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 Philip Frederick Margo (April 1, 1942 – November 13, 2021) was an American musician and author who was a longtime member of the Tokens, along with his brother Mitch. They are best known for their hit recording of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" whic ...

, he was a member of

The Tokens The Tokens were an American doo-wop band (rock and pop), band and production of phonograph records, record production company group from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York City. The group had four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' H ...

. The

vocal group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrume ...

is best known for its hit recording of "

The Lion Sleeps Tonight "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube", through South African Gallo Record Company. In 1961, a version adapted into English by the doo-wop group the Tokens bec ...

", 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". 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 filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

. 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 (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

. 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 television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television sketch comedy variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, as the network's second original primetime series, following '' Married... with Children'', and ran fo ...

Record production

With

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

The Chiffons The Chiffons were an American girl group originating from the Bronx, a borough of New York City, in 1960. History Origins The group was originally a trio of schoolmates - lead singer Judy Craig, backed by Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee - e ...

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 (also known simply as 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 inclu ...

Composing

Margo also composed underscoring as well as songs for the following TV movies: *"

The Kid With The Broken Halo ''The Kid with the Broken Halo'' is a 1982 American television film, made-for-television fantasy film, fantasy-comedy film starring Gary Coleman, Robert Guillaume, June Allyson, Mason Adams and Ray Walston about a wise-cracking "angel-in-trainin ...

" Starring

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor, known as a high-profile child star of the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Zion, Illinois, Coleman grew up with his adopted parents, and a kidney disease; due to the co ...

*"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 known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell on ''Mork & Mindy'' (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell on '' My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988). Early life Dawber was born i ...

*"John Grinns' Christmas" Starring

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Fishbone on television series " Good Times", Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-o ...

*"Goddess Of Love" Starring

Vanna White Vanna Marie White (née Rosich; born February 18, 1957) is an American television personality and game-show hostess, best known as the co-host of the game show '' Wheel of Fortune'', a position she has held since 1982. She began her career as a ...

In addition, Margo composed music for a video production of " The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet" by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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