Word Up Wednesday Volume 3 – Zapp and Roger
I have severely neglected my duties as the arbiter of Word Up Wednesday, and for that, I apologize. I have made it up to you by choosing to highlight one of the most influential funk quintets of all time, Zapp and Roger, also known as the Zapp Band.
Formed in 1978 by a brood of five brothers belonging to the Troutman family, Roger, Larry, Lester, Tony, and Terry (Zapp), reached astronomical success as the mainstrem ushers of legendary musical technology – the Talk Box (not to be confused with the Vocoder).
Their first two albums, simply titled Zapp and Zapp II were released in 1980 and 1982 respectively, and contain the brothers’ most famous hits including “More Bounce to the Ounce,” “Do it Roger,” “Computer Love,” and “Dance Floor”. Each song stands as its own unique tribute to a host of funk legends including George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, James Brown and the Bar Kays, while still allowing the band to develop their unique sound which would come to define the course of funk and pop music from the 80’s forward.
Zapp and Roger songs have been sampled heavily throughout pop music, specifically in the realm of popular hip-hop. They are credited with laying the foundation for a style of hip-hop known as G Funk and their songs have been sampled for use in songs by dozens of artists, including EPMD, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac, as well as more recently in the work of electro-pop titans, Chromeo
American Weekends has been deeply affected by Zapp and Roger, and will remain forever grateful for their creation of, and influence on, some of the funkiest and most danceable music of all time.
Download Zapp and Roger: More Bounce the the Ounce (zShare)
Download Zapp and Roger: So Ruff, So Tuff (zShare)
Download Zapp and Roger: Do it Roger (zShare)
Download Zapp and Roger: Dance Floor (zShare)
What about the Green Party in the U.S.?
I vote for Democrats (at least for the time being) to try to keep Republicans out of office because I think they’re worse than Democrats.
Ok, clearly I posted under the wrong thing.
Haha, it’s cool. I generally agree that republicans are worse than democrats. I also would have voted for Dennis Kucinich if the *democratic* party hadn’t shoved him out of the race to make sure all our efforts were focused on Obama.
That’s not the kind of democracy I want to encourage.
I also don’t believe that Democrats are really making the kinds of changes that we are scared the republicans are going to mess up. I don’t want the discussion to be about drilling for oil here or somewhere else, I want the discussion to be about dismantling a culture that depends on a finite resource. Not easing the pressure, not charging enough money to deter some people from buying it. I want it over with.
The technology to completely lift our burden on fossil fuels already exists. It’s ready. The reason we’re not privy to it is because oil is still profitable. They won’t release the technology until every last drop of money and oil have been squeezed from the industry.
I don’t see either party calling attention to that fact.
I’m not against the idea of voting, it’s just that there are some key areas in which I genuinly don’t see a difference in the candidates enough to make it worthwhile.