Look at Neil Diamond. Was he the cool guy? No he was the housewives' guy. He didn't try to be what he wasn't. He just did what he did - made great music was a good entertainer nice-enough guy.
Even as a kid if I would come across something cool in the record store that would be how I found out about bands. It's kind of the same way these days. In a way even less because there are no record stores to go to anymore.
