The Clash single nobody liked

"They cried the tears, they shed the fears, up and down the land..."
The critical reaction to the Jan. 16, 1981 release "HITSVILLE U.K." by THE CLASH was downright hostile, and the single struggled to No. 56 on the British charts.
SOUNDS music newspaper wrote:
"Horrendous, horrendous, horrendous. This is like watching your best friend die in a singularly acid-headed nightmare."
The NME music newspaper considered "Hitsville U.K." to be the band's nadir.
Why was there such a reaction to this song?
I am listening to "Hitsville U.K." now, and I cannot understand the vitriol devoted to this song.
Sure, it doesn't sound like "White Riot" or the early punk singles. For one thing, ELLEN FOLEY provides the vocals with Clash guitarist MICK JONES, so from the beginning the song is unlike any other of the band's songs.
"I know the boy was all alone, til the hitsville hit U.K.," Foley and Jones sing.
By now, we know the Clash made an endearing habit of expanding their sound throughout their development, adding reggae, country, classic rock, jazz and R&B to their initial punk template.
Based on that development, the uptempo, organ-driven, neo-girl group sound of "Hitsville U.K." doesn't sound as shocking as it must have upon its 1981 release.
More from SOUNDS:
"If Alfred Hitchcock had written pop tunes instead of making films and somebody had ordered him to write a song that sounded like the Clash in the most extreme stages of character disorientation or personality crisis, it would sound like "Hitsville U.K."
Eh? I happen to like this song!
"It blows a hole in the radio, when it hasn't sounded good all week.
A mike'n boom, in your living room - in hitsville U.K."