“Boy, did they bomb in L.A.,” said one musicbiz veteran about the New York Dolls. “I mean the lines were all the way around the block and everything, everyone was really for them and they bombed. Everyone I talked to felt the same way...”

Did you talk to any kids?

“Kids?,” he responded with a Strange, blank stare.

Wednesday. David Johansen is walking out of the Continental Hyatt House with an attitude. The tourists in the ban-ion aquamarine travel dresses waiting for a taxi outside the hotel may think he’s Alice Cooper, but David knows exactly who he is. “I’m the good humor man for these kids,” he grins as he looks around at the entourage of groupies, hangers-on, underground press representatives, and assorted whoevers. The New York Dolls have come to L.A. with an incredible reputation for rock and roll outrage, and the L.A. sleeze scene is out to meet them in full force.