Jazz From Hell
"Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hit" was released in 1989 on the french non-commercial label V.I.S.A., while a re-recorded version of the album with two extra tracks, entitled "Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hit-Take 2", with just slightly altered cover art, was put out on Toeblock once again. Much to the dismay of the people at V.I.S.A. whose non-commercial stance was challenged in typical attitude by Ted. Blurt were not making things easy on themselves in this way and were branded as "unreliable", putting them even more in isolation in the alternative music scene. Both albums are complementary however, and show and interesting look in the creative process of the band. It's like jazz musicians taking different takes of the same standards, but the critics and business people didn't understand Blurt, nor jazz for that matter...
Pagan On A Shoestring
In 1990, Ted was living in Brussels, in dire straits. He started on his series of books "Pagan Strings", handcrafted with found materials from the Brussels' streets and containing the lyrics of the new Blurt album to be.
Blurt recorded the album in Ulm, Germany, with new guitarist Chris Vine since Steve Eagles had founded a new band," Bang Bang Machine". Just before recording Nic Murcott also left and Paul Wigens returned to the drumseat.
"Pagan Strings" was released on Toeblock once again and touring continued, albeit to even smaller crowds. No matter the attendance, the band always gave their best and with every gig winning at least always one new loyal member of the cult of Blurt afficionados. With the fall of the "Iron Curtain" in late 1989, Eastern Europa proved to be a new and fertile ground for the seeds Blurt had been planting over these years.