What's Wrong With Being Happy?

It seems, these days, that you're not a proper, credible musician, unless you're miserable as sin! You can't help but notice the amount of television and radio airtime that has been devoted to the eternally grumpy Coldplay in the last 2 weeks. So why is it that artists are only taken seriously if they're full of angst?
Bands such as Alphabeat and Scouting for Girls, to name but 2, seem to be laughed at and frowned upon, not only by the so called 'critics', but also by the music buying public for the simple reason (or so it seems to me) that they are in a good mood.
It seems as though people are not willing to take you seriously if you sing with a smile on your face, maybe as they think you're not taking it seriously yourself. I'm sure that nothing could be further from the truth and, these guys take it very seriously indeed. Well, as seriously as you can take it when you are generally living the high life as an internationally renound musician (I bet Chris Martin and his mardy mates even have a bit of a giggle on the tourbus now and again).
So let's show a bit more respect to the more chearful music makers. Surely in these times of financial instability and global terror threats, what we really need is a happy tune to whistle!