McGrath said: "Paradoxical really - the complaints about it being too loud tend to come from older people whose hearing is probably worn down a bit by the years. "

I'm now 40, but I can never remember liking very loud music. Even as a teenager it annoyed the hell out of me that all the discos I went to were so lound that I could never have a conversation with the friends I went with.

Nowadays I don't go to discos, but the same problem arises at birthday/anniverary parties, wedding receptions. You go along, meet lots of friends you haven't seen for years and can't wait to chat to - but then have to spend the evening just grinning inanely across the table at each other, because the music is so loud that any conversation is impossible. Yes, you can yell in the ear of the person sat next to you, but that's about it! Meanwhile, the brain-dead disc jockey pumps up the volume yet again because nobody is dancing. WE DON'T WANT TO DANCE, YOU MORON, WE WANT TO HAVE INTELLIGENT CONVERSATION!!!!

Luckily, when I was a teenager, we also regularly went to barndances. I remember these as being much happier occasions (especially those kissing dances!)

Julie B