The Duprees

Wikipedia:

The Duprees is an American musical group of doo-wop style which had a series of hit records in the early 1960s.

Career

The group was founded in the early 1960s in Jersey City, New Jersey by William L. Dickinson High School students Michael Arnone, Joe Santollo, John Salvato, Tom Bialoglow, and lead singer Joey Canzano (later known as Joey Vann). George Paxton, a former big band leader was impressed by the group's style and signed them to his Coed Records label. Their first single "You Belong to Me" had previously been a hit for Jo Stafford in 1952. The Duprees' version was given a big band backing by Paxton and reached the US top ten in 1962.

The group had more top 40 hits in the next few years. "My Own True Love" was a vocal adaptation of "Tara's Theme" from the soundtrack of Gone with the Wind and became the group's second hit. "Have You Heard" and "Why Don't You Believe Me" also reached the Top 40 charts and, like "You Belong to Me," were originally early '50s female vocal hits (Jo Stafford, in this case). The group became known for mixing doo-wop vocals with big band arrangements. Tom Bialoglow left in 1963. Mike Kelly, who had recorded on the group's original demos for George Paxton, replaced Joey Vann as lead vocalist in 1964 and formally left the group in 1977. Joe Santollo died in 1981, Joey Vann died in 1984 and Mike Arnone died in 2005. John Salvato is a booking agent and since the 1980's no longer performs.

In the late 60's and early 70's they released an album under the name "THE ITALIAN ASPHALT AND PAVING CO.".and had a minor hit called "CHECK YOURSELF." Michael Kelly (lead singer from 1965-1977) sang with The Chaperones for a brief stint in 2006. Tommy Bialoglow has his own group called Twilight Time. John Salvato is a booking agent and no longer performs.

Chart performance

Albums chart

Singles chart

All chart listings are according to Billboard