Before getting down to the main business of the day….a huge thanks to everyone for your kind words wishing me a speedy return to full health.
I’ll wake up today for a second morning in a hospital bed. It’s the first time in my life, apart from when I was born, that I’ve spent time in a ward. I’m under observation for issues with one of my kidneys. Turned out that the pain I’d been in for the previous five days was me passing a kidney stone, and the wee/big bastard gave the actual organ a few scrapes en route. Until the specialist is happy that it has returned to a good degree of normality, then I’m in here where I’m currently a human version of a pin cushion.
I’m not grumbling. The staff at this NHS hospital are magnificent in every imaginable way, and I’m getting the very best of care. I’ll not update you again till I get discharged, but rest assured, I’m on the mend…just not sure how quickly. Oh, and discussions are already underway to make sure L.A. gets visited sooner rather than later.
So where was I today before this latest edition of Emergency Ward 9?????
The last few years of Factory Records were marked by a number of signings whose music was far from that most typically associated with the label. This may well be the most untypical:-
mp3: The Adventure Babies – Camper Van
It’s the lead track from FAC 319, and was released in September 1991. The Adventure Babies were a trio of Matt Tedstone, Dave Atherton and Jez Bramwell, and were seemingly the very last band to be ever signed to the label. In addition to this, their debut EP, which came out on 12″ and CD, there would be one further single, Barking Mad (FAC 347), and an album, Laugh (FACT 335).
None of the releases ever got near the charts, and when the label’s demise through bankruptcy was confirmed in November 1992, a number of commentators pointed the finger at acts such as The Adventure Babies for their role in it. This seems a bit unfair given how little time they had been on the label and how the records hadn’t been all that expensive to make, certainly in comparison to the ways New Order and Happy Mondays had been bleeding the company dry. Here’s the three other tracks from the debut EP:-
mp3: The Adventure Babies – Barking Mad
mp3: The Adventure Babies – Lifetime At The Sink
mp3: The Adventure Babies – Long Night Narrow Boat
It’s a long way removed from the Hacienda……..
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Hi, JC. I’m extremely pleased to learn that you’re on the mend but not of the circumstances. It seems you’ve received good care and I hope that you’re discharged soon and that LA is ‘pencilled in’ with an indelible marker as soon as is possible. In the meantime, while on the ward, just pretend you’re Charles Hawtrey or Kenneth Williams – maybe even Sid James.
Flimflamfan
Get well soon, do you get to keep the stone? 😁
Aah, that’s great news, buddy – I must admit I was quite concerned about you. But a kidney stone is, if I may say so, some sort of relief to me – certainly not for you, no, but it means I don’t have to worry any longer!
Take good care of yourself and hopefully the trip can be made soon …
Dirk
Get well soon. Glad to hear the NHS is treating you well. Missed a trick there by not posting the Weather Prophets cover of the Robert Johnson classic Stones In My Passway. Too soon?
chaval
Glad you’re on the mend. Adventure Babies always felt like such a shift in direction it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the label had survived.
I am very relieved to read this. I find exactly one song on my HD with “Kidney” in its name. Can you guess which one it is? Greetings [sk]
All the best to you for a quick recovery and a rescheduled holiday when yourself and Mrs V are up to it, JC.
Strangeways
So sorry to read you’ve been going through all this – I am behind with my reading! – but very reassuring to know you’re on the mend and in good hands. Wishing you a speedy recovery and return to normality asap, take care.
Sheeee-ittt! What a bummer! Or should that be pisser?! Either way, get very well very soon. Kidneys are remarkably resilient – my Mum lived for years with next to no decent function while popping cocktails of pills and consuming little other than sugar and salt. But still, you’re better off with a couple of good uns so hopefully there’s no lasting damage. I had gallstones a few years back and I believe an attack feels similar to kidney stones. Basically like you’re being fucking stabbed! No fun, get rid!