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Disco Music > Discotheques and Clubs Index > Sandpiper, The
Sandpiper, The
Fire Island (Long Island), New York
A popular restaurant, which would turn into a Disco at midnight on through till 4am. It was a wooden structure on the water with a capacity of 500-600 people. It was one of the earliest clubs to have a Graebar Sound System.
Owner: Arden Catlin, Gene Smith and Malcolm
DJs:
Robbie Leslie
Ray Yeates
Tom Savarese
Larry Saunders
Read more about The Sandpiper and the early Disco days with the following people:
Barry Lederer of Graebar Sound and writer of the Disco Mix column for Billboard
Robbie Leslie DJ at The Sandpiper and The Saint
The photos below were submitted by the Sandpiper's former DJ, Robbie Leslie.
Please feel free to link to this page by using this URL:
http://www.discomusic.com/clubs-more/885_0_6_0_C/
COMMENTS ON THIS DISCO / DISCOTHEQUE / NIGHTCLUB
In the late '70s and the '80s, if you stayed on Fire Island in the summer, the Sandpiper was the place to be on Fridays. Saturdays, all the glitzy Pines residents would hop on a water taxi to the Ice Palace in Cherry Grove. The Sandpiper was owned by Steven Goodfriend, who made his money selling jeans on 8th street in NYC! The really high-class Pines folks who wouldn't THINK of the idea of "slumming it" in Cherry Grove would party all night at the 'Piper and then have their OWN house parties Saturday night. I remember seeing John Delorean and his wife; Moor Dubin, the antiques dealer, and his date; and a few of Delorean's investors and their wives (all quite squeamish about the whole scene). They'd come in via yacht and docked at the Pines. After about a half-hour of the mayhem (this was only midnight) they decided they'd just take a walk on the beach. Later I was told that what they saw in the club was quite mild compared to what was going on on the beach, and they all left Moor at the club and retreated to the yacht, which left promtly the next morning. Next to the Sandpiper was the coolest little grocery store called the "Pines Pantry" where you could buy anything from a six-pack of Budweiser to imported french Cornichons to go with the Foie Gras you brought with you from the City. The Pines was really something in those days!
I DISAGREE ABOUT THE OWNERSHIP OF THE SANDPIPER. IT WAS OWNED BY GENE SMITH AND HIS LOVER RON. AS SOMEONE WHO PLAYED THERE, I AM SURE THIS INFO IS CORRECT
THANKS
BARRY
JudyDoggie here... I stand corrected. Did the Sandpiper become the Pines Pavilion ca 1979-1980? Or were they two separate places? I was discussing the Pines Pavilion in my discourse above. Steve Goodfriend DID own the Pines Pavilion in 1980-1983.
Hi, My Name is Billy Smith here in Manhattan, I had a house in the Pines from 1974 - 1981, Gene Smith owned the the Sandpiper and sold the land in late 1979 to a group of guys (8 or10 of them) that are now all passed on, Steve Goodfriend (was a very good friend) took over the Pines Pavilion (that is no coming down) as CEO in the summer of 1980 (he was one of the group of guys)and ran it to the end of summer of 1983 and sold it because all his partners had passed on, Steve passed on in 1989.
Mr. Goodfriend, indeed, was a good friend, if he knew who you were. The first time our paths crossed, I tried to introduce myself, I put out my hand and gave him my name and he said "oh, very nice" in a rather rude manner and turned and walked away. When I returned in the company of Jim Merry (Ice Palace F.I., New York, Cowboys & Cowgirls, later The Red Parrot) the next weekend, Goodfriend would've shined my shoes had I asked. Jim Merry had a lot more class than that.
I also remember a nice little restaurant that operated during the day, correct me if I'm wrong, either around the Pavilion, on a deck, or on the roof, or something like that. Maybe it was next door, but you could see the lovely homes, and the boats and everything. (sorry Bernie) Billy, do you remember Lou Prince's house, and his lover Vinnie? It was right up the walk from the Pavilion. They took over the Cowboys from Jimmy and made it the East Five Three. Email me at paul@asianfusion.net Let's catch up.
Help me with this, but I recall a holiday Saturday night at the Pines Pavilion shortly after it opened when Roberta Flack appeared. There was a power outage that night and so the concert was postponed for an hour or so. Since most celebrants had timed their holiday meds for an earlier concert, several were under the weather by the time the concert actually began.
Roberta, full of grace as always, dealt with an audience a little over the top that night. She had a male singer join her on stage that night, but I can't recall who due to my Halfheimers disease.
I remember Tom Cruise from Cowboy/Cowgirl on East 53 Street, I remember so well around the pool tabel. I was with Steve Goodfriend and Billy Toosie!
Billy Smith (NYC)
To make a long story short, in 1971 I was dancing in the Sandpiper to Tom Moulton's tapes which were my inspiration for becoming a disc-jockey (1st gig: The Alibi in '71 owned by Gwen Saunders on New York's East Side.). In '76 after an audition and invite from Gene Smith & Ron Malcomb, I was back @ the Sandpiper, this time as a seasoned dj, and proceeded to play every Friday & Sunday from Memorial Day through Labor Day with Tom Savarese spinning on Saturdays. Summer of '77 I was back behind the turntables on Fridays and Saturdays with Tom on Sundays. I wasn't aware, though, that Don Finley played the Sandpiper as suggested in Tim Lawrence's "Love Saves The Day," nor Ray Yeates as mentioned above? Who, then, played White's Boatel before Wayne Scott and Kevin Burke arrived on the scene?
Lary Sanders
Re post by Lary Sanders: I spoke with my ex-lover who had a house in the Pines from '69-'79. He said in 1970 he recalled the Sandpiper playing tapes and Don Finley spinning 45's.
Also, the Blue Whale (the Botel) was the in-spot in '68 & '69 to go dancing, not the Sandpiper. It wasn't until 1970 that the Sandpiper began to shift its focus from being a strict supper-club to an up-scale restaurant/discotheque. As a result, in 1970 the Pines had 2 discos competing against each other with the Blue Whale sinking in night-time popularity but still packing them in (to the rafters!) for afternoon tea-dances while playing tapes.
I worked at the Sandpiper from 1975 until its closing on Halloween 1979 - in fact, I was the DJ for the closing party, called "LAST DANCE". Though I began as a waiter, I began spinning late in 1977. I remained a weeknight DJ until the closing and then moved to NYC and 12 West, The saint, Underground, Palladium, etc.
A few minor points: The Sandpiper was owned by Arden Catlin and leased for 15 years by co-owners Smith & Malcolm. The lease expired after the 1979 season. Initially it was a very successful restaurant, but morphed into a restaurant/disco in the early seventies. Dinner business dropped off drastically in later years, as Fire Islanders
began to eat by and large at home. The Lemon Tree, a Cherry Grove restaurant, leased the restaurant concession in later years. Additional DJs of note in the sandpiper's heyday were Richie Rivera, Howard Merritt, and Alan Dodd.
www.robbieleslie.com
robbie@robbieleslie.com
Please let's not forget DJ Richie Rivera. I can remember him finishing an end of season party at a 3AM closing time with Connie Francis' "Where the Boys Are".
All the neighbors around the Sandpiper, particularly the Co-op people, were constantly complaining about the noise and taking steps to stop the music. The club wasn't designed to contain sound. You could hear the beat for blocks away.
One summer, '76 or '77, several hundred of us formed a counter protest, marching around the co-ops singing Tavares' "Don't Take Away the Music". What drama!
When the Pavillion was built, great care was taken to eliminate this problem. For many of us the solution also destroyed the feeling of being at a beach club. Those tacky crystal chandeliers didn't help either.
The Pavillion was completed the same year as a big new ferry went into service. One of my housemates observed that the Pavillion was actually the box the new ferry came in.
I could be wrong, but I believe Sam Haddad, Steve Chambers and a couple of other friends who were also involved in a NYC restaurant called WPA were among the group that facilitated the transformation of the Sandpiper into the Pavillion.
I to must agree with the above writer as too the creativeness of Richie Rivera. As a Sandpiper DJ, I had the opportunity to select my successor.
I obvioulsy chose Richard.He was a great inspiration to me and I use to go to him for records to play in the wee hours of the morning.
He was one of the best.
For those not aware of this, The Pavillion was taken down. I have no idea what will go up-another club or something else.
Either way it was always a great experience.
There was also a Documentary on the Logo channel call When The Ocean Meets the Sky-all about the Pines from the 1940's to the present. It is still aired and will be out on dvd.
THEY DID A GOOD JOB
BARRY
Hi everyone,
Just to late you know that I was the DJ at the Botel during that era.
I played mostly tapes there in 1972-1974 and an occasional live set.
However I played the teadance which was always jammed packed as most of you know.
The Botel never really had a great evening crowd even in the beginning.
It was mostly the Sandpiper that had the business.
I did the music there in 1975.
Barry
I went back to the Pines this summer after I left the island for the last time in Sept.1980, I was a guest at a friends house, what a long walk i took with my dog "Jake" that weekend. I went to eveyhouse that I party at....
Billy Smith
1/19/08
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