I think they were a bit if a victim of the press assuming that since they were popular with the teen fans of the day they must have been fake pop stars like the rest. Maybe not God's gift to music but better than they were given credit for at the time, especially at the start when they were putting back some good pop music.

yep, and it didn't help that they're all incredibly good looking and fashionable.

like KISS, they would have been better if they didn't suck shit