Doug Shorts - Casual Encounter EP (Daptone)
Add Date: 09/24/2019
Focus Tracks: 1, 2 & 4
FCC: Clean
Formats: Modern Rock Specialty, Hip Hop, NACC Top 200, Soul, & Triple A
Artist Info: Doug Shorts, a lifelong Chicagoan, started his musical journey in the late '60s with his first group, The Mannequins. While still in high school he was offered a chance to sing with Dakar recording artists, The Vistors. Doug left the Mannequins and moved to Kansas City to join the Visitors full-time, but the gig did not last long, and soon Doug was back in Chicago, contemplating leaving the business for good.
In the early '70s, upon the recommendation of friend and sometimes collaborator, Joe Stevenson, Doug hit the road with Chicago legends The Shades of Brown. He started as a driver, but impressed by his singing voice the group invited Doug to start opening their shows. This lasted for about a year till one of the group's core members abruptly left the group to get married. Doug was considered as a replacement, but the group ultimately broke up.
Soon after Doug and Joe Stevenson regrouped and formed the now legendary, Master Plan Inc.. The group was plagued by many of the pitfalls associated with the music industry and by the 1980s most of the recorded output had been shelved, or remained unreleased, albeit a small few vanity pressings that went unnoticed. Doug continued writing and recording through the '80s and '90s, but things didn't pick up until the late 2000s when he met local rapper Brian "Robust" Kuptzin, who after a long conversation about Doug's musical background, introduced Doug to Cherries Records co-founder Andrew Brearley.
Two singles were released on Cherries Records to much fanfare, followed by a full length release of Master Plan Inc's unreleased output via Jazzman records, and Master Plan Inc. 45 on Numero Group. Soon after Doug was invited to NYC to record an album of new material with producers Homer Steinweiss (The Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, Lee Fields & the Expressions) and Frank Dukes (Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Drake, Post Malone).
The project was titled Silver & Gold, featuring Doug Shorts, the fruits of which were 6 tracks of pure funk perfection. Though shelved for almost 5 years these incredible recordings are finally seeing the light of day via three 45s and a digital EP released by Daptone Records. And so the saga continues, for Doug's talent is undeniable. He is living proof that the cream will always rise to the top.