The Tokens wake up the lion at the Suncoast

By Jerry Fink

Thursday, April 2, 2009 | 12:07 p.m.

The Tokens, best known for their 1961 hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” will perform at the Suncoast April 24-26.

The group, which has changed a little since they first began, also had other hits, including “Tonight I Fell in Love,” “I Hear Trumpets Blow” and “Portrait of my Love.”

The Tokens were among the first to successfully use a falsetto lead voice. That sound would later influence such groups as the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin and Rush.

The group produced several No. 1 recordings for other groups, including “He’s So Fine” and “One Fine Day” for The Chiffons; “See You in September” and “I Got Rhythm” for The Happenings; and “Knock Three Times” for Tony Orlando and Dawn.

Trivia: The Tokens' best known song was originally a hit for the South African group Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds in 1939. The original title was "Mbube" (which means "lion" in Zulu) and that catchy chorus is actually "uyimbube’ (meaning “you’re a lion”). Miriam Makeba sang a version of this song.

So how did it become the song English listeners know today? When the Weavers picked up the song, Pete Seeger wrote down the phonetic English and sang just the chorus on their version. So the song became "Wimoweh."

Most listeners probably now know the song from Disney's "The Lion King." And yes, that means Timon and Pumba will soon be warbling the song at Mandalay Bay.