I read a book last year called The Longest Cocktail Party written by Richard DiLello. He’s a former employee of The Beatles, who worked at Apple from 1968 to 1970. The great thing about this book is that it was first published in 1972; shortly after The Beatles breakup. That means it was written while the memories and stories were still fresh and DiLello wasn’t influenced by time or outside sources (like his former employers).
The Longest Cocktail Party has been out of circulation for years, but was recently reprinted in 2014 with a new forward written by DiLello. If you’re a fan of The Beatles, or interested in seeing what it’s like working for superstars, I recommend picking up a copy. It’s an eye-opening read.
The Beatles have been a tremendous influence on me and I was eager to read this insider’s account. I always thought that working for The Beatles at Apple during the time that this book takes place would have been a dream job. The most innovative band in the world trying to create a business utopia – what could be better than that?
It turns out the Beatles had no clue how to run a business. That’s why Apple, the company, never achieved the success that Apple, the dream, envisioned. The Beatles envisioned a company where artists were in charge. Apple wanted to take power away from giant corporations and remove the barriers to market entry, basically remove the gatekeepers. Sounds like how the internet has shaped things, doesn’t it?
To kick things off at Apple, the Beatles placed full page ads in the New Musical Express and Rolling Stone announcing their idea and solicited unsigned signers, songwriters, artists, playwrights, and inventors to send in their work. They received thousands of song demos, scripts, books, plays and other manuscripts. People showed up daily at the Apple offices demanding time and money from the Beatles.
Apple though didn’t have the manpower to go through everything that was sent in. Artists that were signed to Apple were brought in by insiders or were pet projects of the Beatles themselves. No one was discovered from the piles of material sent in.
It was extremely clear from reading The Longest Cocktail Party that you were working for the Beatles, not with them. Only their most trusted advisers worked with them, and even then the influence they had was limited. The Beatles did what they wanted to do regardless of what anyone told them. And it was never a good idea to tell the Beatles no.
Those employees lower on the totem pole would rarely see them, and then when they did it was to fill an urgent personal request. You were to speak to them only if spoken to. They didn’t want to be bothered with with underlings. It was considered a privilege to work for them, so they could justify paying a low wage.
The list of problems at Apple was long – everything from a lack of leadership and accountability to people being threatened by the Hell’s Angels, who had taken occupancy at Apple. It was a complete madhouse and even George Harrison commented that they had “every freak in the world” showing up at Apple.
Apple lost a lot of money on everything other than record releases and they eventually shut everything down except the record label.
After reading this account, I realize I wouldn’t have enjoyed working at Apple for The Beatles and it certainly wasn’t the dream job I thought it was. Even the best ideas (companies) get bogged down by people; even talented people with good intentions.
What does your dream job look like? Do you like the job itself or the idea of what that job represents? Are you drawn to the job title, what the work is, that you’ll be working for a cause, or because of who you think you’ll be working with? Are you missing out on a great job now thinking about greener pastures?
It’s okay to dream, I’d say it’s even essential. We all need something to look towards. Don’t be disappointed when your dream job doesn’t turn out exactly how you thought it would be. If you approach it as an opportunity to gain a unique experience you’ll enjoy the experience a lot more, and who knows, maybe one day you’ll write a book about it.
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