Take Me To The Hospital -The Prodigy, The TT and Me

I was just asked if we could do some more listening events like we did with the new Prodigy album, The Day Is My Enemy last year. It was quite a lovely event but due to a last minute date change it wasn’t too well attended. The label had sent 30 tote bags, loads of stickers and posters… And 100 cans of lager. Not the usual tipple of Prodigy fans but very good of them all the same. So a small Voxbox shop full of people enjoyed a beer and we all heard the new record which was classic and pure Prodigy. It was a brilliant day and I’m grateful that we had it.

Prodigy Tattoo

I’ve been working away from Edinburgh for long spells over the last year doing my other job (I’m a Medical Doctor/Geriatrician) which is why Canadian Mike is lookng after things at VoxBox on the weekends. I’ve been working in the Isle of Man for a bit this year and it is a nice place with a bit of strangeness. The TT Racing has just finished and working in the hospital during it is quite exciting although I don’t do any A&E or front door medicine anymore so it didn’t really affect my workload. Saying that, getting routine scans during the TT is more difficult as the scanners are kept free during practice sessions and the races in-case major trauma gets helicoptered in.

The hospital brings in a refrigeration van during the TT Racing to store the extra bodies when the mortuary has filled up.

According to a colleague, there were at least 12 deaths this year. Five Professional riders which get documented in the race stats. The non-professional riders, race marshals and other odds and sods don’t get added to the official TT related death lists. It’s also hard to keep track of the riders that are sent to Liverpool for specialist care that end up dying. The paralysed aren’t really counted nor the simple leg or pelvis fractures. But the TT racing offers freedom and speed for so many and the Island economy does ok from it. The average speed around the island track is about 135mph but they get to over 200mph in places through the mountain road and village streets. I was here last year too and then the riders were asking that spectators be reminded that selfie sticks projected onto the track are a bad idea as the riders were almost hitting them.

Formula 1 has focussed on safety for a long time and lives have been saved by introducing certain measures. On the other side, people have a right to risk their lives. One taxi driver actually said that without fatalities the race wouldn’t attract the same crowd! Something I don’t believe. I’m not wanting an argument with bikers or TT fans as I appreciate the need for speed and personal freedom. Fair enough – if you carry Donor Cards I have certainly no objection. The riders are modern day superheroes as are the A&E doctors. The speeds and reflexes are phenominal. Watch a bit… It’s amazing!

Anyway, I saw Keith of the Prodigy at Isle of Man airport 2 weeks ago (He actually owns a successful motorracing and TT team called Traction Control) and I wanted to say thanks for the beers and stuff but decided I didn’t want to bother him. (It was the label/distributor that sorted it out) So I just killed time in the airport shop but then saw a Q magazine on the shelf had a “modern classic albums” feature. I flicked through as the Prodigy were bound to be in. They are a modern classic after all. I flicked through and finally… 1997… Fat of the Land was there with a full page spread actually dedicated to The Prodigy with an interview with Keith and a large photo so I went to buy it so I could maybe get it signed or something. As an Aberdeenshire Scotsman, before I bought it, I checked the waiting area first and saw Keith had already left to board his flight. He was gone. The magazine in my hand was £5.50 and full of articles on music I had grown up with. Great stuff but I lived through this music… So I put it back on the shelf, sat down for a bit and waited for boarding.

A brilliant medical lecture by motorcycling doctor and anaesthetist John Hinds…

He died in an accident in Ireland in 2015.

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VoxBox Music became the newest record shop in the world on May 21st 2011. We buy and sell vinyl and other formats of music. We are independent and sell mostly pre-owned records although we are slowly branching into new vinyl too.

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