I recently finished up a series called Glasgow Noise. I had a few vaguely associated groups (Joseph K, Jazzateers, Stinking Lizavets, etc.) that weren't from Glasgow so didn't really fit the billing. Still want to share them here so here's the first one...
Blurt was founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire by poet, saxophonist, & puppeteer Ted Milton along with Milton's brother Jake, formerly of the psychedelic group Quintessence & Eric Clapton Band on drums, & Peter Creese on guitar. Their music has been compared with James Chance, Captain Beefheart, Wild Man Fischer, the Pop Group, Tom Waits, or numberous other left-field avant-jazz icons, though their stripped-back, noisy, avant-garde sound continues to defy easy categorization.
After the initial line-up, personnel changes were common with Ted being the only permanent member. When original guitarist Creese left after three albums, he was replaced by Herman Martin, who was replaced a year later by Steve Eagles. Eagles has been a constant member from 1987 to present except for a four year span 1990-1994 when Chris Vine took over guitar duties.
Musician, poet, & self-confessed 'performance junkie' Ted Milton was a true Renaissance man: as a poet his work appeared in the Paris Review & Children of Albion: Poetry of the Underground in Britain; as a puppeteer in the 70s he performed with Mr. Pugh's Puppet Theatre & the Blue Show; as well as supporting Ian Dury on tour in 1978. Ted also contributed a puppetry scene to Terry Gilliam's 1977 comic film Jabberwocky.
Blurt recorded a sparse demo tape at Jake's home in Stroud & sent a copy to Tony Wilson, head of Factory Records. Ted had done a puppetry performance on a Granada TV show So It Goes that Wilson produced,. Always looking for new Factory acts, Wilson used tracks from the tape as one side of the second Factory compilation, A Factory Quartet. The band made their debut on that compilation which they shared with The Durutti Column, Kevin Hewick, & The Royal Family and the Poor.
Side 1 -
For Mimi
For Belgian Friends
Self-portrait - The Durutti Column
Side 2 -
Rubble
1940
A Little Feeling
Forget
Morphia
The Enchanted Kiss
Haystack - Kevin Hewick
Side 3 -
Puppeteer
Dyslexia
Some Come
Benighted - Blurt
Side 4 -
Dirge 1
Vaneigem Mix
Dirge 2
Death Factory
Dirge 3
Rackets - The Royal Family and the Poor
About one of Blurt’s early live shows, a reviewer sez:
"Jake Milton plays a small drumkit or rather half of it. He beats out the steady tribal rhythm on a snare and a closed hi-hat, adding a tom-tom and a crash cymbal for the last bar of each number. Pete Creese plays either rock guitar riffs like Duane Eddy on a tape loop, or a two-chord repeat; there's no bass. And Ted, who's a dead ringer for Tom Waits, goes berserk over the top, mostly with the aid of an alto sax. It's all-purpose chaos; it's brilliant."
On December 13, 1980 Blurt performed at the Free University in Berlin, a show billed as 'Rock Against Junk'. Also on the bill was Gang of Four, PVC, & others. The event was professionally recorded. This was scheduled to be released by Factory's European imprint Factory Benelux as Blurt's debut album, but continued delays & the fact that Blurt was not really "Factory" led Ted & Co. to find other outlets for the project. Thus the live set came out as a conventional eight track album, In Berlin, on Armageddon Records (ARM 6) in a memorable sleeve depicting pink bin bags. The album was released by Ruby Records in the US.
Side 1 -
Cherry Blossom Polish
My Mother was a Friend of an Enemy of the People
Puppeteers of the World Unite!
Dyslexia Rules
Side 2 -
Get
Tube Plane
Paranoid Blues
Ubu
In Berlin being a live recording, Blurt still had not released a true studio creation. Their self-titled debut studio album was recorded at Windrush Studios in Gloucestershire & released May 1982 on Red Flame Records (formerly Armageddon).
Picture Side -
Dog Save My Sole
Trees
Physical Fitness
Logo Side -
Empty Vessels
Play the Game
The Ruminant Plinth
Arthur
Next time: Bullets for You & beyond...
NØ