THERE was a time in Long history Island's cultural when the whole world looked here for the next big trend in rock 'n' roll. That was between 1974 arid 1980, the heyday of My Father's Place, a caberet in Roslyn.
And Michael Epstein, known Eppy, ran the whole shebang.
Along with My Father's Place, which opened on Memorial Day in 1971 with a concert by Richie Havens, a confluence of entities created
a scene that would influence music for decades to come.
Dance-oriented rock 'n' roll, punk, Wave singer-songwriters and New music had become the rage - and it was essential for musicians to come here to perform. My Father's Place, WLIR-FM and the dance club Malibu in Long Beach were at the center
of popular music.
Today, 13 years after My Father's Place closed, Mr. Epstein still longs for the club.
"Once it's in your blood, you never lose that feeling," he said. But he is not alone. Countless patrons and performers have fond memories of the place. Patti Smith, who recently performed at the Vanderbilt, in Plainview, eagerly awaited a backstage reunion with Mr. Epstein, her former mentor.

Music Promoter longs for the good old days.
Meat Loaf once introduced a Nassau Coliseum concert by saying he wanted to make the show feel like he was back in My Father's Place,
But reopening the club seems close to an impossible dream. Rents are prohibitive, potential hassles
with the town are intimidating and the exclusive policies of booking organizations like SFX (Jones Beach and Westbury Music Fair') are dispiriting.
So Mr. Epstein has found alternative ways to bring music to Long Islanders, one of which is running a
concert series at Swing Set a Bay Shore nightclub.
Mr. Epstein lives for music and is always spinning a promotion in his head.
At home, in his 1830's house a block north of his former club, the 51-year-old entrepreneur is on
the phone He had a falling out with his longtime friends at WLIR, so he is I now negotiating an upcoming Wang Chung concert with WPLJ. He fields a lot of calls; he is a wheeler-dealer.
At meetings filled with people 30 years his junior, he is the one with the cutting-edge ideas.
At the Swing Set, he is back in his element booking concerts.

In 1953, years before It became My t Father's Place, 19 Bryant Street was a bowling alley and country-western club, where patrons two-stepped in the lanes.
When Mr. Epstein opened the 7,000-square-foot club with a capacity of 897, his intention, he said, was to "bring a cultural milieu to an upper-middle-class nouveau-riche ghetto."

 
The club, beloved by locals and visitors alike, featured a 50-foot bar, tiered seating and a 25-by-25 stage. It also boasted some of the nicest dressing rooms in the area.
Over the years, Mr. Epstein, a reggae expert, booked the genre's top acts like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh; up-and-coming comedians like Eddie Murphy,
Andy Kaufman and Billy Crystal; and hard-rock bands Blue Oyster Cult, who Mr. Epstein said signed their major-label deal at the club.
The Police performed and Aerosmith at My Father's Place. U2 made its American debut there. In 1973, an aspiring Bruce Springsteen performed to 30 people. times. He returned four more after becoming famous.
Mr. Epstein presented hard-core nights, which featured bands like Black Flag and Agnostic Front. In conjunction with Hilly Kristal, owner of CBGB, he presented New Wave and punk performers like Patti Smith, B-52's and Talking Heads, for a $5 admission. "Having two competing clubs working together is almost unheard of in the business," Mr. Epstein said. -Father's
The live Tuesday night radio broadcasts by WLIR, which ran from 1971 through 1989, showcased performers like Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt and Blondie.

If an act was too large to come to the his club, Mr. Epstein would bring bands like Ministry to Spyz, in Farmingdale; the Ramones Levittown; or Depeche Mode to Malibu. He wistfully recalled, the synergy that we, 'LIR and Malibu with the cornmunity
Ct was too would not th There There clubs, of here. world large to come to ould bring z, in Farm-to Spit in ode to Mal-"The syn-alibu had munity, and what we each other, well, there's of stuff going on now so much happening numerous bars and bands could break out Bands from all over the do for e at kind was were original had to come make it." With a blowout the jazz-funk ensemble by Tower of Power on May 3, 1987, Place closed its doors not renew the club's insufficient parking.
Now there is only Epstein who makes his to Long Island to performance. The town did license, citing one thing left for Mr. Epstein to do: start over. While he living consulting for clubs, radio stations, record labels, public relations firms and artists he recently promoted Little Steven Van Zandt's new album, his main concern is getting the retro-1980's My Father's Place Music Series, at the Swing Set, off the ground.
The series began last month with Dave Davies of the Kinks, and Mick Taylor is scheduled for Wednesday. Future concerts include Cohn Hay (Men at Work), Graham Parker, 10,000 Maniacs, Flock of Seagulls and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Meanwhile, as he wanders down-town Roslyn, Mr. Epstein is still greeted by an assortment of people whose lives he touched. He likes to take visitors to the wall outside his former club, the exact spot where the bands performed he rubs the mortar facade, as if he can conjure up the past.