As ye will know, they started a shop, and the times being the times, commissioned an accompanying psychedelic design for the exterior. No planning permission was sought, however, and thus the mural appeared and disappeared in short order; several local businesses and associations complained to Westminster Council, who in turn sent round a couple o' guys with the white paint, and billed Apple for the results.
One such mud-slinger was A.J.D. Stonebridge, general secretary to the St Marylebone Society. This letter, dated 12th January 1968, complains in fairly amusing fashion about the "startling" shenanigans:
And the reply:
Interesting to note a certain reluctance (perhaps) on the part of the council to spring into action. An earlier pre-mural letter also exists, dated 26th September 1967, in response to one Alderman Cobbold, in which the council refers to the rumoured painting and states that there isn't a great deal they could do about it unless a Building Preservation Order was slapped on the premises:
Was this done, one wonders? If not, it's possible that the Council in fact had no legal right to demand the repainting of the building.
(Maybe we shouldn't be too hard on the massed Stonebridges and Cobbolds, though. Other documents reveal that the building was due for demolition in the early 1960s, but had been given a stay of execution before finally going the way of all things in 1974. Given the (comparatively) low stock of the Fabs in the early 70s, it's unlikely that anyone would have raised much of a fuss regarding the demolition even if the mural had somehow been allowed to stand.)
