WHAT ARE THE BEATLES UP TO NOW?
Apple, the Beatles' London boutique is the beginning of a whole new Beatle empire. Here Jeremy Pascall describes the ambitious venture that the Beatles are aiming at young people!
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| The Beatles' Apple Boutique in London's Baker Street. |
Now, four months later, in a blaze of publicity, a flood of champagne and a crush of some of the trendiest people in town, Apple boutique has burst into London's sombre Baker Street with a dazzle of colour that is attracting more day trippers than the city's Christmas decorations did! The Beatles have influenced our generation more than any other single phenomenon. They've done so much for pop music, fashion, films, television, books and almost every other form of communication and entertainment angled at young people, that it is natural for them, as very rich and shrewd young men, to go into business, marketing for us what they themselves like. And who, has the following, the flair, the opportunity and the contacts to do it better?
Apple is not just a boutique. It is a whole commercial venture, and eventually it will be the largest and most successful in the world aimed at young people. Already, in offices above the boutique, Apple Publishing has been set up under the management of Liverpudlian Terry Doran, an old friend of the Beatles and a business associate of the late Brian Epstein. Terry has signed up Apple's first group, Grapefruit. (The name was John Lennon's idea.). They are a prototype of what Apple is to be.
APPLE BOUTIQUE CLOTHING
Apple Boutique at 94 Baker Street, London, W.1 is a wonderland of the way-out both inside and out! The appearance of the boutique stops passers-by in their tracks, and inside you can rummage through piles of exotic, ornate gear, designed and made mostly by Simon and Marijke, Beatle friends and part owners of the boutique. Here RAVE fashion girl Lee shows you some Apple clothes, photographed in Apple!
Design in shades of pink for a wool dress in a beautiful soft fabric. The puffy sleeves add a medieval touch. It's called "Fatima" and costs 9gns. Rope necklace, £1 17s. 6d. Bell belt wound in hair, 4 gns. Narrow bangle, 1s 6d.
Dress in tiered crêpe called "Sunflower" (there's a huge purple crêpe sun on the bodice). Price £8 18s. 6d. It's worn eastern style over a long skirt, £4 14s. 6d. Headscarves, 15s. 6d. and £1 19s. 6d.
FIRST GROUP
Three Grapefruit members have done stints with that popular but unrecognised group, Tony Rivers and the Castaways. They felt they were going nowhere fast and wanted a new scene. John Perry, one of the three, met Terry in London's Speakeasy Club, chatted about ideas and Terry thought they were right for Apple, so John and brother Pete and Geoff Swettenham left Tony Rivers and joined up with another young signing to Apple, George Alexander, who also happens to be a brilliant song-writer. And so Grapefruit were born. Is it necessary to tip them for fame in '68? Hardly! With the Beatles' backing, their own natural talents and the producing genius of Terry Melcher (forty-five top U.S. hits!) this group are looking very pleased with themselves. Grapefruit are already causing a great deal of interest in the pop world. They claim to be a pure pop group in the classic Small Faces' tradition, and plan to fill the gap between the pleasant banality the Troggs and the almost incomprehensible progression of the Stones. The fact that they are extremely good looking young men should also help them along to success! Grapefruit and Apple Publishing, which will push the song-writing efforts of highly talented but undiscovered musicians, are not all that the Beatles have in mind.
''Magical Mystery Tour'' was the first film production on Apple's film side, and will be followed by others, including some for the cinema. Apple Films is under the control of Neil Aspinall, a young man who has risen from being the Beatles' road manager to his present position as their personal assistant. Also in line is Apple Electronics, to be run by an unknown Greek genius named Madras, who is hatching in a laboratory all sorts of electric wizardry, quite mystifying to ordinary mortals. Look out soon for an Apple recording label, clubs and even, it is rumoured, supermarkets! The day is not off when perhaps there will be an Apple Fun Palace, full of beautiful clothes, gadgets, hair salons and other delights. The Beatles are the patrons of young talent and enthusiasm. People have been good to them and now they are returning it. They remember old friends and want to encourage them. Do you remember the art exhibition they arranged for their painter friend Jon Hague? It's possible that many of the people who came up with the Mersey boom but faded away will benefit. For instance, Lionel Morton, ex-Four Penny, can be seen working out numbers in Apple's complex tape room. Apple is a fertile, blooming concern. It is for the young and of the young, it is going to make a tremendous impression on our lives. The Beatles have the Midas touch and they know how to use it. They are not racketeers out to cash in on their names. Everything they do is of the highest quality. The Beatles make a point of never associating themselves with anything second-rate. And when Apple branches out, we will eat of the fruit, and the fruit that it yields will be good.
![]( "The Sweet Jane blog: Apple, the Beatles' London boutique is the beginning of a whole new Beatle empire! Rave Magazine (1968)")
All images scanned by Sweet Jane from an original feature by Jeremy Pascall for Rave Magazine, February 1968. All fashion photographs by PL James, model Lee, all other Beatles photographs were uncredited. View some of my previous posts about The Beatles, Apple Boutique, and The Fool Design Collective: How much is a Beatle worth? (1966), The Fool and Apple Boutique (1968) and The Fool Design Collective (1967). The Official website of the artist Marijke Koger-Dunham. The Summer of Love with Marijke of The Fool - a documentary (2017). Grapefruit - Around Grapefruit full LP (1968). Review: 'Strange Fruit' A Solid, Fascinating Look At The Groundbreaking Failure Of The Beatles' Apple Records and Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records (Documentary excerpt). Inside Apple Corps with the staff who worked there: The story of the band's business venture Apple Corps in Ben Lewis’s entertaining and revealing new film and The Beatles, Hippies and Hells Angels: Inside the Crazy World of Apple - Documentary Trailer (2017). John Lennon and George Harrison at the wedding of Magic Alex Mardas (1968). Magic Alex sings Walls Of Jericho (Magical Mystery Tour outtake). Magic Alex: Apple workshop and inventions. And finally, The Beatles, Apple and Me by Lionel Morton.
''Magical Mystery Tour'' was the first film production on Apple's film side, and will be followed by others, including some for the cinema. Apple Films is under the control of Neil Aspinall, a young man who has risen from being the Beatles' road manager to his present position as their personal assistant. Also in line is Apple Electronics, to be run by an unknown Greek genius named Madras, who is hatching in a laboratory all sorts of electric wizardry, quite mystifying to ordinary mortals. Look out soon for an Apple recording label, clubs and even, it is rumoured, supermarkets! The day is not off when perhaps there will be an Apple Fun Palace, full of beautiful clothes, gadgets, hair salons and other delights. The Beatles are the patrons of young talent and enthusiasm. People have been good to them and now they are returning it. They remember old friends and want to encourage them. Do you remember the art exhibition they arranged for their painter friend Jon Hague? It's possible that many of the people who came up with the Mersey boom but faded away will benefit. For instance, Lionel Morton, ex-Four Penny, can be seen working out numbers in Apple's complex tape room. Apple is a fertile, blooming concern. It is for the young and of the young, it is going to make a tremendous impression on our lives. The Beatles have the Midas touch and they know how to use it. They are not racketeers out to cash in on their names. Everything they do is of the highest quality. The Beatles make a point of never associating themselves with anything second-rate. And when Apple branches out, we will eat of the fruit, and the fruit that it yields will be good.
