Skool Boyz

Skool Boyz emerged as a later incarnation of Flavor after a multi-year pause, retaining the original core of Stan Sheppard on lead vocals, Chauncey Matthews handling vocals and keyboards, and Fred Brown supplying vocals and guitar, while incorporating Stan’s brother William “Billy” Sheppard on vocals and bass guitar as the newest participant. In the interim between his Flavor and Skool Boyz engagements, Stan performed with Triple S alongside Steve and Sterling Rice. The Sheppard brothers are the sons of R&B legend Bill “Bunky” Sheppard.

Destiny Records released at least two of their singles, placing “Can We Do It Again” as the A-side of the November 1981 debut and then as the B-side of the February 1982 single “This Feeling Must Be Real.” A brief period on Crossroad Records generated “Before You Go” in October 1983 and “Breakin’ Out” the next year.

Columbia Records signed them in 1984, yet the partnership concluded unsatisfactorily after four singles that began with “Slip Away” and two albums. Their self-produced debut Skool Boyz contained notable ballads including “Nothin’ Like a Slow Dance,” “Before You Go,” originally issued on Destiny, and “You Are the Best Thing in My Life,” together with several rhythmic up-tempo tracks, though sales failed to match the strong reviews. Parts of the album had first appeared on Destiny Records and blended new material with selections from their Crossroad period, an approach also used on a later CBS album.

“Superfine (From Behind)” surfaced in 1985 and lost momentum after an encouraging opening. A follow-up single performed no better, nor did the final album This Is the Real Thing. The group disbanded, after which guitarist Billy Sheppard joined the Los Angeles trio By All Means for their 1988 recordings on 4th & Broadway Records, a project his brother Stan assembled and produced. Stan turned to producing, writing, and arranging for numerous artists, among them Gerald Alston, the Temptations, the Pointer Sisters, Dazzie Dee, Troy Hinton, and Gene Rice, a relative of Stan’s former associates the Rice twins. Matthews and Brown subsequently worked as session musicians and backing vocalists.