I don’t normally pay attention to national days as most of them feel more like a marketing gimmick rather than any real celebration. But coming up to The Beatles Day, I found myself thinking about the connection between Apple and the iconic group that brought us “Yesterday”, “Get Back”, and “Here Comes the Sun”.
The Beatles and Apple have had a bit of a storied past. The iconic sound your best Mac makes as it boots up was inspired by the glorious C chord played in “A Day in the Life”, and Steve Jobs once compared his business model to The Beatles’ dynamic. These are all interesting homages, but the connection between Apple and The Beatles goes much deeper than this, and it led to one of the greatest blunders in British TV history.
Apple Corp
Founded in 1968, Apple Corps is a company owned by The Beatles that primarily managed Apple Records, the bands’ record label. Apple Corps and Apple spent almost thirty years between 1978 and 2007 locked in legal battles, primarily regarding the trademark of the Apple name.
The first of those legal disputes, launched in 1978, led to Apple paying $80,000 to Apple Corps for copyright infringement. As a result, Apple Inc. agreed not to enter the music business and Apple Corps agreed to not create computers.
In 2003, Apple Corps came after Apple once more following the launch of iTunes, its music storefront. This decision led to The Beatles not joining iTunes for a long time, their music only gracing the service in 2010.
A story of two Guys
On May 8, 2006, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was due to interview a tech journalist called Guy Kewney — getting his analysis on Apple’s lawsuit and how the music and computer industry has evolved since its inception. However, an interview at the BBC can mean two things, as Guy Goma found out live on air. He also turned up to the BBC on the exact same day expecting a job interview for a tech role, only to find himself being grilled by Karen Bowerman on the specifics of the lawsuit on live TV. You can watch the full clip below.
That's right. The BBC accidentally put an unemployed computer technician, on-site for a job interview, live on air to answer questions about Apple and the Beatles.
After darting his eyes around the room and realizing the situation he had unwittingly found himself in, Guy’s initial answer perfectly summed up his predicament. “I was not expecting that. When I came, they told me something else” he told Bowerman, claiming “it was a big surprise”. Despite knowing nothing about the lawsuit in question, his answers were vague enough that the BBC could run with them anyway.
This interview has now been seen millions of times, yet Goma told GMTV that his actual job interview lasted only ten minutes — sadly, he did not get the role. However, both Guys did eventually get the chance to meet up, as Guy Kewney shared on his blog one year later.
Guy Goma ended up being perhaps the most well-known part of Apple Corp’s third lawsuit against the iPhone maker. Goma may not have gotten the job but he has done many interviews on this historic day almost two decades later. He’ll surely remember it when he’s 64.
