Where the Action Was

Venturing outside city limits for this one. I'm a Queens girl after all, firmly entrenched between the ultimate urbia and the ultimate suburbia, and equally influenced by both extremes. I began researching this entry in several fits and starts last year, but frequent life's-aggravation interruptions kept me from finishing it until now.

ACTION HOUSE—50 Austin Boulevard, Island Park, New York. Few suburban rock clubs were ever so accurately named. As Lenny Kaye wrote in his essay "New York in the Sixties": "[T]he real home of the Long Island sound, as it came to be known, was a large club outside the city in Island Park called the Action House, where groups like the Vagrants (featuring guitarist Leslie West), the Rich Kids, the Hassles (with a young Billy Joel behind the Hammond) and the Vanilla Fudge indulged in all manner of baroque showmanship, complete with drummers twirling sticks, heavily-vibratoed voices, ornamental starts and melodramatic stops." In operation from the mid-'60s through the early-'70s, the club also hosted many of the era's biggest international touring acts.

It was owned by Phil Basile, described in this New York magazine article as “the all-time classic Island club owner. A reputed Luchese crime-family member, Basile operated several famous L.I. clubs—the Action House, Speaks, Channel 80, Industry—three of which were the same club (on Austin Boulevard) with different names.” He also dealt in artist and tour management. The Action House itself changed names, ca. mid-1970, to the Rock Pile. But unfortunately, I haven’t located many concrete details on the history, appearance, or atmosphere of either incarnation of the joint. This quote, from an otherwise terrific article on L.I. rock and roll entitled “Beaches, Bars and B-3s,” is about as colorful a description as I’ve been able to find:

Throughout the '60s, the party would hang a left up Long Beach Boulevard to The Action House, so aptly dubbed. Mike Ricciardella, drummer for The Illusion, described it, "The Action House was a wild place back then. The bouncers were nuts and very wild! The drug scene was wild! The chick scene was wild! The parking lot scene was the wildest, though. Really nuts. The parking lot was the place where the crowd hung out and got high. Inside was rock'n'roll, outside was Fantasyland."

While wild is certainly among the most evocative of ‘60s descriptors, I need more to go on than that! If you've got any good memories to share, I implore you to leave a comment. Meanwhile, it's a good thing the list of legends associated with the Action House is long and stellar enough to speak for itself.



First, some locals. I wish all ‘60s-band websites were as comprehensive and memorabilia-rich as thevagrants.net. Feast your “Oh Those Eyes” on the gallery pages in particular, which feature an incredible array of band photos and gig ads/posters/flyers. The two Action House ads at the site also list gigs for Wilson Pickett, the Outsiders, the 5 Illusions (precursors to the aforementioned Illusion), the Young Rascals, and Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels.

Be sure to check out the captions for the Vagrants' live photos, which reveal a treasure trove of obscure NYC and Long Island club names, including the Big Toe Au Go Go in the Bronx, Tempo Dance City and the Golden Note in Brooklyn, the El Patio Beach Club in Lido Beach, the Bustard Buzzard in Baldwin, the Mod in Mt. Sinai, and Danny Maser’s My House in Plainview (described as the “Home of ‘the Hassles’ featuring Billy Joel”). About the only names I recognized were Queensboro Community College, the Scene, Scott Muni’s Rolling Stone (304 E. 48th St. at Second Avenue), and Brooklyn’s Action City. Further info on any of these joints would be greatly appreciated! More Vagrants vittles are yours for the clicking.

Fortunately for all Action House aficionadoes, vanillafudge.com rivals thevagrants.net in scope. The Fudge were heavily influenced by the Vagrants, and are perhaps even more closely associated with the club than their forebears, as Phil Basile acted as their manager. Essential links include the Fudge Chronicles, a Mark Stein interview, a Vince Martell interview and bio, these George "Shadow" Morton interviews, and the Bandlog of Fudge gigs (including support dates for the Fifth Dimension, Moby Grape and Canned Heat at the AH). I'll poach only one quote pertaining to the AH, from the Mark Stein interview:

The Action House was like...the melting pot of Long Island. Everybody went there from all over the island, you know? Everybody hung out there, everybody rehearsed there, everybody met people there. Like I said, it was like the melting pot. T'he place was always packed. Every weekend there used to be one of the top bands playing there. From time to time there would be a record act there. It was a hell of a place they had going.

The Fudge played their original farewell gig at the AH on March 14, 1970. Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice soon formed Cactus, which in turn had their earliest gigs at the AH; at one of these, the other Fudgemeisters joined them onstage for an impromptu reunion jam.

Other local Action House/Rockpile regulars include the aforementioned Hassles and Rich Kids, the Bohemian Vendetta, Ohio transplants the Angry, the Hives, the Variations/Streetcorner Society, and Trux.

Now for a partial list of non-Islanders.

Actually, these guys were pretty local, and Lou Reed did grow up in Freeport. The Velvet Underground played at a party sponsored by Night Beat magazine called "Freak Out '66" on December 4 of that year. About the only other names I can make out on the flyer are those of M.C.'s Clay Cole and Scott Muni.

UPDATE 1/25/2013:  I recently obtained a larger version of a "Freak Out '66" flyer from a long-time Bomp buddy of mine named Michael L.

The Doors, June 16 and 17, 1967. As indicated in the ad above, these dates were in the middle of the band's residency at the Scene. According to a Doors fansite, "The Scene closes for three days during The Monterey Pop Festival and The Doors, who do not represent the peace and love image of the venue, are overlooked and not invited. Before the first show here Jim reportedly instructs the bartender to line up fifteen shots of Jack Daniel's, and then drinks them all, one after the other, just prior to taking the stage. As the show progresses Jim then asks the bartender to line up fifteen more and also drinks them. Jim is soon extremely drunk and obviously begins to show the signs but before he passes out he attempts to disrobe onstage! The band intervenes and the show, near conclusion, is ended abruptly. The next night, Sat. the 17th, is The Doors' shortest performance ever! At the start of the show an extremely hung over Jim Morrison places the microphone in his mouth and begins to make awful groaning sounds for a long period of time until the other members help him, once again, off stage. The Action House is primarily a dance club and the club's sound system soon takes over without much ado."

Moby Grape, September 11 and 22, 1967 (opening for Cream on the 22nd), and October 18, 1968

Country Joe and the Fish, an unspecified date in September, 1967 with the Vanilla Fudge and the Doughnuts.

Cream, September 22 and 24, 1967.

Procol Harum, an unspecified date in the Fall of '67.

The Yardbirds, April 12-14, 1968.  UPDATE 1/25/2013:  Here's an amusing quote from Chris Dreja, which I recently saw in Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page:  "The people who ran the promotions, especially in America, were mainly mafia.  I remember playing Vanilla Fudge's club in Long Island and being introduced to truly menacing people who were eight feet tall, with chewed up ears and smashed-in faces, and had names like Vinnie."

The Mandala from Toronto, April 17, 1968. (Also June 10, 1967, according to the above ad showing the Doors' dates--though their name is misspelled as "The Mandella." I see the Blues Project is also listed on the ad for June 9 that same week.)

Rhinoceros, June 27, August 8-9, and October 1, 1968.

I was unable to confirm a date for this, but the aforementioned Mike Ricciardella of the Illusion remembers the night they opened for Sly and the Family Stone at the AH as the best gig they ever did.

The Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, an undetermined date in January 1970.


The Faces, April 24-25 and October 24, 1970

Lifetime, May 8-9 and August 28, 1970.

Alice Cooper, September 9, 1970.

The Grateful Dead, with New Riders of the Purple Sage, November 9 and 10, 1970

Badfinger, May 7 and 8, 1971.

Mott the Hoople, May 28 (supporting Mandrill) and May 29 (supporting Hog Heaven), 1971.

Gary Lucas recalls seeing T.Rex and Humble Pie at the Rock Pile during the summer of '73.

As always, there are countless bands I'm leaving out, but hey, I can only spend so much time ferreting out these factoids. I'm not sure when the Rock Pile closed, but apparently the building was later used for another Basile-owned club called Speaks, where the early Twisted Sister often played. Not sure what's on the site now.

UPDATE 6/25/2010: Here are some 1969 Voice ads for the Action House.

UPDATE 3/15/2012:  Here is a revised and updated post on 1969 Action House ads.

UPDATE 1/25/2013:  Somehow I forgot to put links here for the posts I did on ads from 1970 and 1971.  Sadly, I couldn't find as many for 1967.

6/8/67 issue.

6/29/67 issue.

9/21/67 issue.

Here are a couple of pictures of the building during its Action House and Speaks periods, which were posted a few months ago on the "Long Island and New York City Places That Are No More" FB page.

And here's an ad for Pablo's Lights that I found in the 3/2/68 issue of Billboard.

Well I'm Harvey the Hunter, that's my name...

We turn now to my alma mater. My brother, who among many other things is the king of the misheard lyric, used to enjoy singing the above botched line from Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times" to me in reference to my status as a Hunter College student. It may not be thee most prestigious school on Earth, but I'm proud to be a Hunter alumnus--prouder still that I went there on a full scholarship, which included a free dorm at its Brookdale campus at 1st Ave. & 25th Street. Imagine, four years in Manhattan, gloriously rent-free!!! Unfortunately I was often so bogged down with responsibilities (studying, copy-editing the school paper, and a part-time job) that finding time to properly enjoy an extended adolescence in the city could be a challenge. Not that I was chained to my desk at all hours--I managed to get out & have fun regularly. But the majority of my all-nighters involved working on essays, not drinking myself blotto or checking out new bands downtown. Which kinda sucked when I was in such close proximity to the Center of the Universe. Many potential nights of fun were sacrificed to the Demi-gods of Good Grades. I graduated in four years' time, but I might have been a happier soul had I slacked off a bit and gone of the typical CUNY 5- or 6-year plan. Jeez, one pal of mine seemed to be on the 10-years-plus plan! But as is my wont, I digress...

HUNTER COLLEGE AUDITORIUM, North Building, 1st Floor, 69th Street b/w Lexington and Park Avenues. (Hunter's official address is 695 Park Avenue, but most main entrances are near the subway stop at 68th & Lex.) I believe the North Building was erected in the late '30s (at any rate, its elevators actually had operators!), and IIRC the Auditorium had an elegant art-deco feel to it. Granted, my memory may be fuzzy. The hall seemed severely underutilized during my time at Hunter. I can recall stepping foot in there only twice--for a speech/Q&A session by then-Mayor David Dinkins, and for my graduation, during which soprano Jessye Norman was given an honorary doctorate. But there was a period when the place saw a fair share of action. In the late '60s and early '70s, a number of Fillmore East-caliber bands put on shows at the Auditorium, including:

The Youngbloods, with Phil Ochs, Feb. 25, 1967. Ochs played there again on October 23, 1971.

The Jefferson Airplane--an uncomfirmed date in October, 1967.

The Doors, with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, November 24, 1967 (and possibly another date in 1968, if these photos are correctly dated.) A poster for this gig can be viewed here; evidently the show was sponsored by the Alpha Epsilon Pi frat! [Which surprises me, 'cause I'd always heard Hunter was a women-only institution prior to 1968.] [UPDATE 10/19/2007: Just found a site with some images from this gig!]

Jimi Hendrix, March 2, 1968. Supposedly the Troggs opened--there must have been quite a jam during "Wild Thing."

Vanilla Fudge with Every Mother's Son, March 16, 1968--quite a study in contrasts.

Cream, March 19, 1968. Read personal recollections from a fan here.

Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Co., November 15, 1968.

Pink Floyd, May 11, 1971.

Country Joe, October 25,1971.

[I know I recently read somewhere that the Byrds also performed there, but I didn't copy the link and now I can't locate the blasted reference.]

Somewhere along the line the powers that be must have nixed the idea of further rock concerts at the Auditorium. Marianne Faithfull played the College in 2000, but that was at the campus' smaller Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse. Shows by Hunter-centric bands and/or other local acts probably take place at parties elsewhere on campus (I can remember the Toasters playing at Brookdale's cafeteria ca. 1990), but it seems like the Auditorium is given over exclusively to lectures, classical concerts, and other dignified events of that ilk.


UPDATE 6/10/2010: I posted several Hunter College '67 concert ads here.


UPDATE 11/18/2011: Please see the revised and updated post on 1967 ads for Hunter and other colleges here.