SIBYL (sbedford@indiana.edu)
Wed, 28 Apr 1999 16:12:52 -0500 (EST)
When exactly did this happen?
On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, Elson Trinidad wrote:
> At 12:34 AM 4/27/99 -0400, k wrote:
> >it was reported that larry shot roger dead and then shot and killed
> >himself.
> >
> >kevin k
>
> >From Addicted to Noise/Music News of the World website (www.addict.com):
>
> Two Brothers In Zapp Dead In
> Apparent Murder-Suicide
> Police say Larry shot younger sibling Roger then turned
> gun on himself.
>
> Contributing Editor Brian Hiatt reports:
>
> In an apparent murder-suicide that has baffled family,
> friends and
> investigators, Roger Troutman, leader of the funk band
> Zapp, was shot
> to death Sunday morning by his brother and bandmate Larry
> Troutman,
> who then ended his own life, according to police.
>
> "Man, nobody really knows [why] -- all we know is that
> two people that we
> really love are now dead," said Zapp bandmate Bigg Robb.
>
> The brothers were found two blocks apart Sunday in
> Dayton, Ohio,
> according to police spokesperson Det. Carol Thomas. Roger
> was still
> alive when police found him around 7:30 a.m. behind a
> recording studio
> he co-owned. He died later in surgery at Good Samaritan
> Hospital and
> Health Center. He was 47.
>
> Larry, meanwhile, was found dead in a 1998
> Lincoln
> four-door sedan, with a gunshot wound to his head
> that police believe was self-inflicted. He
> was 54.
>
> Police are investigating Roger's death as a
> homicide, but they are still trying to
> determine whether Larry's death was a
> suicide, Thomas said.
>
> "On initial investigation, though, it does
> appear that Larry Troutman shot his brother,"
> he said. Police are conducting tests to
> confirm that the same gun was fired in both
> shootings.
>
> Zapp included Roger, Larry, their brothers
> Terry and Lester Troutman, and the group's
> M.C., Bigg Robb. The group was formed in 1978
> and scored hits such as "Bounce to
> the Ounce" (1980) (RealAudio excerpt) and
> "Dance Floor" (1982) (RealAudio excerpt).
> Roger later had a successful solo career,
> leading the band to change its name to
> Roger & Zapp.
>
> Thomas, who called the deaths "baffling,"
> said police are questioning family members
> to help determine a possible motive in the case.
>
> But Bigg Robb said Monday (April 26) that
> friends and family were at a loss to explain
> the tragedy.
>
> Bigg Robb, who declined to give his birth
> name, said the group had just performed last
> week in Charlotte, N. C., and Roger had given
> no indication of a dispute with his
> brother Larry, who had retired from the band.
>
> "This whole thing is such a shock; we couldn't imagine
> this in a million years," he said.
>
> Robb said Roger was proud when Zapp's music was embraced
> by hip-hop artists, beginning with
> EPMD's 1988 song "You Gots to Chill," which sampled
> Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce."
>
> In 1996 Roger contributed his trademark, vocoderlike
> voicebox sound to rapper Dr. Dre's duet with Tupac
> Shakur, "California Love," Robb said. It had originally
> been intended as a Dr. Dre solo track, but when
> Death Row Records head Marion "Suge" Knight heard it, he
> suggested it be used for a planned duet with
> Shakur, Robb said.
>
> R&B legend Stevie Wonder originally inspired Troutman to
> sing through the voicebox, a plastic device,
> also known as a golden throat or talkbox, which creates a
> robotlike vocal sound, Robb said. "Roger was
> influenced by Stevie Wonder -- he saw Stevie Wonder years
> ago playing the voicebox on television, and
> he took the thing and modernized it. Roger was the
> undisputed master of it," he explained.
>
> Howie Klein, president of Reprise Records, which was
> Roger's label both with Zapp and as a solo act,
> said he considered the frontman "a friend and a really
> great guy."
>
> According to Klein, Roger Troutman had been working on a
> new album, which he planned to call Zapp
> and Friends, and had recently recorded a cover of the
> '60s song "(I Am) Superman," made famous by
> Athens, Ga., superstars R.E.M., for the soundtrack to the
> now-aborted new "Superman" movie.
>
> Roger "was a great human being with an incredibly
> creative mind -- someone who always had ideas and
> was willing to work with other artists on those ideas.
> ... I think his sound will really be what he's
> remembered for; it was a totally unique sound that
> influenced a lot of people," Klein said.
>
> Bigg Robb described Roger Troutman as "a loveable
> person," adding that "he never did anything to hurt
> anybody."
>
> "It's a bad ending to a great life," he said.
>
> [ Mon., April 26, 1999 8:32 PM EDT ]
>
> - 30 -
>
> :. elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
> :. elson@westworld.com
> :. www.westworld.com/~elson
>
> "funny how frustration breeds desire" - meja
>
>
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