Hello, ...
Today's artists are an American funk band that emerged from Hamilton, Ohio, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, they served as partial inspiration toward the creation of the G-funk sound of hip-hop popular on the West Coast of the United States in the early to mid 1990s, with many of their songs sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. .. ..... N'joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Born on November 29, 1951, in Hamilton, Ohio, Roger Troutman began recording music in the late to mid 1960s, issuing his first solo recording efforts "Jolly Roger" and "Night Time" on the obscure and now defunct Ohio label, Teen Records in 1966 under the band name 'Lil' Roger and His Fabulous Vels. Although neither song received recognition due to its very limited release, Troutman and brothers pursued their music career throughout the 1970s, forming Roger & The Human Body in 1976, on their privately owned label Troutman Bros. Records. Their own label allowed Troutman and the band to give a slightly wider and more high-profile release of their own music, issuing their first (and only) album Introducing Roger in 1976.
In the late 1970s Roger Troutman continued to record with his brothers, losing the name Roger & The Human Body and adopting the Zapp nickname from his brother Terry in 1977. The group searching for recognition, began playing at various small venues locally around Ohio. The Troutman family had long standing friendships with Ohio natives Phelps "Catfish" Collins and William Earl "Bootsy" Collins, who had both been involved with Parliament-Funkadelic in the early 1970s. Phelps and Bootsy were attendees at a performance, and were impressed with Zapp's musical abilities, prompting Bootsy to invite Roger to the United Sound Studios in Detroit (the P-Funk studio base) which was frequently used by Parliament-Funkadelic. Roger Troutman subsequently wrote and recorded the demo for "More Bounce to the Ounce" in 1978. George Clinton, the leader of Funkadelic liked the recording and encouraged Troutman to present the demo to Warner Bros. Records.[8] Warner Bros. signed Zapp in early 1979, and on July 28, 1980, Zapp released their debut album, which was recorded by Roger and produced by Bootsy between 1979 and early 1980 at the United Sound Studios in Detroit, their first recording on a major label. The album's sound, which is highly influenced by Parliament-Funkadelic, contrasts largely with Zapp's later releases. "More Bounce to the Ounce" reached number two on the Billboard Hot R&B tracks for two weeks during the autumn of 1980. By November 18, 1980, Zapp had been certified gold by the RIAA.
After the 1980 release of Zapp's debut album, tensions rose between Roger Troutman and George Clinton. Troutman's solo album The Many Facets of Roger was primarily funded by Clinton, through CBS, and was slated to be released on his own Uncle Jam Records label. By the early 1980s, Clinton and his musical projects were a midst financial troubles due to his poor management skills and shifting tastes in music. Around the time of Troutman's to be released debut, Warner Bros. Records dropped Clinton from their label, and quietly released The Electric Spanking of War Babies which Troutman had worked briefly on, in early 1981 without much impact.
Troutman, seeing the disarray that was surrounding Clinton at the time, accepted Warner Bros. offer of more money for the demo recordings of his album. The move resulted in a bitter severing of partnerships between Clinton and Troutman, and with Clinton's departure, Troutman was left to exercise virtually full creative control over the band's later work. In Clinton's biography George Clinton: For the Record, Troutman was quoted commenting on the situation with a blasé attitude, "... Heck gee-willickers, Warner Bros. offered me mo' money". In response, Clinton remarked, "CBS paid for it, I paid for it. I don't like to go into it on the negative side, but it cost about 5 million [dollars], and a lot of people's jobs and what we consider as the empire falling". The loss of money that resulted from the actions of Troutman, is credited as one of the factors that disassembled both Clinton's and Funkadelic's musical careers. The Many Facets of Roger was eventually released in October 1981 on Warner Bros.
Zapp released its second album, Zapp II, on October 14, 1982. It focused on more of an electronic orientated sound, containing greater use of the talk-box that is often considered Troutman's trademark. Despite the contrasting styles between the first and the second albums, Zapp II attained gold status by September 21, 1982. The album fared almost as well as Zapp's debut, peaking at number two on the Billboard R&B chart, and reaching 25 on The Billboard 200 Albums chart. The single "Dancefloor (Part I)" peaked at number one on the R&B singles chart of 1982.
Zapp spawned several more albums in close succession within the 1980s, retaining the heavily electronic style that Zapp II had adopted. Zapp III was released in 1983, but it did not reach the same chart positions as Zapp's previous efforts. While still gaining a gold certification, it only peaked at 39 on the Billboard 200 and nine on the R&B chart. Zapp III's poorer commercial performance became a sign that the band's popularity and impact were beginning to decline toward the mid 1980s, with post-disco music falling out of trend. By the release of The New Zapp IV U on October 25, 1985, Zapp's popularity declined more. The album gained gold status, but only in 1994, almost a decade after its initial release. Zapp's presence began to fade in the latter half of the 1980s, and Troutman's attention was focused on his solo career. The final release by Zapp before Troutman's death was Zapp V, on September 12, 1989, which was met with moderate commercial success and failed to receive an RIAA certification.
The growing and increasingly dominant West Coast hip-hop scene of the early to mid 1990s brought Zapp and Roger back into the spotlight for a brief amount of time as many hip-hop acts began favoring Zapp's material as a source for sampling in their own music. Troutman gained recognition for providing talk-box backing vocals for both the original and remixed version of Tupac Shakur's 1995-96 comeback single "California Love"; the alternate version of the music video features Troutman playing the keyboard and talk-box during a party. Roger's involvement in "California Love" awarded him a Grammy nomination for "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" in 1997.
On Sunday morning, April 25, 1999, Roger Troutman was fatally wounded as a result of an apparent murder-suicide that was orchestrated by his older brother, Larry. Roger was shot several times in the torso by Larry as he exited a recording studio in Dayton, Ohio. Roger was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, but died shortly after. Larry's body was found in a car a short distance away from the murder scene. There were no witnesses at the time, and Larry's motive for the murder of Roger remains unclear, however, there were increasingly large troubles over money surrounding Larry who managed the family run housing company, Troutman Enterprises. The business filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing $400,000 in delinquent taxes.Larry was also possibly angry over Roger firing him as manager for his music career, of which Larry had been for several years.
During Roger's funeral, his nephew Clet Troutman performed a talk-box rendition of "Amazing Grace." Roger was survived by his six sons and five daughters; his eldest son, Roger Lynch Troutman Jr., died of head injuries several years after the murder of Roger, (January 31, 1970 – January 22, 2003).
The resulting impact of Roger and Larry's deaths left the band stranded, halting production. Without Roger serving as the creative source, they effectively disbanded, and quietly left the music industry altogether. Warner Bros. Records eventually dropped the band from their label, bringing the professional recording career of Zapp to a close. A few years later, Zapp resurfaced for a short period after the establishment of its own independent label, Zapp Town Records, managed by the Troutman family. The label released its only album, Zapp VI: Back By Popular Demand, in 2003. Zapp returned to performing only in live concert, touring across the U.S. at various venues.
Lester Troutman Sr. and Terry Troutman confirmed the release of a new project/album Evolution date August 2015
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Released in 1980 just as George Clinton's P-funk empire had reached the brink of its existence, Bootsy protégé Roger Troutman proved himself a worthy successor with Zapp's self-titled debut album and its subsequent two follow-ups. In actuality, Zapp originally was a branch of the Parliament/Funkadelic collective, as group leader Roger Troutman was originally signed to Clinton's short-lived CBS subsidiary, Uncle Jam Records. After Troutman completed the album with CBS' money, Clinton's help, and Bootsy's production, Warner Bros. stepped in, offered Roger a considerable sum of money, and slyly bought the album -- leaving a distressed Clinton with no Zapp album for his shaky boutique label. Propelled by the dancefloor smash "More Bounce to the Ounce," the album quickly became a considerable hit. It was here that Troutman first defined the vocoder-laden funk aesthetic that would become his trademark for the remainder of his career. In addition to the near ten-minute "More Bounce," the album also featured "Be Alright," another epic jam that slowed down the funk to a smoked-out, almost ballad-like tempo (both songs would later fuel numerous early-'90s West Coast rap hits via sampling). Of the remaining four songs, "Funky Bounce" and "Brand New Player" also stand as perennial standouts, further affirming Troutman's dense funk aesthetic. Later Zapp albums would have their moments, but this debut is absolutely solid from beginning to end, in addition to being the foundation from which Troutman would base all later work, and with "More Bounce to the Ounce" and "Be Alright," it houses two of the best moments in '80s funk.
Zapp - Zapp (flac 233mb)
01 More Bounce To The Ounce 9:31
02 Freedom 3:52
03 Brand New PPlayer 5:52
04 Funky Bounce 6:50
05 Be Alright 7:58
06 Comiing Home 6:34
Zapp - Zapp (ogg 95mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Building upon the unprecedented success of Zapp's self-titled debut and group leader Roger Troutman's solo debut, The Many Facets of Roger, along with those two album's hit singles -- "More Bounce to the Ounce" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," respectively -- Troutman returned in 1982 with Zapp II, a strong album again propelled by a mammoth single, "Dance Floor." Outside of the infectious single, which topped the R&B singles chart, Troutman stuck to his patented formula of vocoder-laden funk on each of the album's other songs. There isn't anything new here that wasn't on Zapp or The Many Facets of Roger, just more of the same; of course, this isn't exactly a bad thing, as Troutman retreads familiar ground effectively. At this point in his career, Troutman wasn't short on ideas and was able to inventively lay down dense, carefree funk with ease -- in sum, there's literally no filler here, impressive when you consider his prolific output during this era. Not quite as fresh as the first Zapp album but still a great album for its era.
Zapp - Zapp II (flac 256mb)
01 Dance Floor 11:09
02 Playin' Kinda Ruff 6:48
03 Doo Wa Ditty (Blow That Thing) 4:58
04 Do You Really Want An Answer? 6:36
05 Come On 5:11
06 A Touch Of Jazz (Playin' Kinda Ruff Part II) 6:10
Zapp - Zapp II (ogg 102mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Where the first two Zapp albums were nearly flawless with their beginning-to-end knee-deep funk, Zapp III showed slight symptoms of becoming derivative. You are still strained to find any filler here, but the album's second side does pale considerably in relation to its first side, alluding to the possibility that group leader Roger Troutman may have finally begun struggling for new ideas at this point. These latter songs such as "Spend My Whole Life" aren't necessarily bad, just uninspired. The album's first side features two mammoth jams -- "Heartbreaker, Pt. 1 & 2" and "I Can Make You Dance" -- that weren't as successful commercially as "More Bounce to the Once" or "Dance Floor" yet were nearly as effective in terms of dancefloor utility. With both clocking near ten minutes in length, these songs never sound monotonous or dull in their entirety, as Troutman kept the grooves grooving and the hooks catchy, while forever focusing on the funk. In the end, though, these two wonderful songs end up carrying much of this album's weight, mostly because of their epic stature and their obvious dancefloor emphasis. The remaining songs are just that -- songs -- rather than jams. Still, even though this album may often get overshadowed by its predecessors, it has aged well and remains one of the best early-'80s funk albums
Zapp - Zapp III (flac 221mb)
01 Heartbreaker (Part I, Part II) 7:30
02 I Can Make You Dance 9:01
03 Play Some Blues 5:45
04 Spend My Whole Life 4:07
05 We Need The Buck 5:43
06 Tut-Tut (Jazz) 5:15
07 Doo Wa Ditty (Live) 1:00
Zapp - Zapp III (ogg 93mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Though Zapp III was far from a failure or even a disappointment, it wasn't quite on par with previous Roger Troutman efforts, being a little uneven and less of a commercial success. So when Troutman resurfaced in 1985, he shook up his formula a bit, focusing on an even collection of succinct songs rather than an album driven by epic anthems and filled out with shorter songs. To further communicate the concept that he was shaking things up, Troutman blatantly titled his album The New Zapp IV U. On the one hand, things really didn't change as much as Troutman would have you believe. The New Zapp IV U is still immersed in bouncy, carefree funk, and he still has a monster anthem with "Computer Love." The main change seems to be an emphasis on tighter song structures rather than loose, epic dancefloor jams. Yet on the other hand, these tiny changes are all Troutman really needed to do. The previous three Zapp albums were all stellar, and it would have been a shame for him to abandon a winning formula. In the end, the new approach to songwriting here proves just enough change to make this a fresh-sounding album. Had Troutman returned with yet another Zapp album propelled by one or two epic, ten-minute dancefloor jams and a few shorter funk exercises, it would have seemed incredibly trite -- after three albums, it was time for a change to keep things fresh.
Zapp - The New Zapp IV U (flac 478mb)
01 It Doesn't Really Matter 5:28
02 Computer Love 4:51
03 Itchin' For Your Twitchin' 4:05
04 Radio People 5:55
05 I Only Have Eyes For You 4:45
06 Rock' N Roll 4:51
07 Cas-Ta-Spellome 3:33
08 Make Me Feel Good 5:17
09 Ja Ready To Rock 4:18
Bonus
10 It Doesn't Really Matter (Long Version) 5:35
11 It Doesn't Really Matter (Edit) 4:05
12 It Doesn't Really Matter (7" Version) 2:34
13 Computer Love (Ext Version) 8:27
14 Computer Love (LP Remix) 4:07
15 Computer Love (Instrumental) 4:07
Zapp - The New Zapp IV U (ogg 178mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's artists are an American funk band that emerged from Hamilton, Ohio, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, they served as partial inspiration toward the creation of the G-funk sound of hip-hop popular on the West Coast of the United States in the early to mid 1990s, with many of their songs sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. .. ..... N'joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Born on November 29, 1951, in Hamilton, Ohio, Roger Troutman began recording music in the late to mid 1960s, issuing his first solo recording efforts "Jolly Roger" and "Night Time" on the obscure and now defunct Ohio label, Teen Records in 1966 under the band name 'Lil' Roger and His Fabulous Vels. Although neither song received recognition due to its very limited release, Troutman and brothers pursued their music career throughout the 1970s, forming Roger & The Human Body in 1976, on their privately owned label Troutman Bros. Records. Their own label allowed Troutman and the band to give a slightly wider and more high-profile release of their own music, issuing their first (and only) album Introducing Roger in 1976.
After the 1980 release of Zapp's debut album, tensions rose between Roger Troutman and George Clinton. Troutman's solo album The Many Facets of Roger was primarily funded by Clinton, through CBS, and was slated to be released on his own Uncle Jam Records label. By the early 1980s, Clinton and his musical projects were a midst financial troubles due to his poor management skills and shifting tastes in music. Around the time of Troutman's to be released debut, Warner Bros. Records dropped Clinton from their label, and quietly released The Electric Spanking of War Babies which Troutman had worked briefly on, in early 1981 without much impact.
Zapp released its second album, Zapp II, on October 14, 1982. It focused on more of an electronic orientated sound, containing greater use of the talk-box that is often considered Troutman's trademark. Despite the contrasting styles between the first and the second albums, Zapp II attained gold status by September 21, 1982. The album fared almost as well as Zapp's debut, peaking at number two on the Billboard R&B chart, and reaching 25 on The Billboard 200 Albums chart. The single "Dancefloor (Part I)" peaked at number one on the R&B singles chart of 1982.
Zapp spawned several more albums in close succession within the 1980s, retaining the heavily electronic style that Zapp II had adopted. Zapp III was released in 1983, but it did not reach the same chart positions as Zapp's previous efforts. While still gaining a gold certification, it only peaked at 39 on the Billboard 200 and nine on the R&B chart. Zapp III's poorer commercial performance became a sign that the band's popularity and impact were beginning to decline toward the mid 1980s, with post-disco music falling out of trend. By the release of The New Zapp IV U on October 25, 1985, Zapp's popularity declined more. The album gained gold status, but only in 1994, almost a decade after its initial release. Zapp's presence began to fade in the latter half of the 1980s, and Troutman's attention was focused on his solo career. The final release by Zapp before Troutman's death was Zapp V, on September 12, 1989, which was met with moderate commercial success and failed to receive an RIAA certification.
On Sunday morning, April 25, 1999, Roger Troutman was fatally wounded as a result of an apparent murder-suicide that was orchestrated by his older brother, Larry. Roger was shot several times in the torso by Larry as he exited a recording studio in Dayton, Ohio. Roger was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, but died shortly after. Larry's body was found in a car a short distance away from the murder scene. There were no witnesses at the time, and Larry's motive for the murder of Roger remains unclear, however, there were increasingly large troubles over money surrounding Larry who managed the family run housing company, Troutman Enterprises. The business filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing $400,000 in delinquent taxes.Larry was also possibly angry over Roger firing him as manager for his music career, of which Larry had been for several years.
During Roger's funeral, his nephew Clet Troutman performed a talk-box rendition of "Amazing Grace." Roger was survived by his six sons and five daughters; his eldest son, Roger Lynch Troutman Jr., died of head injuries several years after the murder of Roger, (January 31, 1970 – January 22, 2003).
The resulting impact of Roger and Larry's deaths left the band stranded, halting production. Without Roger serving as the creative source, they effectively disbanded, and quietly left the music industry altogether. Warner Bros. Records eventually dropped the band from their label, bringing the professional recording career of Zapp to a close. A few years later, Zapp resurfaced for a short period after the establishment of its own independent label, Zapp Town Records, managed by the Troutman family. The label released its only album, Zapp VI: Back By Popular Demand, in 2003. Zapp returned to performing only in live concert, touring across the U.S. at various venues.
Lester Troutman Sr. and Terry Troutman confirmed the release of a new project/album Evolution date August 2015
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Released in 1980 just as George Clinton's P-funk empire had reached the brink of its existence, Bootsy protégé Roger Troutman proved himself a worthy successor with Zapp's self-titled debut album and its subsequent two follow-ups. In actuality, Zapp originally was a branch of the Parliament/Funkadelic collective, as group leader Roger Troutman was originally signed to Clinton's short-lived CBS subsidiary, Uncle Jam Records. After Troutman completed the album with CBS' money, Clinton's help, and Bootsy's production, Warner Bros. stepped in, offered Roger a considerable sum of money, and slyly bought the album -- leaving a distressed Clinton with no Zapp album for his shaky boutique label. Propelled by the dancefloor smash "More Bounce to the Ounce," the album quickly became a considerable hit. It was here that Troutman first defined the vocoder-laden funk aesthetic that would become his trademark for the remainder of his career. In addition to the near ten-minute "More Bounce," the album also featured "Be Alright," another epic jam that slowed down the funk to a smoked-out, almost ballad-like tempo (both songs would later fuel numerous early-'90s West Coast rap hits via sampling). Of the remaining four songs, "Funky Bounce" and "Brand New Player" also stand as perennial standouts, further affirming Troutman's dense funk aesthetic. Later Zapp albums would have their moments, but this debut is absolutely solid from beginning to end, in addition to being the foundation from which Troutman would base all later work, and with "More Bounce to the Ounce" and "Be Alright," it houses two of the best moments in '80s funk.
Zapp - Zapp (flac 233mb)
01 More Bounce To The Ounce 9:31
02 Freedom 3:52
03 Brand New PPlayer 5:52
04 Funky Bounce 6:50
05 Be Alright 7:58
06 Comiing Home 6:34
Zapp - Zapp (ogg 95mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Building upon the unprecedented success of Zapp's self-titled debut and group leader Roger Troutman's solo debut, The Many Facets of Roger, along with those two album's hit singles -- "More Bounce to the Ounce" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," respectively -- Troutman returned in 1982 with Zapp II, a strong album again propelled by a mammoth single, "Dance Floor." Outside of the infectious single, which topped the R&B singles chart, Troutman stuck to his patented formula of vocoder-laden funk on each of the album's other songs. There isn't anything new here that wasn't on Zapp or The Many Facets of Roger, just more of the same; of course, this isn't exactly a bad thing, as Troutman retreads familiar ground effectively. At this point in his career, Troutman wasn't short on ideas and was able to inventively lay down dense, carefree funk with ease -- in sum, there's literally no filler here, impressive when you consider his prolific output during this era. Not quite as fresh as the first Zapp album but still a great album for its era.
Zapp - Zapp II (flac 256mb)
01 Dance Floor 11:09
02 Playin' Kinda Ruff 6:48
03 Doo Wa Ditty (Blow That Thing) 4:58
04 Do You Really Want An Answer? 6:36
05 Come On 5:11
06 A Touch Of Jazz (Playin' Kinda Ruff Part II) 6:10
Zapp - Zapp II (ogg 102mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Where the first two Zapp albums were nearly flawless with their beginning-to-end knee-deep funk, Zapp III showed slight symptoms of becoming derivative. You are still strained to find any filler here, but the album's second side does pale considerably in relation to its first side, alluding to the possibility that group leader Roger Troutman may have finally begun struggling for new ideas at this point. These latter songs such as "Spend My Whole Life" aren't necessarily bad, just uninspired. The album's first side features two mammoth jams -- "Heartbreaker, Pt. 1 & 2" and "I Can Make You Dance" -- that weren't as successful commercially as "More Bounce to the Once" or "Dance Floor" yet were nearly as effective in terms of dancefloor utility. With both clocking near ten minutes in length, these songs never sound monotonous or dull in their entirety, as Troutman kept the grooves grooving and the hooks catchy, while forever focusing on the funk. In the end, though, these two wonderful songs end up carrying much of this album's weight, mostly because of their epic stature and their obvious dancefloor emphasis. The remaining songs are just that -- songs -- rather than jams. Still, even though this album may often get overshadowed by its predecessors, it has aged well and remains one of the best early-'80s funk albums
Zapp - Zapp III (flac 221mb)
01 Heartbreaker (Part I, Part II) 7:30
02 I Can Make You Dance 9:01
03 Play Some Blues 5:45
04 Spend My Whole Life 4:07
05 We Need The Buck 5:43
06 Tut-Tut (Jazz) 5:15
07 Doo Wa Ditty (Live) 1:00
Zapp - Zapp III (ogg 93mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Though Zapp III was far from a failure or even a disappointment, it wasn't quite on par with previous Roger Troutman efforts, being a little uneven and less of a commercial success. So when Troutman resurfaced in 1985, he shook up his formula a bit, focusing on an even collection of succinct songs rather than an album driven by epic anthems and filled out with shorter songs. To further communicate the concept that he was shaking things up, Troutman blatantly titled his album The New Zapp IV U. On the one hand, things really didn't change as much as Troutman would have you believe. The New Zapp IV U is still immersed in bouncy, carefree funk, and he still has a monster anthem with "Computer Love." The main change seems to be an emphasis on tighter song structures rather than loose, epic dancefloor jams. Yet on the other hand, these tiny changes are all Troutman really needed to do. The previous three Zapp albums were all stellar, and it would have been a shame for him to abandon a winning formula. In the end, the new approach to songwriting here proves just enough change to make this a fresh-sounding album. Had Troutman returned with yet another Zapp album propelled by one or two epic, ten-minute dancefloor jams and a few shorter funk exercises, it would have seemed incredibly trite -- after three albums, it was time for a change to keep things fresh.
Zapp - The New Zapp IV U (flac 478mb)
01 It Doesn't Really Matter 5:28
02 Computer Love 4:51
03 Itchin' For Your Twitchin' 4:05
04 Radio People 5:55
05 I Only Have Eyes For You 4:45
06 Rock' N Roll 4:51
07 Cas-Ta-Spellome 3:33
08 Make Me Feel Good 5:17
09 Ja Ready To Rock 4:18
Bonus
10 It Doesn't Really Matter (Long Version) 5:35
11 It Doesn't Really Matter (Edit) 4:05
12 It Doesn't Really Matter (7" Version) 2:34
13 Computer Love (Ext Version) 8:27
14 Computer Love (LP Remix) 4:07
15 Computer Love (Instrumental) 4:07
Zapp - The New Zapp IV U (ogg 178mb)
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
