The Lion Sleeps Tonight

YahooNews: Hank Medress, whose vocals with the doo wop group the Tokens helped propel their irrepressible single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to the top of the charts and who produced hits with other groups, has died of lung cancer. He was 68.[..]

After splitting with the Tokens in the 1970s, Medress worked with a record company executive named Tony Orlando, persuading him to handle vocals on "Knock Three Times" - a move that catapulted the song into pop history. Medress and production partner Dave Appell also produced the Orlando and Dawn hit "Candida."

In the 1980s, Medress helped former New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen reinvent himself as lounge lizard hipster Buster Poindexter, producing his debut album and the single "Hot, Hot, Hot."

From 1990-92, he served as president of EMI Music Publishing Canada. More recently, he worked as a consultant to Sound Exchange, a nonprofit group helping musicians collect royalties.