It was 33 years after the debut of their first big hit, "Tonight I fell in Love", when they reemerged on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in August of 1994, following the re-release of their chart-topping single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". With that re-entry comes the distinction of having the second-longest chart span in the rock era!
With the release of Disney motion picture "The Lion King" prompted RCA to re-release "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and a CD featuring a unique compilation of twenty of The Tokens' earlier tunes. It gives their fans a rare opportunity to enjoy many of the songs The Tokens wrote more than thirty years ago, as well as songs popularized by other artists which The Tokens later recorded in their own distinctive style.
That style and sound, of course, is elegantly defined by Jay Siegel, whose tenor lead and trademark falsetto have characterized all The Tokens' music since the group began recording, and continue to do so today as they perform around the country. While dyed-in-the-wool Tokens fans know that Jay had always sung lead on the group's hits (including, among many others, "Portrait of my Love." "La Bamba," "B'Wanina," He's in Town," She Lets Her Hair Down," and I Hear Trumpets Blow"), and know that he had a hand in writing many of them, some may not be aware of the number of hats he wore.
The Tokens were one of the first independent, not to mention youngest, teams to produce recordings for a major label, breaking into the really big-time in 1962, when they became the first vocal group to produce a #1 record for another vocal group! Remember "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons? They became the production geniuses behind numerous other hits by The Chiffons, as well as the biggest hits by Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Happenings, Randy and the Rainbows, and Robert John.
