Cljarlotte ^osit
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1996
1 BlARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Troutman, Zapp visit Charlotte Saturday
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
R oger Troutman could
easily be crowned as
the king of ‘80s dance
frink. As the leader of Zapp, he
kept feet tapping with “More
Bounce To The Ounce,” “Do Wa
Ditty,” and “Dance Floor,”
some of the funkiest stuff from
any era.
Troutman is ready to start
booties shaking once again
with the Nov. 19 release of his
latest single, “Living For The
City,” a remake of the Stevie
Wonder classic. It will be fol
lowed shortly by the second
volume of his greatest hits
which will contain three other
new songs.
Roger, Zapp and special
guest Shirley Murdock visit
Charlotte 8 p.m. Saturday at
the Oasis Temple in the
University City area.
“It’s unlike any other album
I’ve ever done,” Troutman said
in a recent phone interview.
“It’s the cover. I’m wearing
bright red,” he said, then
laughed. “Actually, it’s much
like the last record - new
songs mixed with old songs.
'The first greatest hits could
have been a double, but I had
that option, or to edit them
down to very short songs or to
pick the ones I really wanted
and wait and do another.”
Troutman’s choice was obvi
ously the right one. Zapp &
Rogers Greatest Hits sold
more than 1 million copies. It’s
sales have been helped out by
the old-school music revival
and the number of rappers
who have used some of
Troutman’s music as the basis
Troutman
for their own hits. His funky
sound was good enough to get
him a spot in the late 2Pac
Shakur’s “California Love”
video.
“Dr. Dre and 2Pac were just
overwhelmed with my
sound...they decided instead of
sampling me, let’s just build it
from the ground up,” he said.
“I had no idea it would be so
successful. That was a bless
ing from God.
“Dre and 2Pac reach an audi
ence that I wasn’t able to
reach,” he said. “They para
chuted me into that whole
genre which is very lucrative
and positive on my career.
Fortunately, it wasn’t one of
those songs that talked
about gang banging, b—
and drugs. Don’t get me
wrong, I probably would
have done it if it had been
about that. But it was a uni
versal message that every
one could understand - let’s
party.”
Shakur didn’t sample
'Troutman, but many others
rappers have, much to his
delight. The infectious
“More Bounce” is most often
sampled.
“I feel flattered that a lot
of these young rappers like
my music enough to use it
for the basis for their own,”
he said. “‘More Bounce,’
won’t die. Just when it looks
like its gonna stop, someone
else uses it and it starts aU
over again. When we play it
in concert people act like it
just came out yesterday.”
Actually, it was 1980 when
“More Bounce” was
^ released. It was followed by
a succession of funky dance
hits that were staples in
clubs, the sjmdicated dance
show “Soul Train,” and
black radio. But it wasn’t
until Troutman tried his
hand at ballads that he
found crossover success. His
hit “I Wanna Be Your Man”
was a No. 1 r&b and No. 3
pop smash.
“It had a universal mes
sage,” he said. “Who hasn’t
heard or used the line ‘I
wanna be your man?”
Troutmem decided to ven
ture into ballads through
his association with soul
See ROGER on page 2B
Co¥ftr
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
may have not be familiar with;
African American histo
ry is once again in vogue.
At least on paper.
Several major pubhsh-
ers are republishing or
publishing fine new
works that detail the his
tory of African America
and its culture. Here are a
few of the best that you
ups
The Cotton Kingdom: ATravellef s Observations on Cotton
and Slavery in the Americem Slaves States
De Capo Press
$18.95
1996
Originally pubhshed in 1861, the eve of the South Carolina’s
secession from the union. The Cotton Kingdom is the chronicle
of reporter
Frederick Law
Olmsted’s jour
ney through
the antiheUum
south.
Olmsted, the
pampered son
of a wealthy
northern fami
ly, spent sever
al years as a
correspondent
for The New
York Times,
most of it wan
dering through
the South
catologing his
observations of
slavery and its
affects on
southerners,
both black and
white.
Modem read
ers will be
shocked, as he
was by the
often rough
treatment of
slaves, and jME UNKNOWN SOLDIERS
See New Page 2B
Wk«'|v:
Vandross back in rare form; 2Pac offers lack-luster new CD
By Winfred B. Cr8Ss
t V.
uJt.
TAKE 6
ed in the bal
lads and there
is a plethora
to choose
from. Start
with “It’s
Hard For Me
To Say,” a
song he wrote
for Diana
Ross in the
m i d - ‘ 8 0 s .
Vandross
reworks it for
his silky tenor
and master
fully makes it
his own. Try
“'Too Proud 'Ib
Beg” next. It’s
not the classic
Temptations
song you may
be thinking of. It’s a Vandross
composition that shimmers
◄with passion.
TTie best ballad is “Whether
or Not 'The World Gets Better,”
a duet with fellow Grammy-
winner Lisa Fischer. 'The pair
make an elegant vocal couple,
highlighting each other
strengths. When the mood
reaches its peak, Fischer
glides into one of those ethere
al notes that lands somewhere
on the other side of the clouds.
Not far behind are the two
remakes. Vandross tackles
Stevie Wonder’s “Knocks Me
Off My Feet” with superb
results. Stevie’s version is still
best, but Vandross certainly
puts a hurting on the song.
He’s even better on the Little
Anthony and the Imperials
“Goin’ Out of My Head.”
Vandross loves these kinds of
songs which showcase his abil
ity to interpret a lyric. He
soars over the background
singers with reckless abandon,
tugging at your emotions as
the strings swirl and vocal
intensity builds.
Vandross’ voice sounds as
brilliant as ever. Even in his
mid 40s, he is still the best
male vocalist singing. If he
, , „ . , „ , ^, keeps doing work such as this,
ten by Spmc^rella and Marcuse he may be for a long, long
Miller. It s OK, but the shuf- time
fling jeep-beat of “Your Secret
Love,” is more palatable. Take 6
Most people will be interest- Brothers
LUTHER VANDROSS
Luther Vandross
Your Secret Love
Luther Vandross,
executive OToducer
Epic/LV Records
☆☆☆☆☆
Ijuther Vandross’ foray into
pop music with Songs, a spark
ing collection of pop, r&b and
Broadway show tunes was met
with some resistance. Good?
Yes it was, but it wasn’t quite
what Vandross purists want
ed.
His core following should be
absolutely giddy with Your
Secret Love, one of his best
recordings ever.
It’s not that this record is
much different from his earlier
recordings. It’s construction is
very similar - dreamy ballads,
sensuous pillow talk and
exceptional singing. But what
makes it so fresh sounding is
the fact that Songs was so far
from his familiar style - which
he handled brilliantly, thank
you - it’s great to hear him
back in his own territory.
Vandross has added a bit of
spice to his repertoire. He
throws in a hip-hop dance-ori
ented song, “I Can’t Wait No
Longer (Let’s Do This),” writ-
( Les Pierc^ David
Thomas, Brian
McEmight, Victor and
Cedric Caldwell,
producers
Reprise/ Warner
Bros. Records
^ ☆☆☆☆
Xake 6 has always pushed
the envelope that defines what
gospel music is. It’s a cappela
debut a decade ago was both
traditional and futuristic. It
estabhshed the group’s stellar
vocal ability with aplomb.
Recently the group has
become a bit more convention
al. It’s last release, the
Grammy- winning Join 'The
Band, found them singing with
full instrumentation. They
continue that theme with
Brothers, the group’s first
release in more than two
years.
'The groups trademark har
mony is still intact. 'The use of
music only adds variety. It’s
imobtrusive.
1116 CD gets started with a
rousing remake of Earth, Wind
& Fires’ “Sing A Song.” 'The
groups take on this song
makes you reedize how spiritu
al the lyrics are. It fits into the
Contemporary Christian genre
nearly perfectly.
The rest of the CD is a clever
mix of message music, r&b
and gospel. The group has
been accused of selling gospel
short lately. One only has to|
listen to “Jesus Makes Me*
Happy” or “We Don’t Have To
Cry” to know Take 6 is still
firmly grounded in its beliefs.
And its all youTl need to hear
to be convinced this is stiU one
of the finest vocfd groups on
the planet, gospel or other
wise.
Makaveli aka 2Pac
The Don Killuminati:
The 7 Day Theory
Executive producer,
Simon
Death Row/
Interscope Records
No Stars Given
Tupac Shakur’s death was
tragic because he was a talent
ed brother, misguided, but tal
ented. 'Ibo bad his record label
felt the need to release this
violent, blasphemous mess.
The cover alone is enough of
a turn off - Shakur nailed to a
See SOUNDS Page 2B
is
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