DAYTON MUSIC ROOTS
Roger Troutman and Zapp
One of Dayton's great musical talents died at the hands of his brother.| The Troutman brothers were a musical Dayton-area family which achieved national success in the 1970s as the funk band Zapp. The most gifted of the brothers was Roger, who had a solo career and in the 1990s worked with hip-hop stars Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre. But Roger's career -- and his life -- came to a tragic end on April 25, 1999 when he was shot to death by his older brother Larry, apparently during an argument. There were no witnesses, but the family business, Troutman Enterprises, was in financial difficulty. Police investigators said Larry Troutman then drove a short distance away and shot himself to death. |  |
| Natives of Hamilton, the Troutman brothers took their musical inspiration from such funkacts as the Dayton-based Ohio Players and George Clinton's Parliament. Logansaid Roger, who was born Nov. 29, 1951, also was influenced by cutting-edgeguitar master Jimi Hendrix. Zapp wasn't Roger's first group, though. By the time he was 13, Roger was fronting an outfit called Little Roger andthe Human Body. That's the group that WDAO's Logan first knew. "I remember inthe early '70s, when Larry brought me (Roger's) first album," Logan said.Logan ended up writing the liner notes for the independently recorded project. |
 Roger Troutman | That record as well as early releases by other such locally born groups asOhio Players, Heatwave, Lakeside and Slave became an important part of WDAO'smusical rotation and brought additional exposure to the Dayton funk sound. Terry Troutman, however, was the first of the Troutman brothers to getwider recognition when his single I Truly Love You on Gram-O-Phon Records hitthe R&B charts in 1976. But Roger would prove to be the brother with a flair for the spotlight. In 1978, the Troutman brothers collectively took Terry's nickname, Zapp, astheir own, with Roger on vocals and guitar,Lester on drums, Larry on percussion and Terry on bass. The band playedthroughout the Midwest, eventually filling out the lineup with other backupvocalists, percussionists and keyboardists. And with input from the funkmaster George Clinton himself, the Zapp signed to Warner Bros. Records,releasing their first self-titled album in 1980. |
 Roger Troutman |
Working both with the band and as a solo artist, Roger followed the Zappdebut with his own solo debut, The Many Facets of Roger, in 1981. Hisrepeated cover of I Heard It Through the Grapevine, using the talkbox voicedevice with which he would become associated, helped that album go gold.
Zapp's second release, Zapp II, was popular on the dance and R&B chartswith the singles Dance Floor, which was a No. 1 R&B hit, and Doo Wa Ditty,but failed to cross over to equal success on the pop charts.
Zapp III, released in 1983, just scratched the top-40 pop charts, whileRoger's second solo project, The Saga Continues, included a cover of MidnightHour, featuring the Mighty Clouds of Joy. Zapp IV, including the moderatelysuccessful single Computer Love, came out in 1984.
Roger's biggest hit came in 1987 when I Want to Be Your Man, off his thirdsolo release, Unlimited!, reached number 1 on the R&B lists and number 3 onthe pop charts.
Zapp, whose membership had evolved during the 1980s from the originalall-Troutman-brother lineup, released its last album of new material in 1989.Larry had left performing in the mid-'80s to manage the group full time andassume the presidency of the growing Dayton-based Troutman Enterprises, whichincluded three recording studios, real-estate ventures and contracting.
A greatest-hits collection came out in 1994 and Compilation: Greatest HitsVol. 2 & More was released in 1996. Roger and the band continued to play,however, finding plenty of opportunities to perform.
And Roger stayed busy as well, both producing and playing with otherperformers. In 1996, he appeared on Tupac Shakur's Grammy-nominated Top-10single California Love, and hip-hop artist Snoop Doggy Dog sampled MoreBounce To The Ounce on one of his releases.
DISCOGRAPHYSOLO ALBUMSZAPP ALBUMSGREATEST HITS | Performers who have sampled the music of Roger/Zapp: |
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