First out the door of customs at Metro Airport Tuesday was a blond fellow in a paisley, mandarin-collared coat. A few moments later a shorter, elfin-looking character wearing yellow-tinted glasses and a bright patterned-silk shirt followed.

Then came a taller, somber black-suited guy who couldn't shake hands because his broken finger wasn't mended. Last one to leave customs had a sad face monopolized by a huge nose.

The first young man was Roger Daltrey, followed by Keith Moon, John Entwistle and Peter Townshend. You know them at The Who and they arrived direct from London for their first Detroit-area appearance, which was at Ann Arbor's Fifth Dimension on Wednesday. All four were exhausted, for after playing a gig until 4 a.m. in London, they hopped right on the plane bound for Detroit.

After the Fifth Dimension, they'll do some dates in Chicago, San Francisco and then play the Monterey Pop Festival Sunday. After that, they fly home where John will be married to Alison Wise, whom he's been dating for three years.

John told me that the June 23 wedding will be a formal affair and that the couple will honeymoon on the liner Queen Elizabeth on their way back to the States, where The Who will be on the Hermits' tour beginning July 7. (That tour is now set for Aug. 23 in Flint's Atwood Stadium.)

They are quite happy to be back in the States. It's their third trip, but just the second they've worked over here. The first time was last April in New York. Over the phone then, Peter told me that the pop music scene here was more exciting than in England.

I asked the other three Who about this. Keith agreed that not many new ideas were coming from England these days. "There's only been a few lines which groups have taken in England, anyway. There were the Beatles, the Stones, Animals and us who represented different kinds of music," he pointed out.

John added: "Not many groups are doing any of their own material. They all do the same old stuff. I don't think the groups have got that much enthusiasm any more."

According to Roger, "So many groups were influenced by us. There was a big wave after we came on the scene about three years ago.... Now people are so boring over there. They are just spoiled, for they can see anyone any time they like. The country is so small that it's just like a sponge soaking everyone up."

Roger compared the enthusiasm in the States with the way England was about three years ago. He called the fans in the United States "the most loyal fans in the world at the moment."

At present in England, The Who have been working on tracks for their next album. Each of them will be writing songs for it. John said they had four different styles of writing.

The mini-opera, "A Quick One While He's Away," on the last album was leading up to a whole show on an album, Keith explained.

However, the Beatles used that concert on "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," so The Who are working out some other new ideas for their next album.

As far as the "psychedelic" music scene goes, The Who have had enough of that word.

"You now can buy psychedelic knickers and psychedelic socks," said Keith.

Actually, The Who have been using feedback, a hallmark of the current psychedelic music scene, for the past couple of years. They were the first persons to put it on record in England, but at the time they called it the pop art sound.

The second record The Who made in England, "Anywhere, Anyhow, Anywhere," used an enormous amount of feedback. When they sent it to their American record company, it was immediately sent back because the company was convinced something was drastically wrong with the recording.

The record was coupled with the pop art clothes they began wearing. At first, Peter covered his speakers with a Union Jack and then had a jacket made from the flag.

In those days, they said, you had to have an affidavit to cut up the flag. Now in England you can buy anything from curtains to dresses with the Union Jack design.