and Roger seem to have similar backgrounds in the way the conduct their art in and out of the studio. I loved Roger and Zapp but I never knew Roger was so adept at music in the way Prince is. Great show to watch if you want to learn about some true funk. Shame that his life was taken too early.

Luckily I saw them live in Amsterdam before the tragedy.
I was blown away, I guess.

I have no idea what this thread is about

Roger, Zapp Unsung what's that....

i LOVE zapp. i was introduced to them by listening to the prince station on pandora radio.

i hear so many similarities in their music for sure

thedance said:

Roger and Zapp is a band from the late 70's and the 80's that play true Funk. Roger was the first musician to put the voice box (robotic sounding singing) on the map. Forget that fool T-Pain, Roger was an innovative musician much like Prince. Learned to play several instruments on his own and produced, wrote and arranged all his music. The show Unsung is about musicians who didn't get their just due because of some tragedy or they faded away before the general public actually had a chance to appreciate their artistry. Comes on every Sunday on TVOne in the States. Look up Roger and Zapp on Youtube and you'll definitely be pleased by what you'll see and hear.

I got to see Roger and Zapp live a few times. Always a great show. I always thought of Roger as a "poor man's Prince" if that is not too crude of a compliment. Roger was a very talented man, but less daring in his desire to try different genres. Though he remained basically a R&B and Funk act, I greatly enjoyed his studio work, and loved him live.

I knew Zapp/Roger's music, but I didn't know a lot of his backstory. I, too, was very surprised and happy at what I saw. I saw a lot of Prince in him.....or rather, a lot of Roger in Prince. It's yet again another person Prince borrowed heavily from, which is fine. Everyone is "inspired" by someone.

I think I was most surprised that there were no drugs or alcohol moments that brought them down. It's sad to say but it's such a common denominator to assume drugs ends up being someone's downfall in the business. To see that Roger stayed clean, as did the band, was refreshing. Their longevity was a testament to that, and vice versa. I remember being upset when Roger died that I never paid a lot of attention to the when and why of it. It was interesting to get the story on it. I think the biggest question is "WHY". What the hell was SO bad that the brother shot Roger??? Either way, it was one of the best Unsungs yet.

prince trying different genre has done nothing but hurt his career. roger is the king please dont forget that.

jackson35 said:

Roger had an established sound. He had a niche, and he was a funk/R&B act.

Prince's forte is his versatility. However, there are things he should just stay away from, but you can't stick someone like Prince in JUST an R&B market, or JUST a pop market. He's excelled greatly as rock songs like "Let's Go Crazy", "Endorphinmachine", "Bambi", etc. He's also excelled in funk and R&B with "DMSR", "1999", "Housequake", etc. It was a pop record that put him over the top in 1984. It was a rock song that opened up his audience to white people in 1982/1983 (Corvette).

Roger stuck to his genre, expanded on it, but you always knew his style. He excelled at that, but he still missed a lot of new audience possibilities because of it. Prince has alienated his audience by doing bland and boring "jazz" (it ain't jazz!), instrumentals, and whatever bland pop he throws out. In some mways though, you're right. Prince has forgotten what got him to where he is now, and that's why he's not even making a gold status record.

Both of them had their limitations, as much as they were limitless in their possibilities. We just don't get to hear anything more from Roger in that regard.
[Edited 11/24/09 10:40am]

joyinrepetition said:

Thanks for the info--I'll check out Unsung on you tube since I don't have cable TV.

poetcorner61 said:

I don't know if they have the episodes on TV|ONE's website, but check there first.

Didn't recognise the names but after googling, I recognise the song Do wat ditty. What a tragic story. Why would his brother shoot him? Jealousy?

ernestsewell said:

His brother was in rears with their real estate. The business was spending to much money up front and not recouping it back. I think they said that the brother was 2 or 4 million in the hole. He was depressed and Roger just happened to be the only one at the studio at the time and who know what went down from there.

The cat had 12 kids.....I never knew that.

ernestewell Prince borrowed from Zapp?
u mean Zapp borrowed from Prince?
whats the name of the song by zapp where Roger used Irrisistible bitch lyrics?
and lots of other song u can hear clear Prince influence.

Zapp is great but it's more evident that they used Prince as their role model not the other way around

thebanishedone said:

Exactly.

thebanishedone said:

Actually Roger was more influenced by bands like Parliament and Ohio Players as was Prince. Roger was signed to a label George Clinton was forming in the late 70's that didnt quite take off thats why Bootsy is credited as a producer of their first album. Roger and his brothers were known as "Roger & The Human Body" and they had a completley different sound like the Ohio Players did in theier early days with Junie Morrison and Slave when Steve Arrington became their drummer/lead vocalist

joyinrepetition said:

I thought that was Peter Frampton, no?

sosgemini said:

The talkbox has been around and used by many musicians,from Rufus & Chaka Khan to Peter Frampton to Quncy Jones and Sly Stone, but Roger was the one who gave it's own voice like Hendrix did with his guitar.
[Edited 11/24/09 13:28pm]

diamondpearl1 said:

he was definitly the 1st 2 make it a lead instrument. Stevie Wonder and others uused it on a much smaller scale.

diamondpearl1 said:

Exactly. That was pointed out in the show. "Roger didn't invent the Talk Box, but he brought it to the forefront."

Zapp is great but it's more evident that they used Prince as their role model not the other way around









Zapp debut 1980

Dirty Mind 1980

funkpill said:

Very bad example.....

1725topp said:

He played blues and jazz also

funkpill said:

Actually, they debuted in 1976,,,as Roger & The Human Body, they changed it to Zapp in 1980.

funkpill said:

Harlepolis said:

[Edited 11/24/09 14:04pm]

ernestsewell said:

I'm confused here...didn't Frampton have an album that was the biggest selling of all time (at one point) where full songs were sung with the vocoder? And i'm not trying to be an arse or anything it's just...i'd always assumed it was Frampton who is credited and not Roger...

and I have zero faith in anything anyone says on these Unsung shows...as Jody Watley herself said on her facebook page, half the shit they claimed was BS. She was pissed.

sosgemini said:

Vocodors are different than the talk box machine.

Harlepolis said:

i keep tellin em' that funk can do airthang