Doo-wop vocalist, music producer Hank Medress dies

New York singer and music producer Hank Medress, best known as the voice behind The Lion Sleeps Tonight by doo-wop group The Tokens, has died.

Medress, who was 68, died June 18 at his Manhattan home after suffering from lung cancer, his relatives said.

As a teen in Brooklyn in the 1950s, Medress teamed up with his classmate Neil Sedaka and others to form a vocal quartet they called the Linc-Tones. Though Sedaka eventually left the group to study at the Julliard, Jay Siegel joined Medress and brothers Mitch and Phil Margo and the group renamed themselves the Tokens.

The group scored its biggest hit, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, at the end of 1961. The chart-topping tune, which was written by African composer Solomon Linda in 1939, was inspired by a traditional Zulu melody.

Though it had been recorded by the Weavers in the 1950s, the Tokens made it a No. 1 on the pop charts with English lyrics. The song is counted among the most covered tunes ever.

Other Token songs included Tonight I Fell in Love, I Hear Trumpets Blow and Portrait of My Love.

Medress eventually found further success as a record producer, including producing all-girl group the Chiffons, known forsuch hits as He's So Fine and One Fine Day.

Later, after leaving the Tokens in the 1970s, he continued developing other musicians, including performer-turned-record executive Tony Orlando, Frankie Valli andOlivia Newton-John. He also helped usher the reinvention of New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen as Buster Poindexter in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, Medress worked as a music executive and consultant, including a stint as president of EMI Music Publishing Canada.