lundi 29 avril 2024
Cheryl Lynn
After signing with Columbia Records, Lynn released her first and biggest hit, "Got to Be Real," which was penned by Toto keyboardist David Paich and Lynn. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the R&B chart. The success of the single promted a full scale debut album. Titled, Cheryl Lynn, it was produced by Paich. The album sold over a million copies and peaked at #5 on Billboard's R&B albums chart and #23 on Billboard's top 200 album charts. The follow-up single, Star Love, also became a hit.
During the Cheryl's debut album's run, members of the rock group Toto were putting together their debut album. During the production Lynn was asked to provided the female backing vocal on the single, "Georgy Porgy,". The single peaked at #48 on Billboard's Pop charts. Although the Toto would go on to chart more than a dozen pop hits throughout the years, it was Lynn's vocal on "Georgy Porgy" that aided the group in charting their one and only R&B (#18) and Dance (#80) hit on the Billboard charts.
Cheryl began the 90's without a record contract. So she did mostly session work on Richard Marx albums, Rush Street and Paid Vacation as well as Luther Vandross Your Secret Love album. But in 1995, after a six year hiatus from recording her own material, Lynn teamed up with producer/songwriter Teddy Riley, (formally of the New Jack Swing group Guy), to record her Ninth album, Good Time. It was released in Japan, the UK and later in the United States as an imported CD and featured the club favorite single Guarantee For My Heart. In 1996, Sony Records/Legacy released Got to Be Real - The Best Of Cheryl Lynn, which included Cheryl's best recording material from her years with Columbia Records. This was shortly followed by another best of cd titled, The Real Thing, which featured other recordings from Lynn's first six albums. Two years later she performed on HBO's Sinbad's Summer Soul Jam 4 (1998), hosted by comedian Sinbad (actor).
During the new millennium Lynn toured Japan and did the occasional gig in the U.S., performing at charity events in her hometown of Los Angeles. In 2000 she worked with hip-hop artist J Supreme on his single Your Love (Encore), which was an update of her #1 1984 hit "Encore." She performed on ABC's The Disco Ball…A 30-Year Celebration, which aired in January 2003. In 2004 she recorded the song, Sweet Kind Of Life, which was also written and produced by Jam & Lewis, for the animated film and soundtrack to Shark Tale.
On September 19, 2005, Lynn's signature song "Got to Be Real" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. On May 23, 2006 Collectables Record Label re-released her 1981 album In The Night and 1982's Instant Love, in twin CD package. It was the first time ever that either album was released as a CD in the U.S.
Lynn is considered an influence on some of today's R&B female singers, including Mary J. Blige, who, along with Will Smith, covered Lynn's signature song ("Got to Be Real"), also for the soundtrack of the animated film Shark Tale.
Cheryl Lynn - Good Time 1995
Good Time is the ninth album from singer Cheryl Lynn. After a six-year hiatus from recording her own material, Lynn teamed with producer/songwriter Teddy Riley (formerly of the new jack swing music group Guy). It was released in Japan and the UK, and later in the United States as an imported CD. It featured on the nightclub-fave single album “Guarantee for My Heart”.
Cheryl Lynn - Whatever It Takes 1989
Working with producer/keyboardist/songwriter Todd Cochran, singer Cheryl Lynn had a somewhat harder, edgier sound with trash can-timbre beats and less of a light poppy feel to her material, which was best characterized by the first single, "Upset." But it was the second single, the mid-tempo groover "Everytime I Say Goodbye, that put her back on the charts, going to number seven on Billboard's R&B charts in fall 1989; it was a nod towards her Jam & Lewis-produced number one R&B hit, "Encore." The next single, the mellow "Whatever It Takes," made it to number 26 R&B -- her fans were sending her a message. Another smooth number, "You're So Good for Me," was a popular radio-aired LP track that became a steppers favorite.
Cheryl Lynn - Start Over 1987
Start Over is an album released by R&B artist Cheryl Lynn in 1987. This album also marks Lynn's recording debut on Manhattan Records, though it would be her only album for this label. The album charted higher than her previous release, but still stalled at #55 on the US R&B chart. Two singles, "New Dress" and "If You Were Mine" were released, and, while the latter single just missed the R&B top ten, neither of them could revive the project. Cheryl Lynn would sign with Virgin Records for her next release. This album is currently out of print.
Cheryl Lynn - Its Gonna Be Right 1985
It's Gonna Be Right is a 1985 album by American singer Cheryl Lynn, released on Columbia Records. The album was a follow-up to her successful 1983 album, Preppie. The album was also Lynn's final album for the Columbia Label. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who had produced her hit single "Encore".
The first single, "Fidelity", though bearing similarities to Cheryl Lynn's previous Jam & Lewis-produced smash "Encore," only reached #25 on the R&B charts, its lacklustre performance was widely blamed on its predecessor still being in heavy rotation at the time of its release. Cheryl Lynn, co-wrote and produced the follow-up single "Fade To Black" herself, but it only reached #85 on the R&B charts. The Jam & Lewis helmed title track bore several sonic similarities to her smash hit "Got To Be Real." Despite employing the popular production duo, the album only reached #56 on the R&B albums chart.[1] The album was reissued in September 2010, as an import on Sony Records Japan, however no bonus material was included. In September, 2015 it was rereleased by PTG on CD including one bonus track, the long version of "Fidelity".
Cheryl Lynn - Preppie 1983
Preppie is the fifth studio album by American recording R&B artist Cheryl Lynn, released on November 4, 1983, by Columbia Records. The album features the R&B hit singles, "Encore" and "This Time".
Preppie includes the hit singles "Encore" (#1 R&B hit) and "This Time" (#49 R&B hit). It reached #8 on the R&B albums chart. The album was primarily produced by Lynn herself, with the exception of "Encore," which was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Cheryl Lynn - Instant Love 1982
Instant Love is a 1982 album by American singer Cheryl Lynn, released on Columbia Records. Luther Vandross produced the album and also performed a duet with Lynn on "If This World Were Mine", a cover of the original recording by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The arrangements were by Luther Vandross, Marcus Miller and Nat Adderley, Jr. The album peaked at #7 on the R&B album charts and #133 on The Billboard 200.
Coming off of his success with Aretha Franklin's "Jump to It," Cheryl and Luther delivered the title cut as a first single, but it only reached #16 on the R&B charts. The two artists did however make an impact with their duet on a remake of the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell classic "If This World Were Mine" which became the biggest hit (#4 R&B) off of this album. A third single, "Look Before You Leap", stalled out at #77 on the R&B charts.Cheryl Lynn - In The Night 1981
In the Night is the third studio album by American R&B singer and songwriter Cheryl Lynn, released on Columbia Records in April 1981. The album includes the hit Soul/dance track "Shake It Up Tonight" which reached to number five on both the Soul and Dance charts. In The Night was later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release.
Cheryl Lynn 1978
Cheryl Lynn is the first studio album by American singer Cheryl Lynn. It was released by Columbia Records on October 13, 1978 in the United States. The album reached number 23 on the US Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 23, 1979. The album includes Lynn's first single and biggest hit "Got to Be Real" (1978).
Ex-Gong Show contestant Cheryl Lynn hit paydirt with her self-titled debut album for Columbia. "Got to Be Real," one of those unavoidable disco-era hits -- thanks to its instantly memorable bassline and Lynn's alternately soaring and barely contained giddiness -- is one of the few singles of its level of success (number one black singles, number 11 club play, number 12 pop) to not decrease in value with over-saturation. Thanks to that song and the multi-tiered "Star Love," Cheryl Lynn reached number five on the black albums chart and provided the artist with her time in the spotlight. It's easily her best full-length, full of solid album cuts that act as support for the key singles rather than attempting to match them or even duplicate them with forced hooks and bungled attempts at making a diverse listen. In fact, "You Saved My Day" is just as great as the hits and could've been bigger with the right support -- nevertheless, it was a favorite of DJ Frankie Knuckles while he was at Chicago's infamous Warehouse. A strong debut that benefits from assured ease.
Sylvester – Private Recordings | August 1970 (2023)
An intimacy greets you in the opening seconds of Private Recordings, August 1970, a collection of previously unheard recordings from the iconic Queen Of Disco, Sylvester: intimacy not as physical desire, but the intimacy of invitation, the intimacy of belonging, of understanding. It’s an unheard but integral side of the “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” singer’s legacy. Disco is, after all, rooted in tradition, taking notes and chords from jazz and tracing lines back through R&B and into the blues. Genres born of Black performers, private clubs, and party scenes that pushed the relationship between stage and dance floor.
The nine songs here were recorded in an afternoon in 1970, with a musician living in a commune of people enamored with the wonders of times past named Peter Mintun. A highly-sought player, Mintun was the pianist for San Francisco psychedelic art troupe the Cockettes, the rare professional in a lavish and wonderfully chaotic group of hippies and drag performers. The Cockettes counted among its number a young Sylvester, a then-unknown talent with a background in party scenes built of Black trans women and drag performers wielding a dazzling falsetto that swiftly made him stand out. Sylvester displayed his love of icons like Billie Holiday by learning to lovingly imitate their voices for drag performances, he and Mintun showcased their shared love of jazz and blues in solo scenes that stood in contrast to the whirlwind of Cockettes performances.
It is fitting that the warmth of the album’s opening emanates from Billie Holiday’s “God Bless The Child,” one of the standards Sylvester would arrange and perform in their scenes together. Sylvester’s soft falsetto floats through the song, dancing on the rhythm of Mintun’s piano. Voice and piano bonded in unannounced steps, when the melody slows they do so together, when Sylvester’s voice softens so do the keys. The unseen hands drawing music in the air, the trust between two performers who thrill to the whims of the other, the snapping of fingers and the soft tapping of feet an audible rhythm creating time for both to keep.
The rare appearance of Cockettes singer John Rothemel adds the spontaneity of the stage when the mood of the room calls for it. On “Indian Love Call,” Sylvester tells Rothemel he would love to do a duet, asks if he knows the Hammerstein number, and together with Mintun all three find the song together, building it slowly until it shatters with a shared love and understanding of its tenor.
Throughout Private Recordings,
Sylvester’s voice is tender, playful and vibrant, urged on by Mintun’s
mastery of the piano. At once possessed with an urgent longing and
others campy and playful, the breadth of Sylvester and Mintun’s love of
these songs is the guide through this collection. “Viper’s Drag” begins
without need for a name, just the recollection of a melody, Sylvester
singing wordless chords and Mintun knowingly falling in step. The
unfiltered beauty of a live recording caught on a floor in a moment in
time, the record highlights two performers playing for each other with a
reverence owed to the songs; each with a different flavor, a twist of
the voice or a new bounce to the piano. In the closing number, “When My
Dreamboat Comes Home,” Sylvester and Muntin work out the rhythm between
them. Over a minute and ten seconds Mintun picks at ivory notes,
Sylvester playfully sings the memory of its melody, they recall the
roots and history of where it came from and then the tape ends, a
rehearsal that has wrapped in favor of the stage.
Sylvester
A disco and queer icon who was openly gay throughout his career, Sylvester possessed a supremely expressive high tenor voice unlike any other singer before or since him. He started recording in the early '70s with the rock-oriented Hot Band, releasing two albums before resurfacing later that decade as a solo R&B and disco artist. Recording for the Fantasy label, his singles regularly scaled the upper reaches of Billboard's club chart, truly breaking through with the ecstatic Top 40 crossover hits "Dance (Disco Heat)" and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," both of which drove the 1978 album Step II to a gold certification. Sylvester continued to blaze paths after Disco Demolition Night, most significantly teaming with producer Patrick Cowley in 1982 for the Top Five club hit "Do Ya Wanna Funk," an early Hi-NRG classic.
Born Sylvester James, Jr. in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood, Sylvester was introduced to music at an early age by his grandmother, Julia Morgan, who was a traveling jazz singer. While still a youngster, Sylvester began singing in gospel groups and found further inspiration from the likes of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. After relocating to San Francisco in the late '60s, Sylvester performed in a musical production called Women of the Blues, then became a star attraction of the Cockettes, a multiracial drag ensemble, in the early '70s. After leaving the Cockettes, Sylvester and his manager put together the Hot Band, with whom he recorded Sylvester & the Hot Band and Bazaar, rock-oriented albums released on Blue Thumb in 1973.
The Hot Band subsequently split from Sylvester, who continued performing and gravitated toward disco. Signed in 1977 to the Fantasy label, Sylvester broke through that year with a cover of Ashford & Simpson's "Over and Over" -- the highlight of his self-titled solo debut, produced by Harvey Fuqua -- which reached number 18 on Billboard's disco chart. Step II, released in 1978, built on that success with "Dance (Disco Heat)" and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," both of which topped the club chart and went Top 40. Step II would eventually go gold. Although the 1979 album Stars produced a third Top 40 single with his version of "I (Who Have Nothing)," "I Need Somebody to Love Tonight," a predominantly electronic track written by Patrick Cowley, would prove to leave a deeper impression on club music in the post-disco era. After two more studio albums for Fantasy, 1980's Sell My Soul and 1981's Too Hot to Sleep, Sylvester signed on with Patrick Cowley's Megatone label and released four albums through 1986. These LPs veered from Hi-NRG and electro to soul-rock hybrids and high-tech contemporary R&B. The singles taken from the left more of an impact. A total of six, including the Hi-NRG staple "Do Ya Wanna Funk," peaked within the Top Ten of the club chart.
Sylvester's career came to an abrupt and tragic end on December 16, 1988, when he died from AIDS-related complications. Despite his passing, Sylvester's music remains popular on dancefloors worldwide, while "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" has been covered over the years by the likes of Jimmy Somerville, Sandra Bernhard, and Byron Stingily, whose 1998 version hit number one on the U.S. dance chart. Sylvester's back catalog and archival recordings have circulated with titles such as Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981 and Private Recordings, August 1970, both of which saw release in 2023.
Sylvester - Mutual Attraction 1986
The final album issued before Sylvester's death wasn't a distingished effort from anyone. He was dispirited and sounded like a shell of himself. The vocals had no power, color, authority, or conviction, while the uptempo cuts were wooden and the ballads deadly. Anyone who remembered the great Sylvester cuts was embarrassed, and his tragic death didn't make things any better.
Sylvester - Rock the Box/M-1015 / 1984
Sylvester made his last solid album in 1984, still riding the dance wave even though the sound no longer ruled pop circles. The single "Rock The Box" was a classic disco tune, and would have been a huge hit if it had been released in the late '70s. Instead, it was largely ignored, as was the album, a bitter disappointment for Sylvester.
Sylvester - Call Me 1983
Call Me is the seventh studio album by the American recording artist Sylvester.
Sylvester peaked in the late '70s, was still making interesting music in the early '80s, and then began the slow and painful decline that ended in his death. This one wasn't ruined by his singing, which was still impressive, but by erratic production and compositions. Sylvester tried to be comic, soul man, tease, dance star, and pop artist and was so torn between guises that he never established one on the album.
Sylvester - Do Ya Wanna Funk/All I Need 1982
All I Need is the sixth studio album by the American recording artist Sylvester, and first released on Megatone Records. The album was praised by the LGBT community media as a return to form, recalling the energy of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" released four years earlier. The San Francisco Sentinel wrote that the album was "pure pop geared directly for the I-Beam crowd that wants to boogie down for seven cuts." The Bay Area Reporter said the album was "masterful", gushing "Syl doesn't just present music, he is music at its dynamic best." Mainstream music magazine Billboard noted that the album was "his most consistent [and] interesting" since the late 1970s.[2] In a retrospective review, AllMusic assessed the album poorly, writing that Sylvester "was now floundering, with his high-energy brand of disco out of fashion."[1] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked "Do Ya Wanna Funk" number 179 in their list of 200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time.[3]
Physical copies of the single "Do Ya Wanna Funk" listed the song's artist variously as Patrick Cowley, Patrick Cowley featuring Sylvester, or simply Sylvester. The song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. It was also a top 10 hit in a few European markets and a top 40 hit in the UK. "Don't Stop" (with "All I Need" for some releases) also received significant US Club Play and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart, where "Tell Me" also charted
A massive album release party was held in December 1982 at the former Dreamland nightclub in San Francisco, with Steve Fabus serving as deejay for the packed dance floor.
Sylvester was on the downside of his career in the mid-'80s. He still had the glorious tones and booming voice, but was now floundering, with his high-energy brand of disco out of fashion. Sylvester tried to fashion a comeback by mixing in lightweight pop arrangements and production while singing his old fashion. The results were not encouraging, but that wasn't because the songs lacked style; they were just the wrong things for the time.
Sylvester - Too Hot To Sleep 1981
Many overlook the fact that Sylvester was as much of a soul artist as he was a disco artist, what with his gospel roots and his ability to wrap his voice around a slow, deliberate arrangement. That's a shame, since there are soul-loving disco haters who simply avoid Sylvester's records for his disco connections, not to mention his sexual orientation. He was one of the most versatile artists of his time, singing deeply and sensually ("Thinking Right") one moment and then reaching up for a type of falsetto that will either cause your goose pimples to rise or make you run for shelter ("Can't You See"). Too Hot to Sleep is one of his most refined and laid-back albums, a consistent but unremarkable one that puts a spotlight on his crooning (best heard on his version of "Ooo Baby Baby"). The problem with this record is that it seems too much like a compromise. It's lacking in personality and hardly captures all of what makes Sylvester Sylvester. [Fantasy reissued this album in 1999 and combined it with 1977's Sylvester; Too Hot to Sleep was retained as the title.]
Sylvester - Sell My Soul 1980
Although the singularly named Sylvester reached his apex with 1978's disco anthem "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," Sell My Soul, released in 1980, is packed with a wonderful assortment of easy, breezy dance classics which readily tipped the whole package into the pop Top 50 that fall. Driven by strings and pulsing, synth-edged disco beats, the songs on Sell My Soul are brought to life thanks to Sylvester's mighty, mighty voice. Sweet and sexy, it rumbles as often as it breaks into his soaring trademark falsetto. Either way, it lends a shine to the set that couldn't be reproduced by anyone else. Both "I Need You" and "I'll Dance to That" are up-tempo, feel-good groovers. The title track, meanwhile, is a heavier affair -- still upbeat, but more textured, adding a nice looping bass and outstanding backing vocals from Delores and Carl Hall. In fact, that's the formula that winds its way across the set, although an impassioned reiteration of the magnificent "Cry Me a River" is a quick-stepping, gospel-inflected romp that stands outside the pack, thanks in part to the fierce brass which trails the vocals, while "My Life Is Loving You" is a tender, emotive, end-of-the-night ballad. Ultimately, although it runs the risk of becoming just another clutch of lite pop, Sell My Soul is another stunner from one of dance music's most underrated artists. Consigned to the one-hit wonder bin by most, Sylvester gave more chops to what became de rigueur in the late-'80s/early-'90s acid house dance set than most give him credit for. And this oft-overlooked album is the proof in the pudding.
Sylvester - Stars 1979
Stars is the fifth studio album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1979 on the Fantasy label.
The album peaked at No. 27 on the R&B albums chart. It also reached No. 63 on the Billboard 200. The album features a disco-styled cover version of Ben E. King's "I (Who Have Nothing)", which peaked at No. 27 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached No. 4 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart along with the title track and "Body Strong".
Sylvester - Step II 1978
Step II is the fourth studio album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1978 on the Fantasy label.
The album peaked at No. 7 on the R&B albums chart. It also reached No. 28 on the Billboard 200. The album features the singles "Dance (Disco Heat)", which peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", which charted at No. 20 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs reached No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on February 13, 1979.
This is an absolutely seminal queer album, a snapshot of a world most people at the time had never seen. You can instantly hear the influence Sylvester had on not only queer acts like Erasure and Pet Shop Boys, but also R&B like Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. Of course, "Mighty Real" gets all the love (as it should) but the whole album is solid front-to-back. You don't have to be gay to feel the power.
Sylvester - Sylvester 1977
Sylvester is an album by the American musician Sylvester, released in 1977.[2][3] Previously Sylvester had released two albums on the Blue Thumb Records credited to Sylvester and the Hot Band. It was his first disco album in the series of three that were recorded and released by Fantasy Records in the late 1970s. The album was issued with the alternative title Over and Over in France.
Two singles were issued from the album. The first single, a self-penned song called "Down, Down, Down", charted at #18 in the Billboard Dance chart.[4] The following single "Over and Over" written by Ashford & Simpson failed to make any impression on the charts. On the track "I've Been Down", the lead vocals are performed by Izora Rhodes and Martha Wash, known at the time as Two Tons o' Fun, they later went on to record as The Weather Girls. The album was re-issued on compact disc in the UK by Southbound Records in 1995, together with the album Step II, this release features no bonus tracks.
With his more rock-based work with the Hot Band laid to rest (no more Neil Young or Procol Harum covers), Sylvester headed down the soul and disco route with this self-titled album and never looked back. It didn't take long at all for him to hit his stride, evidenced by Ashford & Simpson's dynamic "Over and Over" -- a disco single full of memorable blips of horns that went over better in the U.K. than the U.S. -- but the album has its growing pains. The remainder moves through smooth and up-tempo soul, with resonating moments equaled by those that pass by without much notice. Longtime Sylvester associates Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes are in tow, providing complementary background vocals that would lead to their Two Tons and Weather Girls projects. Regardless of its shortcomings, Sylvester left plenty of evidence with this record that a major talent was about to crack. [Fantasy combined this album with 1981's Too Hot to Sleep in 1999; somewhat confusingly, Fantasy simply titled the disc Too Hot to Sleep.]
Sylvester And The Hot Band – Bazaar 1973
Bazaar is partially cut from the same cloth, containing the same genre-and-gender-bending, but it lacks the far-reaching historical scope of Sylvester's debut, sounding entirely of the now of 1973. Partially this is due to Hot Band bassist Kerry Hatch serving as producer and songwriter, helping to push the record toward fuzzy, glamtastic guitars and modern funk, a move that may have been a necessary commercial consideration at the time. Despite all this stylish accoutrement, there's not really a way to make Sylvester seem conventional: he commands and commandeers, twisting everything back toward the fantastic cabaret revue of his debut -- not enough to get it there, but enough to keep this from being anything but ordinary.
Sylvester And The Hot Band 1973
Sylvester & the Hot Band's debut is hard to peg. It certainly comes from a specific time and place, an outgrowth of San Francisco's early-'70s hotbed of gay culture, and there's no question that the cross-dressing Sylvester was out at a time when it was rare, but he blurred boundaries in other ways, creating a funky cabaret act that stretched back to Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith while incorporating the Coasters, James Taylor, Procol Harum, and Neil Young. All were heard on Sylvester & the Hot Band/Scratch My Flower, a record that defied categorization so thoroughly it found no audience outside of the already converted and, decades later, it still sounds like a transmission from another dimension. There's an easy versatility to the Hot Band, who slide out of the straight-up, old-timey blues of "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" to the steamy funk reinterpretation of "My Country Tis of Thee" without batting an eye, and Sylvester is equally flexible, singing with passion and power, nuance and grace, without ever leaving his falsetto. It's music that reads as camp but plays serious, which is why it's such a bracing listen: depending on mood, it can either sound like the best or worst thing ever, but in either case, there's no denying the skill and purpose behind it.
dimanche 28 avril 2024
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renseignements , bentleyfunk@hotmail.com ou bentleyfunk@gmail.comRoger Troutman
Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999)[1][2] was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and influenced West Coast hip hop due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music.
Troutman frequently used the talk box, a device that is connected to an instrument (frequently a keyboard, but most commonly a guitar) to create different vocal effects. Troutman used a custom-made talkbox—the Electro Harmonix "Golden Throat"—through a Moog Minimoog and later in his career a Yamaha DX100 FM synthesizer.
As both band leader of Zapp and in his subsequent solo releases, he scored a bevy of funk and R&B hits throughout the 1980s and regularly collaborated with hip hop artists in the 1990s.
Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Troutman was the fourth of nine children. A graduate of Central State University,[3] his first band was called the Crusaders; however, they are not to be confused with the jazz group featuring Joe Sample and Wilton Felder. Troutman's band played in Cincinnati and recorded a single, "Busted Surfboard"/"Seminole". The band members were Rick Schoeny, Roy Beck, Dave Spitzmiller, and Denny Niebold. Troutman had formed various other bands with his four brothers, including Little Roger, and the Vels, and Roger and the Human Body. In 1977, he and the Human Body issued "Freedom", their first single.
Within two years, Troutman and his brothers were discovered by George Clinton, who signed the newly christened Zapp to his Uncle Jam Records label in 1979.[1] The original line-up consisted of Troutman brothers Roger, Larry, Lester and Terry, along with Gregory Jackson and Bobby Glover. Zapp made their professional television debut on the first and only Funk Music Awards show.
A year later, as Uncle Jam Records was forced to close, Troutman signed with Bootsy Collins under Rubber Band Music to Warner Bros. Records and released his self-titled debut 'Zapp', which yielded "More Bounce to the Ounce", produced by Collins, co- produced, written, composed and performed by Troutman.[1] The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Soul Singles chart in late 1980. The debut album reached the top 20 of the Billboard 200.
From 1980 to 1985, Zapp released the gold-selling albums Zapp, Zapp II, Zapp III and The New Zapp IV U, including the Top 10 R&B singles "Be Alright", "Dance Floor", "I Can Make You Dance", "Heartbreaker", "It Doesn't Really Matter" and "Computer Love". Throughout Zapp's history, around 15 musicians participated. In 1993, Zapp released their biggest-selling album: Zapp & Roger: All the Greatest Hits. It featured remixed cuts of Troutman's solo singles along with a new single "Slow and Easy", (featured vocalists Shirley Murdock and Ronnie Diamond). The album sold over two million copies. The album Zapp VI: Back by Popular Demand was released in 2002 by the remaining brothers after the deaths of Roger and Larry.
In 1981, Troutman cut The Many Facets of Roger, his first solo album. Featuring a funk cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", which went to number 1 on the R&B singles chart,[4] the album sold over a million copies. The album also featured the hit "So Ruff, So Tuff". The same year, Troutman recorded with Parliament-Funkadelic on the band's final Warner Brothers' album The Electric Spanking of War Babies.
In 1984, Troutman issued his second solo album The Saga Continues..., which featured the singles "Girl Cut It Out", "It's in the Mix" (which was dedicated to Soul Train and its host Don Cornelius), and a cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour", which featured gospel group the Mighty Clouds of Joy. In 1987, Troutman scored his most successful solo album with Unlimited!, carried by the hit "I Want to Be Your Man" which rose to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the R&B chart.[4]
Alongside his successful career as Zapp member and solo artist, Troutman also became a producer and writer for other artists including Shirley Murdock, whose 1985 Platinum debut featured the Troutman-produced hit "As We Lay". He also produced for Zapp member Dale DeGroat on his solo efforts. In 1988, Troutman made an appearance on Scritti Politti's third album Provision, providing talk box vocals on the songs "Boom There She Was" and "Sugar and Spice".
Three years later, Troutman released his final solo album with Bridging the Gap, featuring the hit "Everybody (Get Up)". He worked with Elvis Costello on the song "The Other Side of Summer". In 1989, NBA Entertainment selected Troutman among a variety of candidates to record a tribute song called "I'm So Happy" for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
ROGER Bridging the Gap 1991
Bridging the Gap is the fourth and final solo studio album by American musician Roger Troutman. It was released on October 29, 1991, via Reprise Records. The production was handled by David Gamson and Troutman.
Roger Troutman's vocoder/funk seemed a bit thin by the early '90s. While many of his classic vamps with Zapp had been sampled by numerous rappers, Troutman hadn't found a new gimmick. He occasionally generated an interesting riff or lick, but mostly this album demonstrated that Roger's best days were behind him, at least as a hit act.
ROGER Unlimited! 1987
The vocoder-crazed leader of Zapp has made numerous solo albums, but this is the best, powered by enormous synth riffs and the charming "Private Lover."
ROGER The Saga Continues... 1984
The Saga Continues... is the second solo album recorded by funk musician Roger Troutman, released in 1984 on the Warner Bros. label. The album contains Troutman's cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour", which reached #34 on the U.S. R&B chart, as well as hits "In the Mix" and "Girl Cut It Out", a duet with Wanda Rash. Like his previous solo offering, The Many Facets of Roger, Troutman and his band mates from Zapp, including brothers Lester, Larry and Terry, helped contribute to the album.
Unique, creative, and the consummate showman, are only a few of the adjectives you could use to describe The Saga Continues. Roger uses his vocoder or talk box to great effects on a sizzling, squealing version of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," accompanied by the Mighty Clouds of Joy. A bouncy "In The Mix" soared to #10 R&B in 1984. Ex-Ohio Players' keyboardist, Billy Beck helps on keyboards, and Maceo Parker adds his usual awesome sax outbursts. Most of the songs were written by Roger and his brother Larry, including "Play Your Guitar Brother Roger," awhere his playing skills are highlighted. While a solo album, the lineup remains the same as on the Zapp releases, the musical approach remains the same.
ROGER The Many Facets of Roger 1981
The Many Facets of Roger is the debut solo project by Dayton, Ohio-based funk musician Roger Troutman. The album went platinum based on the R&B successes of "So Ruff, So Tuff" and his cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It through the Grapevine". In the album, Troutman featured two instrumentals, "A Chunk of Sugar" and "Blue (A Tribute to the Blues)", which was recorded inside Detroit's United Sound Studios.
- Arranged By, Backing Vocals, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Guitar, Keyboards, Lead Vocals, Music By, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Maxx Axe Synthesized Guitar] - Roger Troutman
- Arranged By, Congas, Lyrics By, Percussion - Larry Troutman
- Backing Vocals - Bobby Glover, Delores Smith, Greg Jackson, Janetta Boyce, Marchelle Smith
- Bass, Backing Vocals - Zapp Troutman
- Drums - Lester Troutman
- Horns - Carl Cowen
- Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals - Dick Smith
- Written-By - Larry Troutman (tracks: A2 to B3), Roger Troutman (tracks: A2 to B3)
- This is Roger Troutman's first solo release, and it blazes the same trail as the Zapp LPs. Singing through a synthesized vocal box, there's no mistaking Roger's sound. His version of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is classic, and was a monster on the R&B charts. "So Ruff, So Tuff" continued the maddening dance grooves. But Roger does it all -- hence the title of the album; his blues and jazz explorations are top-shelf. A very well-rounded set from a versatile, underappreciated artist.
ZAPP
After the 1980 release of Zapp's debut album, tensions rose between Roger Troutman and George Clinton. Troutman's solo album The Many Facets of Roger[14] was primarily funded by Clinton, through CBS, and was slated to be released on his own Uncle Jam Records label.[9] By the early 1980s, Clinton and his musical projects were experiencing financial troubles due to his poor management skills and shifting tastes in music.[15] Around the time that Troutman's debut was due to be released, Warner Bros. Records dropped Clinton from their label.[16] Funkadelic's final recording with Warner Bros., on which Troutman had worked briefly, was The Electric Spanking of War Babies.[9] Under pressure from the label, it was cut from a double album to a single disc. Warner Bros. did not promote the release, which emerged in early 1981 and made little impact.[16]
Troutman could see the disarray surrounding Clinton and severed their partnership by accepting a higher offer for the demo recordings of his album from Warner Bros. With Clinton out of the picture, Troutman was left to exercise virtually full creative control over the band's subsequent work. When The Many Facets of Roger was finally released in August 1981 it was on the Warner Bros. label.[17] In Clinton's biography George Clinton: For the Record, Troutman was quoted as off-handedly commenting, "... Heck gee-willickers, Warner Bros. offered me mo' money".[9] Clinton's view, expressed in his response, was that "CBS paid for it, I paid for it. I don't like to go into it on the negative side, but it cost about 5 million [dollars], and a lot of people's jobs and what we consider as the empire falling".[9] The financial loss from the rupture with Troutman is credited as one of the factors that derailed Clinton's musical career and sent Funkadelic into hiatus.
Zapp released its second album, Zapp II, on October 14, 1982. Electronic production techniques featured prominently, including liberal use of the talk-box that became Troutman's signature. Despite the contrasting styles between the first and the second albums, Zapp II attained gold status by September 21, 1982.[13] The album fared almost as well as Zapp's debut, peaking at number two on the Billboard R&B chart, and reaching 25 on The Billboard 200 Albums chart. The single "Dancefloor (Part I)" peaked at number one on the R&B singles chart of 1982.[18]
Zapp spawned several more albums in close succession, retaining the slick electronic style that Zapp II had adopted, but with diminishing success. Zapp III was released in 1983, and managed to gain a gold certification,[13] but peaked at only 39 on the Billboard 200 and nine on the R&B chart.[19] Zapp III's poorer commercial performance became a sign that the band's popularity and impact were beginning to decline toward the mid 1980s, with post-disco music falling out of trend. By the release of The New Zapp IV U in October 1985, the downward trajectory was evident.[20] The album did not attain gold status until 1994, almost a decade after its initial release.[13] Zapp's presence faded further in the latter half of the 1980s, as Troutman focused his attention on his solo career.[9] The final release by Zapp before Troutman's death was Zapp V in September 1989, which achieved only moderate commercial success and failed to receive an RIAA certification.
The increasingly dominant West Coast hip-hop scene of the early- to mid-1990s briefly brought Zapp and Roger back into the spotlight as their material became a source of samples for hip-hop tracks. Troutman gained recognition for providing talk-box backing vocals for both the original and remixed version of Tupac Shakur's 1995-96 comeback single "California Love"; the alternate version of the music video features Troutman playing the keyboard and talk-box during a party. Roger's involvement in "California Love" awarded him a Grammy nomination for "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" in 1997.
On Sunday morning, April 25, 1999, Roger Troutman was fatally shot several times in the torso by his older brother, Larry, as he exited a recording studio in Dayton, Ohio; he was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, but died shortly after of his wounds.[22] Larry's body was found in a car a short distance away from the murder scene. There were no witnesses at the time, and Larry's motive for orchestrating the apparent murder-suicide of Roger and himself remains unclear. Larry had been experiencing increasingly severe financial problems managing the family-run housing company, Troutman Enterprises, which eventually filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy owing $400,000 in tax.[9] Larry might also have been bitter after Roger fired him as manager of his music career, a position Larry had held for several years.
During Roger's funeral, his nephew Clet Troutman performed a talk-box rendition of "Amazing Grace". Roger was survived by his six sons and five daughters; his eldest son, Roger Lynch Troutman Jr., died of head injuries just a few years after the murder of his father (January 31, 1970 – January 22, 2003).[23]
After Troutman's death, Ice Cube said that "More Bounce To The Ounce" introduced him to hip-hop. "I was in the sixth grade, we'd stayed after school. We had this dude named Mr. Lock, and he used to bring in his radio with these pop-lockers. He used to teach [the dance group] the L.A. Lockers, and he would do community service in after-school programs. He knew a lot of kids and introduced them to all the new dances, he put on that song 'More Bounce', and they started pop-locking. And I think from that visual, from seeing that, it was my first introduction into hip-hop. Period. I didn't know nothing about nothing. I hadn't heard 'Rapper's Delight' yet. It was the first thing that was really fly to me. They started dancing, and since 'More Bounce' goes on forever, they just got down. I just think that was a rush of adrenaline for me, like a chemical reaction in my brain."[24]
The resulting impact of Roger and Larry's deaths left the band stranded, halting production. Without Roger serving as the creative source, they effectively disbanded, and quietly left the music industry altogether. Warner Bros. Records eventually dropped the band from their label, bringing the professional recording career of Zapp to a close. A few years later, Zapp resurfaced for a short period after the establishment of its own independent label, Zapp Town Records,[25] managed by the Troutman family. The label released its only album, Zapp VI: Back by Popular Demand, in 2003. Zapp returned to performing only in live concert, touring across the U.S. at various venues.
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