Zapp &
Roger (
Larry and Roger
Troutman) was an early
80s funk and
r&b band who made known
world wide the
vocoder--it was their
trademark instrument. A vocoder is an
electronic device that takes the
spectral properties of an instrument and applies another
audio source to it, such as a
human voice. Through this, a human voice can be made to sound like a
synthesizer, with words being
sung or
spoken remain
recognizable.
Anyway, they were a
great band with many
influences. Some of their songs feature
distorted guitar solos,
rapping,
sax solos,
50s beebop sounds,
harmonicas, but all songs want to make you
dance. Some of their
greatest hits include:
Computer Love,
California Love (with 2Pac),
More Bounce to the Ounce,
Doo Wa Ditty (Blow that Thing), and
I Wanna Be Your Man. Having so many influences, everyone's bound to like at least one or two Zapp & Roger songs, if not all for their neverending grooves.
Unfortunately, both were killed in
April of
1999 in some sort of
murder-suicide.
Larry and Roger, may you
rest in peace.
~
for more info on their deaths, check < http://www.mtv.com/sendme.tin?page=/news/gallery/s/shakur990426.html >
for more
biographical information, check < http://www.pyramid-ent.com/zapp.htm >