I like this song, but I wish it didn’t start with ‘La la la.’ Just seems a bit unimaginative. It was written by Pete Townshend for the Merseys, who released it in July 1966. It was produced by Townshend though the label credits Kit Lambert. It did not get into the charts.
The Who recorded it in October 1966 for their second album, A Quick One, which was released in December 1966.
Townshend also recorded a solo version in 1966, a fragment of which was released on his 1983 album Scoop.
Here is a live performance from 1967.
This is Townshend and Paul Weller in 2000.
Here are the Who in 2014, by which time they have taken my advice about the ‘La la la’ intro. This is at the Birmingham NEC on December 7, during their 50th anniversary tour.
WHEN listening to a favourite song after hearing another person’s thoughts about it, one tends to hear it the other person’s way – so now Margaret I am very conscious of the la-la-las; hey hadn’t bothered me before!!!
Earlier, The Who had done a song called “La La La Lies”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvhYSikZr3I
… and my absolute favourite Who song “A Quick One While He’s Away (live)” feature oodles of la-la-las, so it was definitely a recurring theme with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJv2-_–EY4
Julian Cope another of my favourites, sing “ba-ba-bas” in his songs a lot, as in “Passionate Friend”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGkrkcoTILc
Anyway, I love “So Sad About Us”. The 1967 live clip is the best version, with Keith Moon at full tilt. “You can’t turn off my love like you can’t turn off the sun” is a very
great lyric I think. The 2014 version is good but is spoilt by the drumming; you just can’t have an “ordinary” drummer in The Who.
I probably first heard the song in the version by The Jam, which isn’t brilliant but it was a start for me at least. It was a b-side, and on the picture sleeve was a photo of Keith Moon, the single having been released just after he died in 1978. That was when I very young and I would sit wondering who these people were and what it all meant!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2pxfqU_lwA