Icon (to some) Lou Reed (during his Puerto Rican wife/weight-lifting phase) being whupped by a member of LS at Muscle Shoals Studios may the hitch. Not a good idea to assert LS's music was sh*t, least of all to a LS member.
What would be the criterea for membership? Rock coincides with cultural destruction beginning in the 1950s and really can't be separated from it. Artists were generally unconscious of their contribution to general stupidity, save in their attempt to mimic what was being promoted as alternative to the L7 world.
The real problem with LS may be the generally positive imagery they promoted. They did something other than claim drugs were spiffy. They burst the bubble of doltish Neil Young. They were professional in their playing and in meeting their obligations. They weren't the brainchild of a Lou Pearlman-like character, instead being entirely self-made in terms of ability and image. They were intelligent and shrewd, making money for themselves and those they did business with.
They didn't hate their moms. They didn't hate their origins. They didn't hate themselves.
What should LS have done? Confess to killing Nancy Spungen, resent the Queen, become queens, get electro-shock therapy per parental order once their queenieness was discovered, give all credit to Black artists, hold sleepovers with boys, mumble, go vegan, cry on Oprah, cry for Barbara, call their grandfathers ignorant, become born-again, get in touch with their Judaic roots, wear flannel shirts, do back flips, breath fire, wear makeup, expose themselves, date (but not marry) Cher, date Michael Ovitz, become British, become Black (or at least have Black bassist and back-up singers), be spooky, praise Che, dance coyly, dance coyly in Pepsi ads, and have ten year old Moby produce the next release.
