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Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known as Roger, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and the founder of the band
Zapp Zapp may refer to: People *Jim Zapp (1924-2016), baseball player *Robert-Richard Zapp, a German U-boat commander during World War II *Walter Zapp, a Baltic German inventor, designer of miniature cameras *Zapp Brannigan, a fictional character from t ...
who helped spearhead the
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...
movement and heavily influenced
West Coast hip hop West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the e ...
due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music over the years. Troutman was well known for his use of the
talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...
, a device that is connected to an instrument (frequently a keyboard, but most commonly a guitar) to create different vocal effects. Roger used a custom-made talkbox—the Electro Harmonix "Golden Throat"—through a Moog Minimoog and later in his career a Yamaha DX100 FM synthesizer. As both band leader of Zapp and in his subsequent solo releases, he scored a bevy of funk and R&B hits throughout the 1980s and regularly collaborated with hip hop artists in the 1990s.


Biography


Early career

Born in
Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at ...
, Roger was the fourth of ten children. A graduate of
Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for t ...
, his first band was called the Crusaders; however, they are not to be confused with the jazz group featuring
Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...
and
Wilton Felder Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Want ...
. Troutman's band played in Cincinnati and recorded a single, "Busted Surfboard"/"Seminole". The band members were Rick Schoeny, Roy Beck, Dave Spitzmiller, and Denny Niebold. Troutman had formed various other bands with his four brothers, including Little Roger, and the Vels, and Roger and the Human Body. In 1977, he and the Human Body issued "Freedom", their first single. Within two years, Roger and his brothers were discovered by George Clinton, who signed the newly christened
Zapp Zapp may refer to: People *Jim Zapp (1924-2016), baseball player *Robert-Richard Zapp, a German U-boat commander during World War II *Walter Zapp, a Baltic German inventor, designer of miniature cameras *Zapp Brannigan, a fictional character from t ...
to his Uncle Jam Records label in 1979. The original line-up consisted of Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Gregory Jackson and Bobby Glover. Zapp made their professional television debut on the first and only Funk Music Awards show. A year later, as Uncle Jam Records was forced to close, Troutman signed with
Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading ...
under Rubber Band Music to Warner Bros. Records and released his self-titled debut 'Zapp', which yielded " More Bounce to the Ounce", produced by Collins, co- produced, written, composed and performed by Troutman. The song peaked at number 2 on the '' Billboard Soul Singles'' chart in late 1980. The debut album reached the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' 200. From 1980 to 1985, Zapp released the gold-selling albums ''
Zapp Zapp may refer to: People *Jim Zapp (1924-2016), baseball player *Robert-Richard Zapp, a German U-boat commander during World War II *Walter Zapp, a Baltic German inventor, designer of miniature cameras *Zapp Brannigan, a fictional character from t ...
'', ''
Zapp II ''Zapp II'' is the second studio album by American funk band Zapp, released on 1982 via Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at #25 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart and at #2 on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart. Three singles were released fr ...
'', '' Zapp III'' and '' The New Zapp IV U'', including the Top 10 R&B singles "Be Alright", "Dance Floor", "I Can Make You Dance", "Heartbreaker", "It Doesn't Really Matter" and " Computer Love". Throughout Zapp's history, around 15 musicians participated. In 1993, Zapp released their biggest-selling album: ''Zapp & Roger: All the Greatest Hits''. It featured remixed cuts of Troutman's solo singles along with a new single " Slow and Easy", (featured vocalists Shirley Murdock and Ronnie Diamond). The album sold over two million copies. The album '' Zapp VI: Back by Popular Demand'' was released in 2002 by the remaining brothers after the deaths of Roger and Larry.


Solo career and production work on other artists

In 1981, Troutman cut '' The Many Facets of Roger'', his first solo album. Featuring a funk cover of
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
's "
I Heard It Through the Grapevine "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a ...
", which went to number 1 on the R&B singles chart, the album sold over a million copies. The album also featured the hit "So Ruff, So Tuff", which was similar to "More Bounce..." as were most Roger/Zapp singles during this time. The same year, Troutman recorded with
Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...
on the band's final Warner Brothers' album '' The Electric Spanking of War Babies''. In 1984, Troutman issued his second solo album ''The Saga Continues...'', which featured the singles "Girl Cut It Out", "It's in the Mix" (which was dedicated to ''
Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series ...
'' and its host
Don Cornelius Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...
), and a cover of
Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bil ...
's " In the Midnight Hour", which featured
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
group the Mighty Clouds of Joy. In 1987, Troutman scored his most successful solo album with ''Unlimited!'', carried by the hit "
I Want to Be Your Man "I Want to Be Your Man" is a song by American funk singer-songwriter Roger Troutman, from his third studio album '' Unlimited!''. It was released as the lead single from the album in September 1987 by Reprise Records. The song was co-written by ...
" which rose to number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 1 on the R&B chart. Alongside his successful career as Zapp member and solo artist, Troutman also became a producer and writer for other artists including
Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance wi ...
, whose 1985 Platinum debut featured the Roger-produced hit "As We Lay". He also produced for Zapp member Dale DeGroat on his solo efforts. In 1988, Troutman made an appearance on
Scritti Politti Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, England, by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside. He is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history. Beginning as a punk-inspired collecti ...
's third album ''
Provision Provision(s) may refer to: * Provision (accounting), a term for liability in accounting * Provision (contracting), a term for a procurement condition * ''Provision'' (album), an album by Scritti Politti * A term for the distribution, storing an ...
'', providing
talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...
vocals on the songs "Boom There She Was" and "Sugar and Spice". Three years later, Troutman released his final solo album with ''Bridging the Gap'', featuring the hit "Everybody (Get Up)". He worked with
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...
on the song "The Other Side of Summer". In 1989,
NBA Entertainment NBA Entertainment is the production arm of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and produces many NBA-related films including team championship videos and blooper and entertainment reels. Founded in 1982, it used to be associated with CBS/Fox ...
selected Troutman among a variety of candidates to record a tribute song called "I'm So Happy" for
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...
.


Career re-emergence

Troutman toured after the release of ''All the Greatest Hits''. He was invited to appear as guest artist on several hip-hop albums, including
Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
's 1993 debut ''
Doggystyle ''Doggystyle'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Snoop Dogg (then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg). It was released on November 23, 1993, by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album was recorded and produced following Snoop's app ...
''. In 1995 he was featured on Eazy-E's posthumous album '' Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton'' on "Eternal E". The same year Troutman performed vocals on
2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
and
Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...
's single " California Love". The song became Troutman's biggest-selling and most successful single to date as the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over two million copies, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Troutman then produced a top 10 R&B hit cover of the Persuaders' " Thin Line Between Love and Hate", performed by
Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance wi ...
and R&B group H-Town, with talk box by Troutman. The movie soundtrack to ''A Thin Line Between Love and Hate'' also included a club hit "Chocolate City". In 1998, he appeared in a remix version of
Sounds of Blackness Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the ''Billboard'' R&B and Hot Dan ...
' "Hold On (A Change Is Coming)", which sampled Zapp's " Doo-Wah Ditty (Blow That Thang)". Roger last recorded on the song "Master of the Game" from rapper
Kool Keith Keith Matthew Thornton (born October 7, 1963), better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, known for his surreal, abstract and often profane or incomprehensible lyrics. Koo ...
's album '' Black Elvis/Lost In Space''.


Death

On the morning of April 25, 1999, Troutman was found shot and critically wounded outside his northwest Dayton recording studio around 7:00 a.m. According to doctors, the 47-year-old had been shot several times in the torso. Troutman died during surgery at the Good Samaritan Hospital and Health Center. Roger's brother Larry was found dead in a car a few blocks away with a single
self-inflicted gunshot wound A suicide method is any means by which a person chooses to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a nonfatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, and brai ...
to the head. The car matched the description of a vehicle leaving the scene of Roger Troutman's shooting, according to witnesses.


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


As featured artist


Soundtrack appearances


Guest appearances


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Troutman, Roger 1951 births 1999 deaths 1999 murders in the United States American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American male guitarists American funk guitarists American funk keyboardists American funk singers American boogie musicians American harmonica players American multi-instrumentalists American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Zapp (band) members P-Funk members American murder victims Guitarists from Ohio Record producers from Ohio Singer-songwriters from Ohio Musicians from Dayton, Ohio People from Hamilton, Ohio People murdered in Ohio Deaths by firearm in Ohio Midwest hip hop musicians Murdered African-American people Murder–suicides in the United States 20th-century American bass guitarists American soul guitarists Fratricides African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists Central State University alumni 20th-century African-American male singers