Mitchell Stuart Margo (May 25, 1947 – November 24, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter.

Career

Margo was a professional recording artist by the age of 14. Along with brother Phil Margo, he was a member of

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 ...

. The

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in se ...

is best known for its hit recording 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 ...

", which rose to #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks in 1961. Other hits by The Tokens include: "Tonight I Fell In Love" (which Mitch Margo co-wrote), "I hear Trumpets Blow" (written by Mitch Margo), "He’s In Town", and "

Portrait of My Love "Portrait of My Love" is a song written by Norman Newell and Cyril Ornadel, which was released by Matt Monro in 1960, and was an international hit for Steve Lawrence in 1961. Matt Monro version In 1960, Matt Monro released the song as a single. ...

". Margo also created

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

and

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

. His artwork has been displayed and sold in galleries. His paintings have appeared on album covers and his animation has been shown on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

. He has illustrated children's books including the award winning "The Very First Adventure of Fulton T. Firefly". He also wrote and illustrated another children's book called "Sara Smiled". With the tech help of his son Damien, Margo designed and developed a free online reading tool called the Margo Reader. He hoped to eventually see it in multilingual hand held devices that can be given to anyone who wishes to learn how to read. The reader provides the user with an experience of some of Margo’s art, animation, music, photography, voice talent, humor, and heart. Margo died of natural causes at his home in Studio City, California, at the age of 70.

The Tokens

Margo performed with

on the following TV shows: *

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following '' Married... with Children'', and ran until May 26, ...

Record production

With

, Margo was also successful as a producer of artists and songs including: *

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 ...

The Happenings The Happenings are a pop music group that originated in the 1960s. Members of the original group, created in the spring of 1961 and initially called "The Four Graduates" because all had just graduated from high school in Paterson, New Jersey, we ...

Tony Orlando & 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", "Knock Three ...

Composing

Margo also composed underscoring as well as songs for the following TV movies: *" The Kid With The Broken Halo" Starring

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid S ...

*"The Fantastic World Of D.C. Collins" Starring

*"This Wife For Hire" Starring

Pam Dawber Pamela Dawber (born October 18, 1951) is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell in ''Mork & Mindy'' (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell in ''My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988). Early life Dawber was bor ...

*"John Grinns' Christmas" Starring

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer, known for his role as Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-off, ''Benson'', as well as for voici ...

*"Goddess Of Love" Starring Vanna White In addition, Margo composed music for a video production of " The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet" by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. In 2010, Margo released his first solo album, "ABCDEFG" on Be Cool Records.

References

External links

* * *
Mitch Margo
at Be Cool Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Margo, Mitch 1947 births 2017 deaths American soul singers The Tokens members Musicians from Brooklyn