Although they got a bit of a slow start, Tulsa, Oklahoma's the Gap Band became one of the most popular funk/R&B outfits of the early-to-mid 1980s. The band relied heavily on synth-based, hands-in-the-air party jams of the P-Funk variety, with the occasional bedroom ballad tossed in for good measure--an approach that as quietly permeated much of the R&B and hip-hop that developed in its wake. The younger generation got the opportunity to show its respect for the band when lead singer Charlie Wilson released his 2005 solo album, CHARLIE, LAST NAME WILSON, which featured a bevy of noted guest performers, Snoop Dogg and R. Kelly among them.































