May 15-18, 1968
The Apple shop mural is being removed
Last updated on October 12, 2024
May 15-18, 1968
Last updated on October 12, 2024
Location: 94 Baker Street, London, UK
Previous article May 14, 1968 • The Beatles promote Apple Corps in New York
Interview May 14, 1968 • The Beatles interview for NBC
Interview May 14, 1968 • The Beatles interview for WNDT
Article May 15-18, 1968 • The Apple shop mural is being removed
Article May 15, 1968 • Paul and John fly from New York to London
The Beatles hire Alexis “Magic Alex” Mardas
Aug 24, 1967
Apple Corps open offices in London
Jan 22, 1968
Designing the Apple Records logo
February - July 1968
Mar 29, 1968
Paul McCartney meets American scriptwriter Francie Schwartz
April or May 1968
Apple publishes an ad to find new talent
Apr 19, 1968
Paul and John meet Ron Kass in New York
May 12, 1968
The Beatles promote Apple Corps in New York
May 14, 1968
Paul and John fly from New York to London
May 15, 1968
May 23, 1968
Paul McCartney celebrates his 26th birthday
Jun 18, 1968
On December 7, 1967, The Beatles launched their first business venture by opening of the Apple shop, also known as “the Apple Boutique”. The exterior of the shop was adorned with a vibrant, psychedelic mural by The Fool design collective.
However, Westminster City Council had not given permission for the mural, which might have been seen as an advertisement, and no licence had been obtained from the landlord, the Portman Estate. Local traders’ complaints led to the Council serving Apple with an enforcement notice to cover the mural. Furthermore, the Portman Estate insisted on adherence to the lease terms.
From May 15 to May 18, 1968, the facades were painted white, with “Apple” inscribed in cursive on each front. This change from the original mural’s exuberant psychedelia to the minimalism of the “approved” design foreshadowed the stark difference in album cover art between “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“, released in June 1967, and “The Beatles,” which would come out in November 1968.
The Apple shop struggled to find success and ultimately closed its doors just under a year after opening in July 1968.
Monday morning the spectacular mural caused a traffic jam and the respectable burgers of Baker Street mumbled “what is the world coming to”…. Everyone now knows that Apple never obtained a permit and the city counsel of Westminster ordered the mural painted over after seven months.
Marijke Koger – Member of The Fool collective – From 10. MEET THE BEATLES – (marijkekogerart.com)
FALL OF THE BEATLES’ GODDESS
THE giant love goddess is moving out… and taking her moons and stars with her. She is part of a 40ft.- high psychedelic mural which the Beatles have been ordered to remove from the outside wall of their Apple boutique in Baker-street, London. Owners of neighbouring businesses have complained about the mural ever since it was painted last November.
Now the “eviction” order for the goddess has come from the Portman Estates, which sold the building with a condition that “nothing detrimental to a high-class shopping area” would be done.
The Beatles agreed yesterday to have the goddess removed by May 27. In her place will be … white paint.
From Daily Mirror – May 9, 1968
A new Apple for the Beatles
APPLE, that Beatle-backed venture in London’s Baker-street, is to undergo some drastic changes. Masterminding the plot to make the shop altogether more commercially inclined is 32-year-old John Lyndon, ex-Nems Enterprises director of productions for the Beatles.
For a start the new managing director has called in design consultant Ken Partridge to tone down some of the more hilarious colour schemes that made the place more like a LSD-inspired trip than a shop. Showing me some newly-painted white walls Mr. Lyndon outlined his plans for the future, which include a pale blue carpet, a few sober-sided fitting rooms, a counter to sell over and some stock from a few of London’s better-known fashion designers.
He plans to extend Apple into a chain of shops in double quick time and has been looking at several premises out of town.
I must say it all sounds a bit more businesslike than that earlier occasion when at 10.15 a.m. Jenny Boyd, George Harrison’s lovely sister-in-law, who was vacuuming the purple felt floor in her maxi colottes, told me she wasn’t sure what time they’d actually be open for business.
From Daily Mirror – March 27, 1968
The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years
"With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group."
We owe a lot to Barry Miles for the creation of those pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - a day to day chronology of what happened to the four Beatles during the Beatles years!
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