2-track stereo masters and original stereo session tapes (#5 and #8).
$19.18
It's A Happening World (1967)...plus
The Tokens: It's A Happening World (1967)...plus Art-Nr.: CDRGM0069

This article is deleted and can no longer be ordered!

(2012/REAL GONE) 24 tracks.
$19.18
The Very Best Of The Tokens 1964–1967 (CD)
The Tokens: The Very Best Of The Tokens 1964–1967 (CD) Art-Nr.: CD654721

Item has to be restocked

(Varèse Sarabande) 22 tracks
$19.18
Tonight, The Lion Dances (CD)
The Tokens: Tonight, The Lion Dances (CD) Art-Nr.: CD052528

Item has to be restocked

(B.T. Puppy Records) 17 tracks
$14.66
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Three Bells (7inch, 45rpm, SC)
The Tokens And Browns: The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Three Bells... Art-Nr.: 45OLD9653

Item has to be restocked

(Old Gold Records) 2 tracks
$14.66
Wimoweh ! Best
The Tokens: Wimoweh ! Best Art-Nr.: CDRCA66474

This article is deleted and can no longer be ordered!

(1994/RCA) 20 tracks
$20.31 $22.58
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens Again (CD)
The Tokens: The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens Again (CD) Art-Nr.: CD788325

Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

(Collectables) 24 tracks (57:33) 1960-1966
$45.22 $56.53
Silver Anniversary - Greatest Hits - Collector's Edition (CD)
The Tokens: Silver Anniversary - Greatest Hits -... Art-Nr.: CD870224

Item has to be restocked

(Ornyx Records) 10 tracks
$20.31 $22.58
All Time Greatest Hits
The Tokens: All Time Greatest Hits Art-Nr.: CDTAR1040

This article is deleted and can no longer be ordered!

​(1998/Taragon Records) 14 Songs
$28.24
Wheels & More Hot Rod Rarities
The Tokens: Wheels & More Hot Rod Rarities Art-Nr.: CDTSR64635

This article is deleted and can no longer be ordered!

(1994/TEEN SOUND CDN) 33 tracks 1960s originals plus rarities
$17.54