CRE 052T

I was on a three-hour journey to the north of Scotland a while back, and decided that I’d use the time to give a listen to the digitised take on Disc 4 of the Scared To Get Happy box set.  Track 15 jumped out at me in a way that I hadn’t really noticed before, most likely as the upbeat, jaunty guitar notes seemed to blend perfectly with the wonderfully blue skies that were overhead.  It was the work of Apple Boutique….and here’s some abridged words, sourced from last fm, to fill us all in.

“Apple Boutique are a 1980s jangle guitar band formed by Phil King and John Mohan around 1986. Both were formerly members of The Servants. As well as being associated with many other notable acts of the 80s and 90s, including: Felt; Lush, See See Rider, Second Layer, Biff Bang Pow! and The Jesus and Mary Chain, among others.

The full contributors to Apple Boutique were Philip King (vocals, guitar & bass); John Mohan (lead guitar), Don Bothwell (bass), Paul Gregory (drums), Owen Seymour (drums) and Emily Brown (backing vocals). During their time, Apple Boutique only officially released the one EP via Creation Records, the 12″ ‘Love Resistance EP’ in 1987.

The EP has developed a cult appeal due in part to the various affiliated bands. It showcases  the guitar interplay of King and Mohan, with a heavy influence from the 1960s and The Shadows in particular, with one of the tracks being an instrumental named after one of the members of that band.

Many years later, in 2012, a Berlin-based label released Paraphernalia, a very limited CD, of just 200 copies, in which the three tracks on the Creation EP were brought together alongside demos, home recordings and live tracks.

As it turns out, the song about the bass player with The Shadows was made available on the C88 box set issued a few years back by Cherry Red, which meant I only had to track down one song to offer up the chance to listen to the music which comprised Creation 052T:-

mp3: Apple Boutique – Love Resistance
mp3: Apple Boutique – I Don’t Even Believe In You
mp3: Apple Boutique – The Ballad of Jet Harris

Incidentally, if you fancy getting your hands on a copy of the original single from 1987, you can expect to pay well in excess of £100.  There have been a couple of reissues over the years, most recently on 7″ by Optic Nerve in 2018, which are a bit more affordable.

JC