All serious record collectors agree that finding rare records can
be a difficult, time consuming and often expensive business. Finding
previously unknown records takes this challenge to another level;
another step further and you're into the realm of lost master tapes,
acetates and demos in record company archives - take one step further
still and you've just stepped into a black hole: the mysterious, unknown
world of private recordings made by individual musicians, never before
circulated beyond the four walls of their studio or home.
Such is the case with Master Plan Inc, a band from Chicago led by Fred Shorts. With just one single to their name - an uber-rarity rated at over $2000
- nobody had any idea that within the confines of a studio archive and
Shorts' private residence there would be a wealth of other recordings on
acetate, reel-to-reel tape and cassette.
