The group was formed in 1955 at Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School, and was known first as The Linc-Tones. Originally featuring members Neil Sedaka, Hank Medress, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolotin, Rabkin was replaced in 1956 by Jay Siegel (born in 1939), and the band recorded its first single, "While I Dream" that same year. Sedaka and Howard Greenfield wrote much of the group's early material; they were unusual among teen vocal groups of the time in that they were not a cover group. In 1957, Zolotin left the band, leaving only Siegel and Medress to recruit two additional band members and record the single "Picture in My Wallet" as Darrell & the Oxfords. Briefly recording as The Tokens and Coins, Sedaka left the group in 1958 to launch his solo career. Finally establishing its most famous name and crew, the band became known as the Tokens in 1960 after they recruited the 13-year-old multi-instrumentalist and first tenor Mitch Margo and his baritone brother Philip "Phil" Margo.