New York City is home to dozens of iconic music venues, from the Apollo Theater to Radio City Music Hall. But while these glamorous theaters continue to stand the test of time, others live on in memory rather than physical form.
Take CBGB, which closed in 2006. The dark and dingy space nurtured the emerging NY punk scene throughout the 70s, hosting the Ramones and Blondie among others. Now, the punks might be saddened to find, it is home to a high-end Italian art gallery.
But there is one venue, located in Island Park, NY that is even less talked about –The Action House – perhaps Long Island’s premier music venue in the 60’s and 70’s. It was the epitome of cool and a nurturing force for the local music scene, yet it was often overshadowed by New York City’s powerful glow.
But the Action House had its own unique vibe. It had grit, grime and a rebellious streak all its own. Part dance hall, part club (a common configuration of the time), the venue was also capable of pulling in big name acts like the Doors and Canned Heat.
In perhaps one of the Action House’s most infamous shows, the Doors took the stage for a two night performance on June 16 and 17th, 1967. Legend has it that on the first night, Jim Morrison slugged 15 shots of Jack Daniels whiskey back to back before taking the stage. He would attempt it again once more mid-set. While the first night was certainly one for the ages, the second night was perhaps the Door’s shortest and most lackluster performance ever. The hungover Morrison didn’t sing much, instead moaning into the microphone until his bandmates decided to drag him off the stage.
Adding to the intrigue, the Action House was also owned by Phil Basile, a known associate of the Lucchese crime family mob. This wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary for the era, but it did invite a world of chaos and an interesting crowd into the fold of the Action House.
Mike Ricciardella, drummer for The Illusion, described it like this:
“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.”
– Mike Ricciardella
Frequent performers included the Vagrants, featuring guitarist Leslie West who would eventually co-found the band, Mountain. The Hassles featured a young Billy Joel. And then there was the Vanilla Fudge. The band was actually managed by Basile, who in addition to owning the club and his various other escapades also served as an artist and tour manager.
But this relationship led to some “interesting scenarios,” to put it mildly, as reported by the Long Island Press:
“The mob-connected Action House was paying The Vagrants an exorbitant $1,500-a-night fee for a grueling 28-day-a-month schedule. This led the garage rockers to get creative with their performances. They incorporated pyrotechnics into their act, having fireworks explode as one of their songs reached its peak. One night after a performance, however, a leftover explosive wound up torching the stage along with all of the band’s instruments. This somehow did not throw them off schedule; the booking agency had them equipped with new instruments and ready to play the very next day.”
Other notable performers included the Yardbirds in ‘68 and the Grateful Dead alongside The New Riders of the Purple Sage in November of 1970. (You can listen to parts of the set here)
Shortly after the Dead’s performance in 1970, the Action House featured a series of name changes. It was briefly known as the Rock Pile, as documented on this short feature piece by the New York Times back in 1971.
The club declined further in the 80’s as DJs and dance clubs began to grow in popularity
It is unclear when the Action House officially closed its doors. As for the present, according to the blog Mind Smoke Music, The Action House was torn down over a decade ago. Back in 2018, the author of the blog found it had since been rezoned for condo development. The parking lot across the street was at the time a self-storage facility.
Now, the Action House, a relic of a bygone area, lives on only in memory of the lucky and the damned that got to experience it in its heyday. Further tales and legends of the venue can be found in the comment sections on blog sites like Streets You Crossed, where patrons of the Action House fondly recall their own memories of the club.
Based on these accounts, the venue lives up it name – a place where a lot of action went down.
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