HEADPHONE USERS ARE TRAFFIC HAZARDS, according to officials in Woodbridge, Township, New Jersey, who have voted to restrict the use of phones on streets there. A recently passed ordinance will outlaw the use of headphones by people driving cars or riding bicycles. Pedestrians will be permitted to use phones while on sidewalks, but will be required to remove them for crossing streets. Passed in July, the ordinance becomes law when approved by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
HEADPHONES ARE HAZARDOUS TO HEARING only if misused, according to Joseph J. Rizzo, executive director of the Better Hearing Institute in Washington, D.C. Personal portable cassette players with earphones are not inherently dangerous, Rizzo says, but people who listen at high volume levels for long periods without rest may suffer the same kind of damage that often results from overexposure to loud rock or disco in clubs or to industrial noise in factories. "I am a marathon runner," says Rizzo, "and I listen to music on my Walkman for an hour or two a day while running. I certainly would not do this if I thought there was any risk. But I am careful to keep the volume at a reasonable, comfortable level."
JOHN COUGAR's song Hurts So Good on his hit Polygram album "American Fool" is claimed to be one of the fastest written songs in U.S. musical history and the only one written in soap. Cougar says he got the idea for the song early one morning and wrote it out on the glass door while showering.
THE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA COMPANY'S performances will be broadcast this fall by National Public Radio on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. The series will begin with Handel's Julius Caesar on September 3 and 4. Among the highlights this month will be Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera with Montserrat Caballd and Luciano Pavarotti (September 10 and 11) and Bellini's Norma with Joan Sutherland and Thorne the following week. Check local stations for exact time.
"JANE FONDA'S WORKOUT" is the first of RCA's SelectaVision videodiscs to use the dual sound capability of the capacitance electronic disc (CED) sys tem. Each disc of this type can carry two completely separate soundtracks, and owners of RCA's new stereo units can play the videodisc and choose to hear music only or music plus Ms. Fonda's exercise instructions. CBS Records has released an audio version of "Jane Fonda's Workout," which is now high on best-seller charts, well ahead of its nearest competitor, Elektra's "Reach," featuring ABC-TV's guru of good health, Richard Simmons.
THE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION of Indianapolis, held this year for the first time from September 6 to 19, will give the first-prize winner $10,000, a gold medal, debuts in Carnegie Hall and the Library of Congress, thirty concert bookings in the U.S. and Canada and twenty in Europe, and a recording on the Vox Cum Laude label. The Finnish composer Jonas Kokkonen has written a work to be played by the contestants.
CURTAINS FOR JOAN JETT & BILLY JOEL. No, they weren't going together. It's just that Joel's new album on Columbia is titled "Nylon Curtain," and Jett's September tour of East Germany will make her the first post-punk act to appear behind the Iron Curtain.
TECH NOTES: Hitachi-Maxell of Japan says it has developed a recording tape capable of high-fidelity performance at one eighth of normal tape speeds. Its use will require new tape heads with very narrow gaps and sharp pole pieces that cause the magnetic flux to pass through the tape in a tight arc. Hitachi-Maxell has provided samples of the new tape, known as Multi-Component Magnetic Tape (MCMT), to recorder manufacturers. The eight fold increase in recording density portends a probable application in digital as well as analog recording....
With the high-budget car stereo market booming, Nakamichi is planning to offer in-dash units in the $1,000-plus range for introduction later this year.
Edited by William Livingstone
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Also see:
CES 1982--The latest hi-fi trends and product introductions.
Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine)