A great warning from Pete Townshend

ednrg · January 2006

Pete Townshend Warns iPod Users

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=211176&GT1=7538

LONDON -- Pete Townshend has warned iPod users they may face hearing problems if they don't turn down the volume.

Townshend, guitarist in '60s rock band The Who, said his hearing has been irreversibly damaged by years of using studio headphones and he must now take 36-hour breaks between recording sessions.

\"Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired,\" he said on his Web site. \"If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you MAY be OK. ... But my intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead.\"

The Who were famous for their earsplitting live performances, but Townshend, 60, said his problem was caused by using earphones in the recording studio.

\"I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal components deaf,\" he said.

Referring to the increasingly popular practice of downloading music from the Internet, Townshend said: \"The downside may be that on our computers — for privacy, for respect to family and co-workers, and for convenience — we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound.\"

archon · January 2006

I heard (no pun intended) his hearing was damaged on the ed sillivan show when keith moon put some explosives in his bass drum as a finale, but kinda 'over did' the amount needed! Pete has his head next to the drum when it went boom.

IPOD users should avoid doing this also.

James Hetfield is also sposed to be deaf.

im halfway there, being tonedeaf.

AtomicNinjaRobot · January 2006

\University of Toronto\ wrote:

In the 1960s and 70s legendary British rock group The Who revolutionized rock 'n' roll by playing at unprecedented volumes for periods of up to four hours. Some concerts were reported to reach volume levels greater than 140 decibels, the level of noise generated by a jet engine. The shows were considered so loud that The Who was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest rock band in the world.

Not so sure it was the headphones, Mr. Townshend

Funny how musicians-people who you would expect to cherish their hearing-tend to abuse it more than anyone else.

-Tod

P.G.Shadow · January 2006

(db) X (duration of exposure) = hearing damage

The Who at 140db,wow...I had a hard time getting the clubs P.A. up past 120db without the waitresses coming up and kickin me :P

guitar3456 · January 2006

Headphones vol should never be so loud that you can't hear your own voice or others at talking levels. If you have to say...HUH?? It's too loud and that exposure over long term will in fact cause hearing loss. lawsuits against SONY Discmans required them to add the option of auto attenuation. This 2 yrs after production. Live...use Hearo's or something. Especially if you stand by drums.

thehootman · January 2006

i highly doubt that pete townsend and the rest of the who were experiencing 140 db. They would've been behind the pa and hence not copping the brunt of the volume.

Slacker G · January 2006

\"I heard (no pun intended) his hearing was damaged on the ed sillivan show when keith moon put some explosives in his bass drum as a finale, but kinda 'over did' the amount needed! Pete has his head next to the drum when it went boom.

IPOD users should avoid doing this also.\"

I agree. Thank you. I shall be vigilent in keeping my head away from explosive drums while listening to my IPod

archon · January 2006

'twas actually meant in jest 8)

shando · January 2006

Wasn't Mr Townshend charged and found guilty of accessing a paedo website a couple of years back?

0Dannyboy · January 2006

\shando\ wrote:

Wasn't Mr Townshend charged and found guilty of accessing a paedo website a couple of years back?

Ya he got busted :oops: what a Perv :!: I bet during his experimentation through out the years he got somthing else stuck in his ear and thats what cause all the hearing damage :!: :shock:

LuredMaul · January 2006

Actually he was doing research for a book or somethin and he informed the authorities BEFORE ever looking at anything, n was never convicted of anything..................

Guess we should all call the Police before testing out our LIVE Rigs at Home, \"Well I told ya It was gonna be LOUD Officer\"!

shando · January 2006

He claimed it was for research and that he himself was abused and was issued with a \"caution\" and placed on the Sex Offenders Register. This was in 2003 I believe and I haven't seen any sign of this book yet. The \"research\" explanation doesn't make it legal to visit such a site. Would it make it okay for me to go out and buy some crack if I said it was purely for research? I'm a bit gutted as he was/is an outstanding musician. But by visiting such sites even if for research he is perpetuating their very existence!

TY

shando

0Dannyboy · January 2006

I am not raggin on the Who at all. Pete Townsend is one of the greatest songwriter /guitarist of his generation or any other for that matter... but hes kinda creepy (to me) now after all that stuff went down. I really hope he was telling the truth. The authoritys must have had there doubts if they put him on the sex offenders list though. :?

tondog64 · January 2006

WHAT?!

Johnny Jaded · January 2006

Damn creepy. Especially if a guy is a little on the homophobic side. lol I've known he was a homosexual pedifile since he revealed the story behind Rough Boys. It's actually more absurd someone might believe his \"research\" crap. Still like The Who's music... despite the boy-love influence on the guitars. lol

Tal Rules · January 2006

They sure didn't want to follow Hendrix at Montery..
Can't say that I blame them though...
I don't know of anybody that would have wanted to follow Hendrix after that performance...

I was around back then and I remember 2 distinct types of people..

There were Who people and there were Zep people...

I was a Zepper....

Johnny Jaded · January 2006

Oh no, there were many kinds of people... :P

Tal Rules · January 2006

And then there were the \"Other People\"

\"Do you think that I creep in the night and sleep in a phone booth?\"

Frank Zappa:
\"The Other People...\" :P

Unknown · January 2006

I met Pete at a Holiday Inn in Flint Michigan. It was Keith Moons birthday - the night Moony drove a car into the pool. They had just finished playing Atwood Stadium and we followed the group to the hotel. He seemed like a really cool guy. He showed me the scars on his head from bashing his guitar into it and the scar on his right hand where he impaled it once durning his \"propeller\" arm swing moves.

I believe Mr. Townsend has said say that he is more of a song writer and less of a guitar player but I'll never forget seeing him at another gig in '65. He did a move with his strat that, to this day, I still can't believe! He held the guitar vertically allowing gravity to determine its' attitude. Now while holding the guitar like this, using gobs of nasty distortion and amplitude, he began to shake it violently on a single note for about ten seconds! - the most remarkable electric guitar vibrato ever heard - I wish you had been there!

Unknown · January 2006

\fetter339\ wrote:

I met Pete at a Holiday Inn in Flint Michigan. It was Keith Moons birthday - the night Moony drove a car into the pool. They had just finished playing Atwood Stadium and we followed the group to the hotel. He seemed like a really cool guy. He showed me the scars on his head from bashing his guitar into it and the scar on his right hand where he impaled it once durning his \"propeller\" arm swing moves.

I believe Mr. Townsend has said say that he is more of a song writer and less of a guitar player but I'll never forget seeing him at another gig in '65. He did a move with his strat that, to this day, I still can't believe! He held the guitar vertically allowing gravity to determine its' attitude. Now while holding the guitar like this, using gobs of nasty distortion and amplitude, he began to shake it violently on a single note for about ten seconds! - the most remarkable electric guitar vibrato ever heard - I wish you had been there.

Invention is often haphazzard

Johnny Jaded · January 2006

Fetter339... Are you being honest with us? Where are your street creds? :P I have made bold claims myself... plenty of times, but they were just bullsh@t to get a laugh.

Oh I wish I were there all right... but not... um... as a teenage boy. :twisted:

Is it not amazing the interaction between musicians in England during the 60s and 70s? Not just sexually, but partying together and jamming together. Drummers at that time had a strange reputaion as hard drinking crazy f@#kers. Drinking themselves to death unfortunately. Oh and the drugs... :roll:

So did your pal Pete happen to show a propensity for homosexual pediafelia back then? :twisted:

Yeah a great songwriter, but don't let him take Johnny Jr. on a weekend fishing trip. :shock: Although... he might write a song about it. :twisted:

Ya know... that's what I like about this place. A fella... um... er... person can speak frankly and openly about weird musicians and their music and stuff.

I heard Jimi was bi, but it wasn't teenage boys was it? :?

LuredMaul · January 2006

If we all ignore it \"it\" will go away

Tal Rules · January 2006

Are you referring to the Jaded one LuredMaul???

I just have to believe that his posts must be true..

With all his credentials and the obvious esteem Record producers, musicians, music promoters from all over the world place on Johnny Jaded his posts obviously must be true..

Don't tell me LuredMaul that you've never heard of him before getting on this board.... :shock:

Well, come to think of it, :?
Neither have I.

Johnny Jaded · January 2006

Stop!!! If you ignore me, there is no point writing it.

It!?! Implying what? Harsh.

I used to be a regular. I thought I had acceptance, friends and comradery, maybe even a chunk of my fanbase here. :? I mean man... The whole Johnny Jaded aka The Jaded One aka The Jademeister General aka Dr. John E. Jaded, etc, etc. started right here... er... there... on the old GNX forums. Where has all the love gone?

Is that really how easily The Jade Army was defeated? Without a single flambouyant character to fill the void? Yeah I haven't been chiming in much, but rest assured I still know where my roots are... back here in Podunk.... where I'm kind of still the Godfather of the Oregonian Alternative Rock Jam Genre... the OARJ-G.

I've just been busy. It aint easy being me. So much imagination, so little time. Gotta prioritize. The spare time bends toward the studio where I continue to record and mix. With luck, I'll fill a cd before too long and have something to promote and talk about. :twisted:

Man... nobody knows me here anymore. Now I have to re-establish myself and my unique sense of psuedo-humor... just to get some of you more conservative types to chuckle. I know I must be an aquired taste for some people who are easily upset.

Maybe a dose of my writing skills... keen musicianship and individual style. :P

A few Johnny Jaded songs on Acid Planet?
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=336331

Lord only knows what my avatar is right now.

Mike B · January 2006

To the Jaded One, Did you and DigiTech ever come to terms on the pedal? :P Seems like I remember you were close to having a green signature pedal. Well I hope it works out.

Tal Rules · January 2006

Yeah Johnny, 8)

I've been around since the old board and I've read a lot of your posts...

And yes, we do miss your biting wit and humor...

And I do believe you when you say that it's tough to be you..

I can only imagine..

By the way,
Checked out your tunes on your site.. 8)
Very nice mixing and compositional skills... 8)

Never heard your stuff before and was pleasantly surprised... 8)

See Ya,
Tal

Thomas · January 2006

Hey I will vouch for the Jaded One an all his other alter egoes

The love is still around bro

Cheers,

Thomas

KiLLiN-TiMe · January 2006

Only thing I can say about Townsend is that if they ever do throw him in jail... Well he's allready got the outfit! :shock:

LMAO
KT

A great warning from Pete Townshend

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