The Duprees

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The Duprees was a doo-wop group which had a series of hits during the early 1960s.

Contents

[edit] Group History

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 (Joni James, 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.

Despite becoming unfashionable after The Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion in 1964, the Duprees continued to record, turning in a more "pop" direction, and reaching the Top 100 as late as 1975. The Duprees still perform, with the evolved members, at many venues around the country. Joe Santollo died in 1981, Joey Vann died in 1984 and Mike Arnone died in 2005. 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.

Richie Rosado, who sang lead for the Duprees throughout much of the '80s and '90s, left the group in 2002. Anthony Caggiano, who sang with Joey Vann in Caggiano's group Twilight Time, became the fill-in lead singer after Rosado's departure. Tommy Petillo replaced Caggiano after one month.

The current members of The Duprees consists of Jimmy Spinelli (20 years), Phil Granito (23 years), Tony Testa (21 years), and Tommy Petillo (with the group since 2002 but was lead singer for the Duprees in the late 70s). The current group, under Tony Testa's leadership, attained the legal rights to use the name since Arnone's passing ensuring the continuation of the music. At each performance, they acknowledge and pay tribute to the original members that preceded them. It has been acclaimed as one of the top performing acts in the country.

In 2008, attorney David A. Krenkel, on behalf of former members Michael Kelly and John Salvato, filed a lawsuit against the group currently performing as the Duprees and the Estate of Michael Arnone. The lawsuit seeks to cancel Arnone’s prior registration of the trademark "Duprees" claiming that it was invalid because he did not notify the other group members at the time of registration. The suit also alleges that the group does not contain any original members of the group, and therefore, the current members are in violation of New Jersey Deceptive Practices in Musical Performances Law which requires the presence of at least one original member of a recording group so that the public is not deceived into believing that they are seeing the original group. Otherwise known as the Truth in Music Law, New Jersey is one of many states that have adopted consumer protections in connection with musical performances.

On November 6, 2008 the Duprees were officially inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

[edit] Duprees Orchestra members

  • Mark Baron, Musical Director, Keyboard
  • Marty Bound, Trumpet
  • Greg Grispart, Alto/Tenor Saxophones
  • Elliot Stern, Tenor/Bari Saxophones
  • Donya Lane, Keyboards
  • Bob Marriner, Bass
  • Gary Weiss, Drums

[edit] Discography

  • You Belong to Me 1962
  • Have You Heard 1963
  • Total Recall 1968
  • The Duprees Sing
  • Christmas with the Duprees 1998
  • Live From The Sands vol-1 2003
  • Live From The Sands vol-2 2003
  • Duprees Go To The Movies 2004
  • Merry Christmas From The Duprees 2005
  • As Time Goes By 2005

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] Album Charts

  • You Belong to Me #101 Billboard album charts 1962

[edit] Single Charts

All chart listings are according to Billboard

[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duprees"
Personal tools
Languages