What Was That, Pete? Sorry, Couldn't Hear...

Bostonist turned the volume down on our iPod yesterday while reading an Associated Press report on boston dot com. Newsflash: listening to your iPod at too loud a volume or for too long a time may damage your hearing. The good doctor Mallika Marshall over at Channel 4 also gave us a similar stern warning the day after Christmas.

But yesterday's message came with an authoritative urgency, courtesy of the hearing impaired rock god Pete "m-m-m-my generation" Townshend (ok, technically Roger Daltry delivered the famous speech impaired line, but let's stay focused hear here). Townshend issued a statement on his website fessing up to having "unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal components deaf."

Now 60, Townshend is partially deaf and suffers from a severe case of tinnitus. Many fans assume that Pete's hearing was damaged after a king sized concussion bomb that Keith Moon had stuffed into his drum kit exploded near Townshend during a 1967 performance on the Smothers Brothers TV variety show. Moreover, The Who was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the LOUDEST rock band of all time. But Townshend claims that his hearing loss is mainly the result of years of listening to music at loud volumes through studio monitor headphones. (Bostonist takes solace in the fact that Pete can hear anything at this point.)

The Kids are Alright? Pete doesn't think so. Not if they listen to their iPods at loud volumes, as most are wont to do. Come on admit it, like Bostonist you sometimes crank up the iPod while running or commuting in order to hear over the traffic. So to help us all avoid later suffering the type of hearing loss that Pete struggles with now, he's teamed up with fellow hearing impaired rocker Kathy Peck to form H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers).

Now Pete and Peck, the former lead singer of all girl punk band The Contractions, spread the word to all who are willing (and able) to hear: TURN DOWN THE VOLUME on your iPod. If you don't "die before you get old," you will still be able to rock out when you're 60.

Contributed by Matt Durutti