Roger Troutman and his brothers made up the heart of a remarkable band known as Zapp. The band is still touring today. The Troutman family is from just down the road in Hamilton, Ohio.
I first heard Zapp while I was in college when they came out with a song called More Bounce to the Ounce. As a radio disc jockey we played the heck outta More Bounce. Folks could not get enough of the bass, the beat or Roger's talk box sound.
It will come as know surprise to those who know me that my favorite song by Zapp was a ditty called 'Computer Love'
But the Zapp saga is about more than music. During the height of their popularity, the Troutmans put scores of low-income families into houses they built from the ground up in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. They maintained a drug-free, hard-working ethic that separated them from many of their peers.
All of that came crashing down on April 25, 1999 when, to everyone's shock, Larry Troutman shot his brother Roger to death, then turned the gun on himself. Suicide rearing its ugly head in the Black community.
The entire story of Zapp is shared in a recent episode of TV One's "Unsung". I encourage all villagers with TV One access to watch this episode. I didn't realize that so many Roger beats were sampled by hip-hop stars like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac and others.
His top individual hit was 'I Want to Be Your Man'
I hope that you enjoyed this week's Tune In Tuesday meme. Please take a moment to share your enduring memory of Roger Troutman and Zapp.
