I am working my way through Pete Townshend's "Who I Am" with moderate pleasure but what I sure did enjoy was Pete mentioning that "Substitute " was influenced by Smokey Robinson because, at first glanc, that makes no sense whatsoever but when yous it and think about it, you think of several things.
1. Pete said that the word "substitute" was a buzzword because Smokey used it in "Tracks Of My Tears" . The line is, "though she may be cute she's just a substitute" and I love words like that. I was writing about strong words just the other day. The new Taylor Swift song has "ruthless", and "good and right". Very strong words.
2. The crossover, or at least the similarities between soul and Brit rock were so explosive and powerful in the mid-60s it was like a secret handshake, or a secret society, or somewhere on the peripheral of white pop. It still is, of course, the difference is that the 1960s were much more racist than today: miscegenation, even musical miscegenation, was reason for lynching.