Yeah slaw, in interviews, the guys in The New York Dolls, MC5, Stooges, etc., said they didn’t share the Peace, Love, & Understanding sentiments of the West Coast bands. After living in New York for a year, I came to understand why. Life in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland is very different from New York, Chicago, and Detroit. Not so brutal. They also said they didn’t understand the whole "back to nature" ambitions of hippies. I can’t picture the above bands camping ;-) . Notice also that none of them had beards, or wore bell bottom jeans.
The West Coast bands also viewed "traditional" talents---singing, musicianship---as more important than did The Dolls, MC5, Stooges, Ramones, etc. A person may like Lou Reed, but it won’t be for his abilities at carrying a tune or playing guitar. Style and attitude are more of a concern to the aforementioned bands, and the bands they influenced. Of course, that statement is an over-simplified explanation of a more complex matter.
