Pete Townshend's hearing

[snopes]

Comment: Did Pete Townshend lose part of his hearing after an explosive appearance by The Who on “The Smothers Brothers”?

[me, no really]

No idea about when he lost his hearing, but I was amused many years ago now when Pete Townshend was on a TV commercial extolling the virtues of a particular company's stereos. Like he would know.

me

[dlloyd1]

Here's an old clip of him blaming his Marshall stack for it,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPHJe5LqMpA

But he's been blaming headphones lately...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4580070.stm

[dlloyd1]

Here's the explosion in question...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr81olQ1ibk

[Ramblin' Dave]

I have heard that particular performance blamed for his hearing loss many times, but I for one doubt that any single performance is primarily responsible. Sheer volume was second only to destroying their instruments as those guys' trademark.

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by dlloyd1

But he's been blaming headphones lately...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4580070.stm

From that article:-

The Who guitarist Pete Townshend has warned music fans against potential hearing damage caused by headphones as portable players become more popular.

Are portable players more popular these days? I know that mp3 players didn't exist but is there any difference between listening to cassettes, cds or mp3s on headphones?

[Complex Kid]

My cable has Music Choice stations and they give little facts about the bands they play. Whenever they play the Who, it says that Townshend became partially deaf after "an exploding drum prank." I don't know where they get their info, though.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Tarquin Farquart

Are portable players more popular these days? I know that mp3 players didn't exist but is there any difference between listening to cassettes, cds or mp3s on headphones?

Yes Portable players are really becoming more and more popular and it really doesn't matter what format they are in. It's the volume that the music is blared at that is problematic.

[Lainie]

MP3 players are far more common than portable cassette or CD players ever were, because they're more convenient and powerful.

[Dog Friendly]

Originally Posted by Complex Kid

My cable has Music Choice stations and they give little facts about the bands they play. Whenever they play the Who, it says that Townshend became partially deaf after "an exploding drum prank." I don't know where they get their info, though.

Well, gramatically, that's not false. He became partially deaf after an exploding drum prank. It doesn't say how long after the explosion, nor does it say due to an exploding drum prank.

What they say is true. What they imply may be something else, but I don't think they're lying here.

[RealityChuck]

When "The Kids are Alright" (the film) came out, Townsend was quoted as seeing the Smother Brothers explosion and pointing to Keith Moon and saying, "That's when I lost my hearing" in a tone that indicated he had not pinpointed the incident before.

[Lady Moon]

I agree, the volume played a part.

John Entwistle had to wear powerful hearing aids the last few years of his life. Pete Townshend on his blog has said in the past that he can't work more than a few hours at a time on his albums and needs at least 18 hours in between because of the volume.

I don't know how badly Roger Daltrey has been affected, and Keith Moon died before he could be badly affected, but the volume definitely played a part.