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PrintableHardcoreJollies said: I am as big a fan of Roger as anyone, having bought Zapp's first album and everything thereafter when it came out. However, I have to be slightly contrary to some of the praise for him. I saw them live many times and although he was an energetic performer, his "schtick" was always the same ... going through the audience playing his guitar, etc. And although he had a great sound I thought he was often repetitious and did not challenge himself or his listeners enough. He basically spent most of his career trying to top More Bounce and never really did. He basically had three modes: The voice box More Bounce-type funkathon; The playful Do Wah Ditty-type jazzy number; and the Computer Love/I Wanna Be Your Man-type ballad. His limitations kept him from the kind of greatness achieved by the likes of Bootsy, Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, EWF, Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Kool & the Gang, War, Rick James, The Time, etc. Even though I like some of these bands better, I would place him alongside folks like Cameo, Bar-Kays, Slave, Average White Band, Jesse Johnson, etc.
Agree or disagree??? Wow...First of all...how the hell have u been Hardcore?! Haven't seen u around in ages. Hope everythang is cool witcha. I respect your honesty. Although I can see where u are coming from to a SLIGHT degree being that his sound was in a formula vein. BUT, I think the cat wasn't really in the business to expand the horizons. I think, like artists such as Forigner and Journey, that they did what worked for them. And what SOLD for them. Giving their fans what they wanted. Roger was certainly able to release a straight up bonafide rock album, if he wished. He could have released a jazz album. I don't think he was on fire enough to do that. He might have had concerns on how well those albums would have sold. I myself would have bought them. But me being a musician, might have been one of the few who could have dug it compared to the average radio listener who all the know of Zapp is Dancefloor. SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
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HardcoreJollies said: I am as big a fan of Roger as anyone, having bought Zapp's first album and everything thereafter when it came out. However, I have to be slightly contrary to some of the praise for him. I saw them live many times and although he was an energetic performer, his "schtick" was always the same ... going through the audience playing his guitar, etc. And although he had a great sound I thought he was often repetitious and did not challenge himself or his listeners enough. He basically spent most of his career trying to top More Bounce and never really did. He basically had three modes: The voice box More Bounce-type funkathon; The playful Do Wah Ditty-type jazzy number; and the Computer Love/I Wanna Be Your Man-type ballad. His limitations kept him from the kind of greatness achieved by the likes of Bootsy, Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, EWF, Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Kool & the Gang, War, Rick James, The Time, etc. Even though I like some of these bands better, I would place him alongside folks like Cameo, Bar-Kays, Slave, Average White Band, Jesse Johnson, etc.
Agree or disagree??? I see your point but I think Roger stayed where he thought he could make the most $$. | |
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I been too busy working to post much, but I continue to read these boards whenever I can. And, I continue to buy new music and listen constantly. To add to the Roger thing, I was impressed when he came back with California Love. It would have been nice if he could have used that as more of a rebound launching pad. I would just get irritated buying his albums and there would not be that many cuts, often between 6-8, and sometimes having them be retreads of the past or unnecessary (and overlong) covers of worn-out songs like Heard It Through the Grapevine and Midnight Hour. When I buy a funk album, I am looking for at least three killer funk cuts on each album and, hopefully, some other stuff that is interesting/enjoyable on some other level. Most of his albums fell short of that quota of three or more for me. I have to confess though, when you talk about formula acts, one of the all-time leaders in that category is one of my all-time favorite rock bands: AC/DC. But to me, Angus Young has proved to be a more skilled, unique and entertaining soloist than Roger. In fact, Angus is one of my fav all-time guitar players. So much so that I can forgive Brian Johnson's shrill vocals.
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blackguitaristz said: HardcoreJollies said: I am as big a fan of Roger as anyone, having bought Zapp's first album and everything thereafter when it came out. However, I have to be slightly contrary to some of the praise for him. I saw them live many times and although he was an energetic performer, his "schtick" was always the same ... going through the audience playing his guitar, etc. And although he had a great sound I thought he was often repetitious and did not challenge himself or his listeners enough. He basically spent most of his career trying to top More Bounce and never really did. He basically had three modes: The voice box More Bounce-type funkathon; The playful Do Wah Ditty-type jazzy number; and the Computer Love/I Wanna Be Your Man-type ballad. His limitations kept him from the kind of greatness achieved by the likes of Bootsy, Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, EWF, Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Kool & the Gang, War, Rick James, The Time, etc. Even though I like some of these bands better, I would place him alongside folks like Cameo, Bar-Kays, Slave, Average White Band, Jesse Johnson, etc.
Agree or disagree??? Wow...First of all...how the hell have u been Hardcore?! Haven't seen u around in ages. Hope everythang is cool witcha. I respect your honesty. Although I can see where u are coming from to a SLIGHT degree being that his sound was in a formula vein. BUT, I think the cat wasn't really in the business to expand the horizons. I think, like artists such as Forigner and Journey, that they did what worked for them. And what SOLD for them. Giving their fans what they wanted. Roger was certainly able to release a straight up bonafide rock album, if he wished. He could have released a jazz album. I don't think he was on fire enough to do that. He might have had concerns on how well those albums would have sold. I myself would have bought them. But me being a musician, might have been one of the few who could have dug it compared to the average radio listener who all the know of Zapp is Dancefloor.  | |
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ThePunisher said:[quote] blackguitaristz said: Wow...First of all...how the hell have u been Hardcore?! Haven't seen u around in ages. Hope everythang is cool witcha. I respect your honesty. Although I can see where u are coming from to a SLIGHT degree being that his sound was in a formula vein. BUT, I think the cat wasn't really in the business to expand the horizons. I think, like artists such as Forigner and Journey, that they did what worked for them. And what SOLD for them. Giving their fans what they wanted. Roger was certainly able to release a straight up bonafide rock album, if he wished. He could have released a jazz album. I don't think he was on fire enough to do that. He might have had concerns on how well those albums would have sold. I myself would have bought them. But me being a musician, might have been one of the few who could have dug it compared to the average radio listener who all the know of Zapp is Dancefloor. I remember at one of his shows, He didn't think that the audience was partying hard enough, So he stopped right in the middle of his set and said "Oh What, Y'all Want Me to Play Some Of This? He Broke into some Beverley Hill Billies sounding, Boot Scootin Boogie Country music. Everyone laughed, But he played it good! Real good! Roger could've done a Country Music album using that vocoder as lead vocals.
That's just how talented the man was  | |
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