Zapp (also known as "Zapp & Roger") is an American electro-funk band, hailing from Dayton, Ohio, USA. Highly influential on Hip-Hop and R&B music, Zapp is best known for hits like "More Bounce to the Ounce", "Dance Floor" and "Computer Love", frontman Roger's innovative use of the talkbox
, and for being a major backbone of west coast Gangsta Rap and G-Funk.
Originally compromised of the Troutman brothers (Roger, Larry, Lester, and Terry), and friends Gregory Jackson and Bobby Glover, frontman Roger initially attempted a solo career during the 60's, before the band started out on the independent funk scene throughout the 70's. During that time, the band was known as Roger & The Human Body, before Roger adopted Terry's nickname, Zapp, as the band name. Bootsy Collins and Phelps "Catfish" Collins, friends of the Troutman family, and members of Parliament-Funkadelic, saw Zapp performing at a small venue in 1977, and were impressed by the band's talent. Bootsy subsequently invited them to record at United Sound Studios in Detroit, which was frequently used by the P-Funk collective. The next year, Roger wrote and recorded the demo for "More Bounce to the Ounce". P-Funk leader George Clinton liked the song, and encouraged Roger to send the demo to Warner (Bros.) Records, who signed Zapp the very next year.
On July 28, 1980, Zapp released their self-titled debut to great success and acclaim, and Roger would subsequently release his debut solo LP The Many Facets of Roger on Warner to similar success. However, both releases came at the cost of the group's relationship with George Clinton. Clinton's financial troubles, personal issues, and label problems with Warner prompted Roger to sign both Zapp and himself directly with Warner for more money, instead of releasing it through Clinton's Uncle Jam Records as planned. Roger's move cost Clinton over $5 million dollars, and sent both him and Funkadellic into hiatus.
Both Zapp and Roger would continue to see commercial success with their respective sophomore releases, but as the 80's rolled on, their sound slowly fell out of favour in the mainstream, and subsequent releases would gradually slide down the charts. By the late 80's, the band would become frequently sampled by hip-hop artists; especially those based in the West Coast, giving Zapp and many other Midwestern funk bands a new lease on life. Roger, who had dabbled in rapping on some of Zapp's material, embraced hip-hop, New Jack Swing, and Hip Hop Soul, and began collaborating with several popular rap and R&B acts of time, including Tupac Shakur, Keith Sweat, Eazy-E, and Johnny Gill. The band, now officially known as "Zapp & Roger", quickly capitalized on this resurgence by releasing two compilation albums, the most popular of which, All the Greatest Hits, became their best selling album, earning Platnium certification, and spinning off their most successful pop hit "Slow And Easy", which reached #43 on the Hot 100.
Zapp's resurgence came to an abrupt halt in mid-1999, with the deaths of Roger and Larry Troutman. Roger had fired Larry as his manager after finding out the latter was mishandling the family's finances and business, and allegedly abusing drugs; which Roger didn't tolerate. In response Larry shot Roger several times as he was leaving a recording studio, before killing himself in his car a short distance away. Roger was rushed to a hospital, but died shorty after arrival. Without Roger, who was the band's central creative source, Zapp disbanded right then and there, and Warner Bros. eventually dropped them from their label. By 2003, Zapp regrouped, and released a brand new album, Back By Popular Demand, and continue to tour frequently with the surviving lineup, and various members of the Troutman family.
Main Lineup:
- Roger Troutman: lead and background vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, harmonica, vibraphone, percussion, talk box — deceased
- Larry Troutman: percussion — deceased
- Lester Troutman: drums
- Terry "Zapp" Troutman: bass, keyboards, background vocals
- Gregory Jackson: keyboards, lead and background vocals
- Bobby Glover: lead and background vocals
Zapp Discography:
- Zapp (1980)
- Zapp II (1982)
- Zapp III (1983)
- The New Zapp IV U (1985)
- Zapp Vibe (AKA Zapp V; 1989)
- All the Greatest Hits (1993; credited as Zapp & Roger)
- The Compilation: Greatest Hits II and More (1996; credited as Zapp & Roger)
- Zapp VI: Back By Popular Demand (2003)
- Zapp VII: Roger & Friends (2018; Posthumous Collaboration with Roger)
Roger Troutman solo discography:
- The Many Facets of Roger (1981)
- The Saga Continues... (1984)
- Unlimited! (1987)
- Bridging the Gap (1991)
"Could it be your tropes I see on my computer screen?"
-
Chorus-Only Song: "More Bounce to the Ounce" is one of the most famous examples, mainly just being Roger singing the chorus and ad-libbing throughout. - Cover Version: Roger covered Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and James Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" with his talkbox vocals. He also made a guest appearance on H-Town's cover of "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate"
- Epic Rocking: Most of the group's early material were nonstop party jams, with many tracks going over the six minute mark. "Dance Floor" is especially notable, being an 11-minute funk groove. Roger, save for about half of his debut album, wasn't nearly as bad for this, only having a handful of tracks that went over six-minutes.
- Love Martyr: The aptly titled "Heartbreaker", where Roger claims that the girl he's trying to woo, who's rumored to get around, can break his heart anytime she likes.
- The Mentor: Roger Troutman mentored DJ Quik, and taught him how to use the talkbox properly during the 90s, which helped Quik broaden his musical sound. When Troutman was murdered, Quik recorded a talbox tribute to him, and released it on his 2000 album Balance and Options.
- New Sound Album: While their overall sound didn't completely change, Zapp Vibe and Roger's Bridging the Gap were attempts to jump on the rising New Jack Swing and rap sounds.
- Sampling: Zapp is one of the most sampled funk bands of all time, and Roger's solo work has been sampled extensively as well. It's not an exaggeration to claim their sound shaped Gangsta Rap and G-Funk into what it is now. Zapp themselves later embraced sampling in their own work; up to and including sampling themselves!
- Synthetic Voice Actor: A variation is used with Roger. While he was undoubtedly a real person, the robotic effect used on his vocals were created via a talkbox, which required him to sing with a tube in his mouth that was hooked up to a Minimoog synthesizer via the talkbox pedal. Throughout his career, Roger used a custom-made talkbox dubbed the "Golden Throat", made by Electro Harmonix.
