Zapp, Computer Love, and talkbox 29.12.2007
Found a clip of one of my very favourite tracks. Zapp, performing Computer Love. Roger Troutman, the master of the Talkbox, the funkiest instrument to come out of the 70s-80s if you ask me. It might make you look like a person with a garden hose in your mouth, but the sound that comes out of it is so god damn funky, at least coming from Rogers mouth. Check it out:
Unfortunately Roger Troutman and his brother Larry both died in what is assumed to be a personal dispute between them in Daytona in 1999.
Zapp contributed a lot to the hiphop scene (EPMD's More bounce to the ounce from 1988 comes to mind), and were also behind California Love, which later became a major Dr. Dre hit with Tupac and Roger performing on it as well.
If anybody can recognize any Prince or The Time (Morris Day) peeping out between the chords, Jheri curl, and golden suits on the live recording linked below, you are very right. As one person writes in the comments to one of the videos, those three could very well have been brothers, sharing a distinctive sound of 80s funk — crisp, lively, and made for the dancefloor.
More info and clips:
