Easton woman blames hearing loss on Prince, sues musician

The Enterprise (Brockton, MA) ^ | 7/23/2002 | Elaine Allegrini

[BansheeBill]

BROCKTON — The last time Donna Avellino of Easton saw rock musician Prince, he was performing on a Boston stage. But if the two appear in the same room Thursday, he is not likely to be singing.

Prince is a defendant in a Brockton District Court lawsuit brought by Avellino, who says she lost her hearing at his concert at the FleetCenter on June 18, 1997.

[BansheeBill]

If the moderators want to move this thread to general interest, it's fine with me.
I used to work at Rock Concerts in the 70's doing stage set-up work and security work, and heard lots of really loud concerts, sometimes stationed right in front of the wall of speaker cabinets, with apparently no damaging effects (so far).
In the mid-late 80's I went to a Bruce Springsteen concert and although I had seats at the rear of the hall, it was so loud that I had tinnitus (ringing in my ears) for 4 days after the show (they had also set up a wall of spaekers at the back of the arena). I still have some friends from the 70's who work in the rock & roll concert business and some have had hearing loss. All of them have been wearing hearing protective devices (earphones or some type of high tech ear plugs) for quite a few years, at the shows they work at).

BTW, a number of long time Harley Riders I know, who are now in their 50's are experiencing hearing loss, that they now think came from not wearing ear plugs when they rode. The exhaust noise combined with the wind noise going past their ears contributed to the hearing loss, they now claim. Most of them now wear ear plugs on long rides and some every time they ride.

[isthisnickcool]

Huh? What? Eh?

[Bikers4Bush]

From the wind or wind noise maybe, but unless they've routed the exhaust pipes up next to their heads the exhaust noise is not going to be able to do it.

If they really thought it was the exhaust they'd put true mufflers on their bikes.

[RonF]

WHAT? WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I JUST GOT BACK FROM A CONCERT! YEAH, THE MUSIC WAS LOUD. IT'S ALWAYS LOUD! WHADDAYA EXPECT? WHADDAYA MEAN THEY SHOULD WARN YOU IT'S GOING TO BE LOUD? YOU BEEN LIVING NEXT TO OSAMA IN THAT CAVE FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS? KNIVES ARE SHARP! COFFEE IS HOT! ROCK CONCERTS ARE LOUD! IF YOU GOT THE BRAINS GOD GAVE A GOAT YOU KNOW THAT ROCK CONCERTS ARE LOUD AND THREE HOURS OF IT CAN HURT YOUR EARS!

[BansheeBill]

I think you are probably right about the problem being the wind, especially as most have always worn half helmets their entire riding career. I use earplugs when I ride and I use a full helmet. I noticed a while back a that a lot of the long distance BMW type touring MC riders had been wearing earplugs for years. I also notice that the AMA Superbike and World Superbike and GP MC racers all wear ear plugs that they have to pull out to do media interviews after a race.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[Clara Lou]

re: suing the musician-- I guess you never know until you try. (Let them charge her the court costs.)

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

MH...there is something extremely funny about a "conservative" ping to a thread about Prince............ lol

[mhking]

Avellino believes rock stars have a duty to their fans to warn them of the possible consequences of loud music.

Idiot... You go to a rock concert, you end up with the DISTINCT possibility of your ears ringing. Next!

[mhking]

there is something extremely funny about a "conservative" ping to a thread about Prince

She-who-must-be-obeyed (who is even more conservative than I) is probably the biggest Prince fan I've ever met...[g]

[TxBec]

wait.. was he known as Prince in 1997 or the symbol or "the artist formerly known as.." etc? LOL! I predict a name change coming on again :)

[mhking]

wait.. was he known as Prince in 1997 or the symbol or "the artist formerly known as.." etc?

I just referred to him as "Art."

I can see it now..."Hi, Art!"

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I was a big fan of his in college too.......my very young sister in law was staying with us once (she was about 16 at the time) and was looking through my albums (that tells you how long ago this story happened! lol).......She pulled out a Prince album and said, "Oh we have this singer named "Prince" who looks a lot like this guy"........

Apparently she thought I was veryyyyyy old.........

[maxwell]

LMFAO!!!

Great RANT ping... Check out #4, bro... ;)

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I guess I'm just an old red neck at heart, but I like men who look like men........not one who would look better in a skirt than me..........

[varon]

Prince is a defendant in a Brockton District Court lawsuit brought by Avellino, who says she lost her hearing at his concert at the FleetCenter on June 18, 1997.

What did he do, diddle her in her ear? ;-)

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

Remember to always wear hearing protection when sending or receiving HIGH-VOLUME pings.

[Dallas]

Did you work for Showco ?

I've been to some loud ones, but Ted Nugent tops the list for me.

[Gumlegs]

After hearing his music, I'd be more inclined to sue because I could hear it.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL! Huh? Rock concerts are LOUD? hehehe

[BansheeBill]

I used to work some Showco shows as a favor to a friend who worked for them and sometimes needed an extra worker on short notice. I worked at Don Law and Koplik &Finkel shows in the Northeast mostly, and had friends who owned a regional sound/PA company and I would work for them.
I saw a couple of loud Nugent shows, but probably the loudest show was in a small hall and John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra during their heavy electric phase of 72-73 brought an arena sized sound system into a hall that fit maybe 2,000. It was incredibly loud (but nice clean sound, nonetheless)
Back in the 60's a Paul Butterfield Blues Band and (Janis Joplin) Big Brother and the Holding Company show in an empty small hockey arena was pretty deafening.

[scholar]

ROCK CONCERTS ARE LOUD! IF YOU GOT THE BRAINS GOD GAVE A GOAT YOU KNOW THAT ROCK CONCERTS ARE LOUD AND THREE HOURS OF IT CAN HURT YOUR EARS!

There have been warnings for at least 30 years about hearing loss from loud music be it rock concerts or your home/car stereo. This is another frivolous lawsuit that glogs the legal system and makes lots of money for attorneys.

BTW, I have been in churches where they now have sound systems that are enough to blow out your eardrums. Wonder when people are going to start sueing their church.

[Desdemona]

"I have been in churches where they now have sound systems that are enough to blow out your eardrums. Wonder when people are going to start sueing their church."

This is why I refuse to use amplification and rely on training. Loud sound systems don't improve much of anything.

Sue the artist, yeah.

[dennisw]

.

[dennisw]

 

 

 

 

 

                                    

                                    Play f**king loud!!!!

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

[strela]

Prince must have used one of those Spinal Tap amps that you can turn up to 11.

[BansheeBill]

You know when I worked at rock concerts I always thought I was doing more damage to my hearing (and doing damage to my co-workers hearing) by all the LOUD yelling/shouting we would have to do in each others years so we could communicate over the loud music.
I can remember severely drunk/stoned (both probably) concert patrons actually sitting in the base of those 6 foot high black painted plywood bass speaker and horn cabinets at rock shows. That had to hurt a little later on.
There are a number of players from rock bands in the Boston area from the last 20 years, who now admit to permanent tinnitus due to their not using any hearing protection for all those years.

I saw a Stock market tip show on TV maybe 15 years ago where the "analyst" recommended hearing aid companies as he thought they would do well when all the baby boomers who had attended lots of rock concerts and had loud stereos reached near retirement age and their hearing started to go.

With the incredibly loud car stereos some kids have these days (compared to the 60's-70's versions) I wonder if they are accelerating the damage?

[eleni121]

Of all pop musicians to sue - this lamebrain chose Prince? Besides being one of the more talented of the pop stars, Prince did not rely on decibels to entertain. She should go pick on Springsteen or any of the heavy metal screamers...

[scholar]

With the incredibly loud car stereos some kids have these days (compared to the 60's-70's versions) I wonder if they are accelerating the damage?

Without a doubt! It will just take a while before they realize the damage that they have done to themselves. I speak from experience as I used to love my stereo blasting in my ear. I now suffer from tinnitus and hearing loss but I have no one to blame but myself.

It is ridiculous however that this woman would claim that her hearing problem was caused by one concert--it is a progressive process.

[Abcdefg]

"MH...there is something extremely funny about a "conservative" ping to a thread about Prince............ lol"

Prince is probably more conservative than any US Senator any of us have ever voted for! ;^)

[Abcdefg]

And that isn't saying much.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

LOL....... yea, I heard Hillary is changing her name next term........she will be known as "Her Royal Highness"

[Abcdefg]

Or how about "Her Royal Lard @$$"?

[skeeter]

Victor said he is surprised Prince would come to court because he is denying, through his attorney, responsibility for Avellino's hearing loss.

So Prince is siezing the opportunity for a little free PR by showing up live in court. My, how the mighty have fallen.

[BenLurkin]

>Tried to watch "Purple Rain" with my twelve and fifteen year old kids to give them a feel for "pop culture" of the late 70s early 80s.
> The sheer inanity of it was too overwhelming.
>After awhile I realized it wasn't worth watching even for "historical" reasons.