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American band

The Duprees are an American musical group of doo wop style who had a series of top ten singles in the early 1960s. Their highest charting single, "You Belong to Me" reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962. In 1970, they recorded as The Italian Asphalt & Pavement Company.

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). Originally Bialoglow and Canzano were singing with a local group, the Utopians, while Arnone, Santollo and Salvato were with another local group, the Elgins. One night while the Utopians sang at Hamilton Park, Arnone, Santollo, and Salvato came to hear Canzano. The Elgins had just broken up, and the three wanted Canzano to sing lead in a new group they were forming. Vann accepted under the condition Bialoglow came with him. Early in their run, Joey Vann got into a dispute with Joe Santollo causing him to leave the group. Without a lead, the group decided to hire a black lead singer sending them on a search through Jersey City's black neighborhood. They asked a man on a street corner where they could find singers around there, who directed them to a local barbershop. As they pulled away, Santollo asked him his name to which he replied "Dupree." Santollo liked it as a group name, but they remained as the Parisians until signing with Co Ed in 1962.

After recording a demo, the Parisians were looking for a record label to notice them. One of the labels was Coed Records. Forgetting to leave a phone number, the group waited two months for a response before finally returning to check in. As it turned out, Coed had liked their sound, and wanted them to audition but had no way to contact them. During the waiting period, Michael Kelly left the Parisians. Though he was the lead singer on their demo, they decided not to tell the label and instead called Vann to see if he would return, who agreed to do so. In August 1962, they released their first album, You Belong To Me. The title song would become the group's biggest hit, spending 10 weeks on the weekly Billboard Top 40 charts and two weeks on weekly the Top 10 peaking at #7. Their recording of "My Own True Love" would also chart, peaking at 13 on the weekly Top 40 charts. After their first release The Duprees became stars, touring the United States performing at concert venues such as the Apollo Theatre and for radio disc jockeys. They also toured with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. In 1963, they released an album "Have You Heard?" and three charting singles, "Gone With The Wind" peaking at #89, "Have You Heard?" peaking at #18, and "Why Don't You Believe Me" peaking at #37. Shortly before the release of "Have You Heard?" Bialoglow left the group after underwhelming royalties left him to decide between family and the group. After leaving the group, Bialoglow was not replaced and the album was produced and released without him.