Within five years, the band scored more top ten R&B hits such as "Doo Wa Ditty", "I Can Make You Dance", "Heartbreaker", and ballads such as "Computer Love" and a cover of The Miracles' " Ooo Baby Baby". Roger and Zapp worked on both group albums and albums Roger released on his own merit.
He and older brother Larry, who served as percussionist in the band's early years and later retired from music to serve as his younger brother's manager, often collaborated on songs together. Roger, who was the leader of the group and most famous for using the talk box in his recordings, was also the band's producer, chief writer, arranger, and composer. Zapp's trek to fame continued within the Troutmans, who started Troutman Enterprises shortly after the "Zapp" album was released. Released in the late summer of 1980, Zapp's seminal self-titled debut album became a platinum success peaking at the top twenty of the Billboard Top 200 thanks to the success of their leading single, the Roger composition, "More Bounce to the Ounce", which reached number two on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Records, and began working on their first album courtesy of co-production from Bootsy Collins. When that label folded the following year, the group signed with P-Funk's parent label, Warner Bros. Discovered by members of P-Funk in 1979, the funk collective's leader George Clinton signed them to his Uncle Jam Records. The name change to Zapp came courtesy of Terry, whose nickname was that of "Zapp". Larry and Tony eventually joined their brothers when their name became Roger and the Human Body, which also included youngest brother Terry. The duo of Lester and Roger started several groups including Little Roger and the Vels.
The nucleus of Zapp circled around three of the five Troutman brothers: Lester, Larry and their younger brother Roger. Known for hits such as "More Bounce to the Ounce", "Dance Floor" and " Computer Love", the group was a partial source of inspiration to West Coast hip-hop and G-funk, which came out of the hand clapped-drum beat styled funk of Zapp's records with Roger's impressive use of the talk box becoming another reason for the group's impact and its success. Zapp (also known as the Zapp Band or Zapp and Roger) was a soul and funk band formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Tony Troutman and Terry "Zapp" Troutman.