Wimoweh: Best of the Tokens

The Tokens | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 1994)
• Original Release Date: August 30, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WR2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The first-ever collection of the Tokens' RCA hits! 20 cuts-all in stereo, some for the first time-including Wimoweh and their other RCA hits ( La Bamba; B'wa Nina, AND Hear the Bells ). --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great lost doo-wop of the Tokens, March 8, 2001

By 

Peter Holleran (San Rafael, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wimoweh: Best of the Tokens (Audio CD)

This is by far my favorite Tokens album and one of my favorite overall. It is chocked full of some of the best doo-wop sounds anywhere. Lost in the transition to folk rock and the British invasion, the early Tokens' love of street corner type harmony is evident on this album. "When I go to Sleep at Night", "You're Nothing But a Girl," "Tonight I Met an Angel", and "Please Write" send shivers down my spine. "Sincerely" is a truly unique and excellent version of the Harvey Fuqua classic, fully utilizing Jay Siegel's soaring tenor lead. "Somewhere There's a Girl" is a wonderful composition written by one of the Token's former classmates and early band member - Neil Sedaka, and "Candy Apple Vette" is perhaps one ofonly two SLOW, romantic ballads about a car ever sung (the other is "Betsy" by the Beach Boys), bursting with harmonic emotion as few outside of the Tokens can produce. There is only one real dud on this album - "My Friend's Car" - an attempt to copy the Beach Boys, Ronny & the Datonas and others doing hot-rod songs in the early sixties, but it feels out of place, breaking the almost unbroken soulful mood of the dozen or so previous songs. "When Summer is Through" (later covered by the Happenings, whom the Tokens produced) and "Sweet Laurie, Fair Laurie", a haunting and wistful ballad, round out the quality material. Three familiar Token hits are also included: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" "B'wanina", and "Hear the Bells", but they are actually among my least favorite songs on this CD. I would have prefered that these more folksy tunes were left out so as not to detract from the melodic, doo-wop ambiance of the rest. Those looking for an actual compilation of geatest (aka commercial) Tokens hits are better off with the CD "All Time Greatest Hits", which I also have and consider essential, but for pure listening pleasure "Wimoweh: the Best of the Tokens" can't be beat.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pop music that has stood the test of time., August 15, 2005

By 

Dan Penwarn (calgary) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wimoweh: Best of the Tokens (Audio CD)

The Tokens are best known for their 1961 blockbuster "The Lion sleeps tonight",a song based on the folk tune "Mbube", written by South African Solomon Linda. That record sold millions of copies and has become a pop standard. These five guys from Brooklyn, however, ought to be listened to for more than just that big selling tune. Although The Tokens never reached the top of the pop charts again, they continued to turn out delightful singles and albums."Wimoweh" is a compilation of their tenure at RCA at the hands of producers Hugo and Luigi.Some highlights: "Sincerely", the old Moonglows standard, is given an arrangement by Sammy Lowe that tries to duplicate the groups initial success on the Warwick label with "Tonight I fell in love". "Bwa'nina' has the same musical sensibility as "Lion"(it was also a mid charting hit)and "A tale of two lovers" features a sensuous Arthur Lymanesque vibe.Over the course of the four albums that they recorded for RCA, The Tokens moved from doo-wop to a kind of folk-pop and ultimately ended up recording an album of "car" music. I'don't believe that a string of charting singles is always a measure of artistic success, or more importantly, whether a body of recorded music remains viable as entertainment. As you will see from this excellent compilation, The Tokens still deserve to be heard.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beyond "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", August 17, 2002

By 

John A. Alfano (Elon, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wimoweh: Best of the Tokens (Audio CD)

I must wholeheartedly agree with the previous review and say that this is a very good collection of classic white DooWop. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is played ad nauseum on oldies stations and that one I could have done without. But I'd not heard several of the other tunes previously and there are some hidden gems here, especially "Please Write". The covers of "A Thousand Miles Away" and "Sincerely" will certainly not make anyone forget about the Heartbeats and Moonglows but they are decent offerings. Personally I thought "My Friend's Car" was a nice break in the action for the the group and while nothing to get too excited about, was entertaining. All in all, a very good buy.