The Tokens

You might think you haven’t heard these guys, but trust me, you have. If you ever sung in a choir when you were a kid, or if you’ve ever seen The Lion King or Ace Ventura: Pet Detective to name but a few films their big hit has appeared in, you’ve definitely heard The Tokens. They’re six guys from Brooklyn who formed an a-capella vocal band and with their third single, gave the world “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. Thank/blame them as you wish, but whatever you do, you should also give them credit for being surprisingly relevant for a band whose only real hit predates Love Me Do and came out the year after Bono was born. A-capella groups seem to be springing up all over the place in most university campus’ in the States and Glee’s vocal cover of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream was a top ten hit single in its own right. With this much attention on a-capella music, it makes sense that the group with quite possibly the most iconic a-capella number ever recorded should be given a second wind. There are currently two groups acting as The Tokens, both fronted by founding members of the original group. Original lead Singer Jay Siegal has his incarnation of the group while the brothers Mitch and Phil Margo have theirs but both of them have kept the spirit of Doo-Wop alive and well just in time for the moment that popular interest in it is rekindled. It’s a heartening thing to hear about and an even better thing to go and see. Highly Recommended.