Henry "Hank" Medress (November 19, 1938 – June 18, 2007) was an American singer and record producer, best known for his taking part in the American band

The Tokens The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit singl ...

Biography

Medress was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he attended "Abraham Lincoln" High School. In 1955 he joined a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group called the Linc-Tones, from the surname of that

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

, which also included at first

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

.'Lion Sleeps Tonight' singer dead
cnn.com; accessed January 28, 2015.'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' singer dies
yahoo.com; accessed May 23, 2017. After Sedaka's departure, the group reformed with additional singers as

in 1958, after several changes of name. The Tokens achieved a #1 chart success in 1961 with their arrangement of "

The Lion Sleeps Tonight "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...

", a sort of remake of the 1939 song "Mbube" by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n singer

Solomon Linda Solomon Popoli Linda (19098 September 1962), also known as Solomon Ntsele ("Linda" was his clan name),Gilmore, Inigo"Penniless sisters fight record industry over father's hit song" ''The Telegraph'' (UK), 11 June 2000. was a South African musici ...

, as well as other minor hits. Medress and the Tokens also produced hits for

The Chiffons :''The Chiffons also briefly recorded under the name The Four Pennies; for the British band of the latter name see The Four Pennies.'' The Chiffons are an American girl group originating from the Bronx, a borough of New York City, in 1960. Hist ...

, such as "

He's So Fine "He's So Fine" is a song written by Ronnie Mack. It was recorded by The Chiffons who topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for four weeks in the spring of 1963. One of the most instantly recognizable golden oldies with its ''doo-lang doo-lang doo-la ...

". After leaving the Tokens, Medress co-produced (with

Dave Appell David Appell (March 24, 1922 – November 18, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger and record producer born in Philadelphia. Career Appell (pronounced "AP-el") is associated mainly with the Cameo-Parkway record label, in whose his ...

) many of

Tony Orlando and Dawn Tony Orlando and Dawn is an American pop music group that was popular in the 1970s, composed of singer Tony Orlando and the backing vocal group Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson). Their signature hits include "Candida (song), Candida" ...

's hits as well as

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early l ...

's LP.''Los Angeles Times'', "Hank Medress, 68; pop music producer, a member of the Tokens"
June 21, 2007; accessed January 28, 2015. Later, he worked with

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. ...

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

Dan Hill Daniel Grafton Hill IV (born 3 June 1954) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. He had two major international hits with his songs "Sometimes When We Touch" and "Can't We Try", a duet with Vonda Shepard, as well as a number of other charting ...

, and

Richard Simmons Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons (born July 12, 1948) is an American fitness personality and public figure, known for his eccentric, flamboyant, and energetic personality. He has promoted weight-loss programs, most prominently through his ''Swe ...

."Hank Medress, 68, Doo-Wop Singer on ‘Lion Sleeps Tonight’, Dies"
nytimes.com; accessed January 28, 2014. He was also president of EMI Music Publishing Canada from 1990 to 1992. Medress produced the

song, "

Never Thought (That I Could Love) "Never Thought (That I Could Love)" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Hill, released as a single in 1987. It was the second single released from his eponymous eighth studio album, ''Dan Hill''. In Canada, the song reached No. 22 and No. ...

" in 1987, which was a #43 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and a #2 hit on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart. After returning to New York, Medress became a partner in Bottom Line Records, which released recordings of performances at The Bottom Line club in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, as well as new work by emerging artists. In recent years, Medress had worked as a consultant for

SoundExchange SoundExchange is an American non-profit collective rights management organization founded in 2003. It is the sole organization designated by the U.S. Congress to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for sound recordings. It pays f ...

, an agency that collects royalties from digital broadcasters, like satellite and Internet radio.

Death

Medress died of lung cancer at his Manhattan home on June 18, 2007, aged 68.

References

External links

Interview with Medress
spectropop.com; accessed January 28, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Medress, Hank 1938 births 2017 deaths American male pop singers Record producers from New York (state) Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn 20th-century American singers Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni 20th-century American male singers The Tokens members