Many early singles by the Who were very funny in an English sort of way. Their sense of humor was not American and the songs failed here. There’s “I’m a Boy” (1966) about a child made to dress as a girl, “Pictures of Lily” (1967) about porn, “Substitute” about not being what you appear to be. “Substitute” (1966) has the great line “I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth.” The Who Sell Out (1967) album has radio commercials. Starting with Tommy, it seems like their sense of humor disappeared. The only exception was “Squeeze Box” (1975) which sounded like a throwback to their early days.
The Who’s sense of humor
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