Magic In The Air

Apple

Apple came to Larry Page’s attention via their first single issued on Smash records, Thank U Very Much/Your Heart Is Free Just Like The Wind in early 1968. Thank U Very Much was, naturally, a cover of the Scaffold hit released for the American market.The result was an album on Page’s record label, Page One Records. Released in February 1969 and recorded in late 1968, their sole LP, An Apple A Day, is a fine mixture of psych pop and psychedelic, heavy r&b under the direction of staff producer Caleb Quaye. Quaye toughened the groups pop sound which resulted in two fine singles which preceded the LP’s release: the mainstream Let’s Take A Trip Down The Rhine (Oct 1968) and Doctor Rock (Dec 1968). The B Side to latter was The Otherside which has the honor of being hailed as a psychedelic classic as Record Collector put it: “Built around Robbo Ingram’s memorably jagged guitar riff, The Otherside wholeheartedly embraces the void, with Dennis Regan’s mildly distorted vocal wrapped around some chillingly vivid lyrical imagery (”If you see me and I’m coming from the otherside, don’t be sad cos I’ll be going with the rising tide”). Unfortunately, with little to no promotion for the record or the band, despite a colour brochure extolling the virtues of apples as supplied by the British Apple & Pear Development Council, the record didn’t sell and Page One records soon were no more. Since only a limited number of copies were pressed, the original record has reportedly sold for up to a four-figure sum. In result, it is listed as one of Record Collector’s Top 20 most collectable albums of all time. However, thanks to a 1994 reissue on CD by Repertoire Records, An Apple A Day has finally been able to reach a larger audience than when it was first released.

Dave Brassington