Tony Troutman [2023] - What's the Use [MTI]

Very surprising to come across this  digital reissue of a modern soul classic "What's The Use" by Tony Troutman on Amazon yesterday. 

It was one of only six singles on the Atlanta, GA, based Jerri label which Discogs lists as 1977, 45Cat 1976 and Spotify 12 Dec 1975, so take your pick. The last single on the label was also embraced on the UK modern soul scene by Stevens & Foster "I Want To Be Loved". Three of the remaining four were by Roshell Anderson and the other was an instrumental cover of Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" by Sil Austin.  Several of the releases were distributed by T.K. so there may have been a connection to Henry Stone's Miami setup, or they may have just distributed the releases on their behalf.

Troutman's first single has been posted previously, the excellent deep soul cut "I Truly Love You" on Gram O Phone in 1975. It has been suggested that Troutman is related to the Troutman family from Dayton, OH, who formed Zapp and the writer's credits on this single are to Thomas Troutman. There was a Tony (Thomas) Troutman who was a member of Zapp. However, all Tony Troutman's recordings were on Atlanta labels and predominantly in the 80s around the same time that Zapp were active so it seems somehow unlikely.

He released six singles and an album "Your Man Is Home Tonight" between 1982-85 on T-Main, which may have been his own label as only his releases and one other by Frankie Redmon ("Love Woke Me Up This Morning" an original song not the Ashford & Simpson penned song recorded by many) were released on it. He released just two more (undated) singles, one on Swagger and another on Coastal (which was a reissue of a 1982 single on T-Main of two songs from his album).

Only two of his singles reached the R&B chart, "I Truly Love You"  got to #82 in 1975 and the title track of his album "Your Man Is Home Tonight" #57 in 1982.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

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Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul / Reissue
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	MTI (Jerri #J-102)
Cat No:	None
Date:	27/01/2023 /12/12/1975
Key/BPM:	10B/104
Price:	£1.98

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