A perennial candidate for their greatest hits. Ha! Ha! Get it? Because… ugh, never mind.
Kronomyth 11.1: The whooters by knockers.
This is The Who’s most popular novelty single, a bright spot on an otherwise dour record (The Who By Numbers). Using a squeeze box (accordion) as a double entendre for a woman’s breasts, “Squeeze Box” somehow slipped past the censors, to the delight of adolescent boys everywhere. Personally, I think it’s undersung and prefer Pete with a guitar (rather than a banjo or ukelele) in his hands, but it’s nice that the band didn’t feel boxed into making maximum-decible rock and roll all the time.
The B side is John Entwistle’s “Success Story,” which I’ve always enjoyed. It’s one of the heavier tracks on Numbers. Too bad John wasn’t tapped for a second song, since I’m sure he could have come up with something better than “However Much I Booze.” Both “Squeeze Box” and “Success Story” are identical to the elpee versions. Even the picture sleeve artwork is the same, making this one of the less interesting entries in The Who’s discography. TTFN.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. Squeeze Box (Peter Townshend) (2:39)
B1. Success Story (John Entwistle) (3:20)
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single on November 22, 1975 in the US (MCA, MCA-40475) {black rainbow label} and Canada (MCA, MCA 40475) on January 9, 1976 in the UK, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany and Ireland (Polydor, 2121 275) and Yugoslavia (Polydor/RTB, 2121 275) with regional picture sleeve; reached #16 on the US charts (charted on November 29, 1975 for 16 weeks) and #10 on the UK charts. Also available as promotional 7-inch single in 1975 in the US (MCA, MCA-40475) {white label}.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in 1978 in the US (MCA, MCA-40475) {brown label}.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in 1980 in the US (MCA, MCA-40475) {blue sky rainbow label}.
