#magic alex

[muzaktomyears]

Explain magic Alex to me

anon, how do I even begin to explain Magic Alex?? /meangirls

basically the trickster god of the Beatles universe (the new Brown/Gaines book calls him "the Mordred of the Beatles' Camelot" which I think gives him too much gravitas but okay). I once did a (non-exhaustive) poll of the shit he was supposed to be inventing/have invented. tbh the intro paragraphs of his wiki page are a pretty good intro to his nonsense, and reading the full page even more so. it's a wild ride.

[torchlitinthedesert]

I think Alex wanted to be a very loyal friend to John. He wanted John's attention. There were enough men that wanted his attention at that time. It wasn't physical, it was mental. They were almost desperate, the heterosexual ones.

Pattie Boyd on "Magic" Alex Mardas and John Lennon, interviewed in 1980. Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, All You Need Is Love (2024)

[prettybabyimblue]

Was on the phone with my mother (a lawyer) and she was telling me about a legal conference she went to where they had a lecture using Paul McCartney's lawsuit against the Beatles as an example and she asked me "have you heard of Magic Alex?"

It's like my prefrontal cortex snapped out of my body, shook me by the lapels, and screamed in my face, "DON'T BRING UP THE PENIS MACHINE!"

[weedsmokingmacca]

apple inc for sure needed some sort of hr. but can you imagine the lovecraftian horrors that person would have had to encounter on a daily basis

[tavolgisvist]

Soon after the Beatles created the company, there was a man on staff for a while called Magic Alex. His full name was Alexis Mardas, and his is an interesting story. I believe he was a friend of John’s initially, and George liked him as well. He was a scientist, and he was, to some degree, a real scientist as far as I could tell. He had some great ideas and was very up to date on a lot of cool new research. But in the end, he got a bit beyond himself and was talking about things that might happen as if they really existed already. Some of them eventually did exist. I remember him talking about voice recognition technology and face recognition technology. He was telling the Beatles he could create speakers that were made like wallpaper that you’d just stick on the wall. Such things are starting to happen now. So I don’t think Alex was a complete fraud, but I do think he was substantially over-optimistic about what he could actually build and when he could build it. I remember him talking about a problem in the studio that has always existed—the sound from one instrument leaking into other microphones in the room beyond the one specifically intended for that instrument. For example, the drums would leak into the vocal mics and things like that, and we would put up big wooden barriers called baffles to try to prevent this. Alex was telling us, “Oh, you won’t need those—we can create invisible barriers that will prevent the sound waves from leaving that area and entering another area.” Again, something that may happen in the future, but it doesn’t work yet, and it certainly did not work then. Anyway, in the end everyone lost confidence in Alex. He was kind of a half scientist with a considerable hint of con man perhaps in there as well. I liked him personally. He was a cool guy. He was charming and eloquent, and I was sad to read recently that he died. Alex Mardas was a significant part of the Apple team—as Magic Alex, he was a close friend of the Beatles and certainly a relevant part of our letter A, but not (I am sorry to say) actually magic! As I recall, Paul might have been the least credulous when it came to Alex’s extravagant pseudoscientific claims…

(The Beatles from A to Zed by Peter Asher, 2019)

Derek Taylor about Magic Alex

[strwbryfeels]

[eppysboys]

I love how stressed he looks in these screencaps. diva.....you weren't doing anything that warranted that 😭

[bambi-kinos]

Re Linda in the limo: I read recently that Magic Alex was also there, which is a very funny image. In some ways Alex is kind of like the proto-Yoko, a weird person that John brought around everywhere to freak people (Paul) out. Doesn't seem to have worked, so he had to graduate to someone even weirder and pushier, and that he could openly have a romantic relationship with (Not saying he was necessarily shagging Alex, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility.)

This is a really good ask and you're right. I've never been able to get a read on John and Magic Alex, how much John believed vs him just wanting someone around. But that's really insightful to see that John used Alex as a disrupter!

All in all the other Beatles seem to have been very tolerant of Alex, I guess they figured him as harmless. And he wasn't the only parasite that was hanging around. Maybe for the other Beatles he just sank into the background. And you're right, John had to find someone weirder and willing to push herself forward; someone who wouldn't be ignored. Alex had to make nice with people because he wanted money whereas Yoko was willing to weather some severe emotional storms.

[fishedeyelenz]

ive been watching Beatles docu series (though it spans on further with like vinyl reviews of classic rock, not just the beatles) and it watching it you realize there are people who just couldn't exist outside of the sixties. Like wdym the Beatles basically had an evil vizier in the form of a guy from Greece with a heavy accent who claimed to be an inventor and wore a white lab coat to prove it, who only invented a literal nothing box that allegedly- supposedly recreated the experience of LSD with it's flickering lights. Who convinced Lennon he would come up with superior recording appliances but never did, but they (the Beatles) kept him around as basically a court jester?? And his relatives were part of the Greece government which at the time was a dictatorship?? And he almost managed to sell a Greek island to the band bc he could bc his dad or uncle was in the ruling party and the Beatles opinion on that was basically "well we won't cause trouble and everything will be okay 😁" but gave up on the idea?? And this dude, a grifter let's be real, also managed to disillusion Lennon from the another grifter, the yogi??? And he was called magic Alex.... Fucking magic Alex ...

[muzaktomyears]

a cursed and haunted image... happy halloween 🎃 👻

[beatlblog]

all i'm saying is it's a good thing george spent 10000 quid on that 8-track bc alexis couldn't figure anything out

[ilovedig]

Someone actually made Alex's design in a way that works and isn't a joke. This is so cool!

[kris33390]

The nothing box

Après leur concert au Shea Stadium de New York, qui avait été le point culminant de leur tournée américaine. Lennon avait récupéré cette boîte dans un magasin de nouveautés de New York. Elle était équipée de lumières qui s’allumaient et s’éteignaient par intermittence. John a acheté un certain nombre de boîtes pendant qu’il était aux États-Unis en 1965, pour les offrir à des amis comme cadeaux de…

[rockattitudegr]

Ο Αλέξης Μάρδας, γνωστός διεθνώς ως Alex Mardas ή με το χαρακτηριστικό προσωνύμιο Magic Alex, υπήρξε μια από τις πιο αμφιλεγόμενες και ενδιαφέρουσες προσωπικότητες που συνδέθηκαν με τη μυθική εποχή των The Beatles.

[tavolgisvist]

Magic Alex was Alexis Mardas, a blond and handsome Greek with a terribly serious face and a dazzling smile. He arrived in England knowing only two people – Mick Jagger and the Duke of Edinburgh. He met the Beatles in the acid summer and that was that and that was that and that was that. He could do anything, make any fantasy come true. His plans were many and more and more amazing; to make a force-field round a house and fill it with coloured air so that no one could get in (it didn’t matter because no one got hurt and the colour was good); to put a noise in a record, inaudible on a record but so nasty that when anyone tried to tape the record the noise would be reproduced as an appalling scream; to invent a telephone so sensitive that you would tell it who to ring – just say to it ‘ring the king’ and it would; to make a few changes to a car so that it would illuminate from behind when anyone got too close; to invent a camera which would take pictures through people’s walls and see what they were up to … and of course there was a recording studio to build and a dream to fulfil and a world to change. Well, well, well … not much happened but if Alex Mardas wasn’t magic then why was he called Magic Alex? There must have been something so wherever you are Alex, you are magic … yes, you are.

...

Neil Aspinall’s room was a high-class Headorama full of visuals, with a lovely fireplace and chimney corner. Neil has always been with the Beatles; maybe he can remember when he wasn’t but I can’t. He is a fine man, began as the road manager, became managing director of Apple and was deposed by Klein but allowed to remain, if allowed is the word, but it isn’t. Neil had to remain because he is Neil. It is impossible to explain so I won’t. If you want to speak to Neil, ring Apple. He could make a great movie, create beautiful pictures, do anything, but so far he hasn’t. Not one the public has seen, anyway. One day I hope he will. One day I hope you will see his work. The Beatles, however, cast a tall shadow and a wide one. It is not their fault – they have given ‘breaks’ galore but what is a break? What we all need is not breaks but challenge.

...

Mal Evans (Neil’s companion when they were managing the road before the job got its own title and its own dignity and its truly fascinating place in the complexities of touring, in other words before we heard the word ‘roadies’), is still at Apple and still one of the greatest roadies the world has ever known. But more than any of us he found a way to adapt to changing times and he became a record producer (Badfinger), played parts in movies (Help, Magical Mystery Tour, Blindman with Ringo and others) and he is willing to serve if he may and there is nothing nobler than real service I believe.

(As Time Goes by Derek Taylor)

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI)

[beatlblog]

#cool art students from germany that only really liked george and john and found paul kinda annoying or smth#astrid + klaus ilyyy <33 (unfortunately dont know much about jurgen yet) (via @jarsfullofstars)

ok but the one who liked paul is of course Hans-Walter Braun aka icke who recorded the hamburg tape where macca IS ON RECORD DEDICATING the till there was you performance TO HIM

#also the eccentric younger brother who was whisked away to Paris by the young Guiness heir#the same who would give Paul his first trip and a motorbike ride in the moonlight and his alluring facial scarring#mike mccartney#tara browne#the beatles side characters pt ♾️ (via @crepesuzette2023)

#and Thee Side Character of all time - the mother of the drummer-who-was-sacked-to-make-room-for-Ringo who had a child by Neil Aspinall#mona best#the beatles#also the poet who made the beatles doubt their heterosexuality#also Bob Fraser. nough said lmao (via @me-fish)

#MLH dating gloria vanderbilt and mary tyler moore also makes me crazy#what a life….he queened out (via @planetaire)

#i didn't know michael lindsay-hogg was the illegitimate son of orson welles but deep down i feel like i always knew#they have the same energy (via @harmonicabisexuals)

#i read that one of linda's journalist ex friends who spread slut shaming rumours about her when she married paul was germaine greer?#i ​cannot for the life of me remember where i read it so i can't provide a source (via @spinnach)

#those were the days lol#neil aspinall/mona best and john riley the dentist i still can't believe that happened#also riley's wife or girlfriend worked for or had some connection with playboy#she worked for the playboy club i think (via @nikidontsurf)

#ofc hes the illegitimate son of orson welles.that makes sense for him. (via @hathahill)

#also the fact that like ????????? the Manson murders were using their music to justify their race war ideology and murder cult like ???????? (via @bugsssssssssssss)

#lmaooo i forgot about how mlh is 100% orson welles son (via @asurrogateblog)

#the evil manager who ended up being one of the big causes the band broke up#the club owner mother of their original drummer who had a child with one of their friends#the strict but well meaning aunt who always did her best to look out for john even though their personalities clashed#and also charles manson is there indirectly (via @the-electric-monk)

#it's so good#the beatles (via @thedoubteriswise)

#the beatles#side characters better than mains#but i dont support women calling men 'pussy'#mine has endured a lot - she is very brave#probably tmi (via @meledol84)

#mona best having a kid with her sons best friend and then her son being kicked out of the band (via @spiritinflight)

she deserved so much more she provided them their VENUE

#wheres bailey's post about magic alex. it's so good (via @tweeterwilbury)

#the beatles cinematic universe is wild (via @cherubina)

#when the side characters are more interesting than the actual characters (via @bbbrianjones)

not hard! when the sides deserve to be the mains

#everyone in the tags finding out abt the orson welles thing lolol (vi @elena-ferrante)

#they literally lived in a monty python sketch (via @wronglennon)

#evil LSD dentist caused the 2nd worse song on Revolver but it’s still great (via @sivavakkiyar)

#maybe it’s just my fault/being too online but sometimes certain things like this will just feel like common knowledge#but you absolutely cannot mention it to the average person™️ or you sound crazy#I’m thinking specifically of the time I explained the meatles to my friends and they were horrified#^^even that I think was maybe more well known bc of the press since it’s a wild thing to admit in an interview#but there’s obviously people who don’t give a shit about the band so ofc they wouldn’t know (via @philharmonica)

#dont forget joe orton#bludgeoned to death the morning he was suppose to meet richard lester for the third beatles film#what would i not give to have seen ortonesque beatles#rip (via @beatlestshirt)

!!!! oh a side who deserved to be a main for sure shit's crazy bro

#Tara Brown#The Guinness heir himself who died tragically young and inspired what is considered to be the Lennon/Mccartney masterpiece#Also got Paul to try lsd when even his mates couldn't (via @camibispace)

#y’all we can’t leave out jimmy and jemima#also#tru prev#it’s kinda funny watching the fascination and/or horror dawn on someone’s face when i tell them deep beatles lore#everyone take a peak at the tags and notes for this post#beatles lore is insane fr#beatles “common knowledge” (via @lilywolfgray)

#can't forget their hot bassist who was so bad at doing stuff besides being hot they made him face the wall (via @sockpuppetdynasty)

crying what why isn't this in any of the photos

#why was john so easy to manipulate he attracted the oddest people around (via @belatedbeatlemaniabesetee)

#Neil Aspinall Mona Best affair knocked me over. and then basically picking the Beatles over Pete? Boy.. (via @harddaysnite)

here's Stu Sutcliffe blair witching it

I think Paul tells the story in Anthology that they were having promotional photos taken but he and John were so paranoid that a music professional would notice Stu's bass was tuned incorrectly/his hands were badly positioned for the key he was tuned in that they had him hide it#i don't know enough about how guitars work to explain or better remember what Paul said lol#it was cool though john and paul were very dedicated to their craft#stu. wasn't. and they kind edged him out (via @thisbird)

seen plenty of stuart photos but not this one yet thank you

Beatles lore has the best side characters. There's the snobby 28-year-old film director (illegitimate son of Orson Welles no less) who's WAY too interested in mclennon and desperately wants to put all the Beatles in a desert. There's the aspiring author who hated Paul sooooooo bad but still dated him so she could write a book where he cries a bunch and she calls him a pussy. There's an evil LSD dentist. There's Magic Alex. I could go on.