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Hank Medress Biography

hank-medress
  • Born: November 19, 1938 in Brooklyn, NY
  • Member of: The Tokens
  • Genre: Rock & Alternative

Though he began his recording career as a member of the Tokens, Hank Medress has had one hell of a long run as a producer and songwriter, as evidenced by the 30 Top 40 hits that fill his resume. The Brooklyn-born Medress started singing as a member of the Linc-Tones, a vocal group that also included a teenage Neil Sedaka. When Sedaka left to do his own thing, Medress formed the Tokens, and through much hustling finally found their song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" a home with RCA producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Released in 1961, the song became an instant hit and landed the Tokens a production deal with Capitol Records. It was then that Medress' career as a producer, songwriter, and song-hawker was launched. Using the Capitol studios as home base, Medress helped launch the career of the Chiffons ("He's So Fine") and worked on other Tokens releases as well. Eventually Medress created the B.T. Puppy label, which counted the Happenings and the Tokens among its acts. As the girl-group assembly-line style of producing began to fade in the late '60s, Medress hooked up with a young record exec and former teen idol named Tony Orlando. Convincing Orlando to lend his voice to "Knock Three Times" (a direct violation of Orlando's record company job), Medress unwittingly launched the career of one of the most successful pop acts of the '70s, Tony Orlando and Dawn. In the '80s Medress hooked up with former New York Dolls frontman David Johansen to produce him in his new big band persona of Buster Poindexter. Given Medress' track record it shouldn't have surprised anyone that the resulting self-titled album was a hit. In recent years, after a brief sojourn in Canada, Medress has returned to his New York stomping grounds, heading the label formed as an outgrowth of popular club the Bottom Line. ~ Steve Kurutz, Rovi

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