Le Klass - School Of Cool (1990)

The Minneapolis School of Funk-Rock-Pop -- which gave us Prince, the Time and Ta Mara & the Seen, among others -- provided some of the most exciting music of the 1980s. But sadly, most of the Prince clones plaguing that decade hadn't even a fraction of those artists' inventiveness or passion. One band, however, that used Prince and the Time's influence to its artistic advantage was Augusta, Georgia's obscure Le Klass -- which makes its love of the Minneapolis Sound obvious on School of Cool without becoming clones or slavish imitators. When lead singer/composer Nelson Curry tears into such addictive, simmering funk as "That's What Love Can Do" and "She Can't Let Go" and the heartfelt R&B/pop balladry of "Don't Say Goodbye," "Jan" and the remorseful "Just Friends," he comes across as very much his own man. Unfortunately, this album -- one of the first releases for West Coast producer James Warsinske's AVC/Solid Entertainment -- didn't receive nearly the attention it deserved.