Zapp & Roger

Zapp & Roger came out of Cincinnati in the late 1970s, built around brothers Roger, Larry, and Lester Troutman. Roger's talk box and falsetto gave them a sound that was hard to miss, especially on their 1980 debut album and the single 'More Bounce to the Ounce.' That track became a dance floor standard almost immediately.

Their second album, 'Zapp II,' had the ballad 'I Want to Be Your Man,' and they kept putting out records through the 1980s like 'Computer Love' and 'The New Zapp IV U.' Roger's stage presence and some of the lyrics drew attention, and there were label disputes with Warner Bros. that slowed things down for a while.

You can hear their influence in a lot of later funk and R&B. Songs like 'Be Alright' and 'Don't Take It Personal' from their catalog still turn up in mixes and samples. The core lineup included Roger on vocals and talk box, Larry on bass, Lester on drums, with Terry Troutman on guitar and Gregory Jackson on keyboards.