Alex Henderson

Zapp
The New Zapp IV U

From Dayton to Cincinnati to Cleveland, Ohio was a hotbed of funk bands during the 1970s. The Buckeye State gave us a long list of major-league funksters, including the Ohio Players, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Slave, the Dazz Band, Midnight Star and Lakeside. And Ohio also gave us Zapp, who proved to be one of the most innovative bands in the history of funk. Zapp had a strong p-funk influence: Bootsy Collins, in fact, was a producer on Zapp’s self-titled debut album of 1980. Yet Zapp (thezappband.com) had an energy of their own. Famous for vocalist/founding member Roger Troutman’s distinctive use of the talkbox on 1980’s “More Bounce to the Ounce” and other smash hits, Zapp served as a bridge between the p-funk and horn bands of the 1970s and the electro-funk of the 1980s and beyond. And in 1985, a band that had influenced an abundance of electro-funksters and hip-hoppers became much more high-tech with their fourth album, The New Zapp IV U (originally released on LP by Warner Bros. Records).

The New Zapp IV U was a departure from Zapp’s three previous albums not only because of their increased use of electronics, but also, because of all the influences they incorporated—and those influences ranged from new wave rock on “Radio People” (which was heard in the movie “Ferris Bueller's Day Off”) and “Rock ‘N’ Roll” to Prince and the Minneapolis sound on “Itchin’ for Your Twitchin’” and “It Doesn’t Really Matter” to hip-hop on “Ja Ready to Rock.”

The song that The New Zapp IV U is best known for, however, is the single “Computer Love,” which features Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band and singer Shirley Murdock (who went on to enjoy considerable success as a solo artist) and became a #8 R&B hit in Billboard. The album itself reached #8 on Billboard’s R&B albums chart.

Way ahead of its time, “Computer Love” predicted the digital age with its discussion of computer matchmaking. In an October 2013 interview, singer/keyboardist Gregory Jackson (who was a founding member of Zapp along with brothers Roger, Larry, Lester and Terry Troutman) remembered that “Computer Love” came about when he urged Roger to try some different things with his talkbox. Jackson (GregJacksonInc.com) recalls: “Roger came to me and said, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do. People are tired of the talkbox.’ I said, ‘Roger, they ain’t tired of the talkbox. Eight out of ten of the songs on the charts have a talkbox in them. So they’re not tired of the talkbox. What you have to do is do something with the talkbox that you’ve never done before. Talk about something that people are talking about now: computer matchmaking.’ That private conversation I had with Roger is really where ‘Computer Love’ came from.”

In a separate October 2013 interview, trumpeter Michael Warren and his wife, singer Jannetta Boyce Warren (both members of Zapp in the 1980s), remembered working with the Troutmans on The New Zapp 4 U. Michael comments: “A lot of the technology that people take for granted now didn’t even exist back then. I think Zapp kind of predicted the future and predicted online dating with ‘Computer Love.’”

In 1985, Jannetta recalls, the band was determined to forge ahead and experiment—and The New Zapp 4 U reflected that determination. “We went from R&B and soul to more of a techno sound with heavy keyboards, and we became more rock & roll-ish,” Jannetta remembers. “There was a real mixture on The New Zapp 4 U. I think that album wasn’t what people expected.”

Michael explains: “The New Zapp 4 U had more keyboards, more synthesizers, more electronics, and not as many horns. It had more of the Minneapolis sound, and it was a bit lighter on the funk side. It was still funky, but it wasn’t gutbucket funky. The New Zapp 4 U was a departure from what was known as the Zapp sound.”

Nonetheless, some major funk icons of the 1970s appear on The New Zapp 4 U, including George Clinton ally Bernie Worrell and the Ohio Players’ Billy Beck. And for all their experimentation, Zapp didn’t forget about music of the past on The New Zapp 4 U.  Elements of jazz are incorporated on “Make Me Feel Good,” and Zapp even put a synth-funk/urban contemporary spin on Harry Warren’s Tin Pan Alley standard “I Only Have Eyes for You” (which was written in 1934). Meanwhile, “Cas-Ta-Spellome” incorporates Louisiana soul and blues. Michael notes: “‘Cas-Ta-Spellome’ talks about down south and voodoo. The words kind of took you back. Even the rhythm took you back to a bluesy type of era.”

The New Zapp 4 U was followed by a fifth album, Zapp V, in 1989. And ten years later in 1999, tragedy struck when—according to police evidence—Larry Troutman fatally shot his brother Roger before killing himself. But Zapp continued. 2002 saw the release of Zapp VI: Back By Popular Demand. And in 2013, Jackson is still performing with Zapp.

“The current incarnation of Zapp is comfortable,” notes Jackson, who is now 58. “We’re still thriving, we’re still doing it. Although I have my solo project, I’m an original member of Zapp and a current member of Zapp.”

Jackson observes that at Zapp’s 2013 shows, he is seeing a mixture of older fans and younger fans—and, to be sure, Zapp’s influence on the hip-hop generation has been enormous. Guitarist/bassist Aaron Blackmon, who played on The New Zapp 4 U, asserts: “Listen to any interview with Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre—any rappers, DJs, or producers who are icons of that culture—and Zapp will come up in some way, shape or form. It’s headbangin’ funk. I know artists and producers from Brazil to Germany that to this day, talk about that Zapp funk. Teddy Riley, Blackstreet, EPMD, Tha Dogg Pound, Ice Cube—I could go on forever about Zapp’s influence.”

It’s been 28 years since the release of The New Zapp 4 U and 33 years since the release of their first album, and after all these years, Zapp’s impact is still undeniable.

—Alex Henderson, October 2013

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Salon.com, AlterNet, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.