Published in RAVE magazine, February 1968

Apple, the Beatles’ London boutique, is the beginning of a whole new Beatle empire. Here Jeremy Pascal! describes the ambitious venture that the Beatles are aiming at young people!

It all started with a footnote referring to Apple on the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” album, and it was the first intimation that the Beatles were branching out into other fields of activity.

The pop world began buzzing with all sorts of rumours about the Beatles’ newest ventures. Officially nobody was saying anything, and for months rumours had to suffice, but bit by bit the pieces of the jigsaw have come together.

In the summer, when RAVE introduced readers to that way-out Dutch couple Simon and Marijke, we hinted that the Beatles would have interests in a boutique to be opened in conjunction with them.

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’ Apple: A Revolution in Music

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 that is 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.

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 too 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 brothers 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 formed.

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!) the 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 of 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.

Film Venture

“Magical Mystery Tour” was the first production of 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 Mardas, who is hatching in a laboratory all sorts of electrical 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 far off when perhaps there will be an Apple Fun Palace, full of beautiful clothes, furniture, records, gadgets, hair salons and other delights.

The Beatles’ Apple: A Revolution in Music

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 and faded away, but are nevertheless very talented, 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.