Apple scruff

English

Alternative forms

• Apple Scruff

Noun

Apple scruff (plural Apple scruffs)

1. One of a group of devoted Beatles fans who congregated outside the Apple Corps building and at the gates of Abbey Road Studios in London during the late 1960s, in the hope of seeing or interacting with one of the band members.
   • 1981, Anthony Fawcett, John Lennon: One Day at a Time, Grove Press, →ISBN, page 154:

     We raced up the steps past the Apple scruffs and on into the office.

   • 2004, Stephen J. Spignesi, Michael Lewis, 100 Best Beatles Songs: A Passionate Fan’s Guide, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, →ISBN:

     An Apple scruff named Diane Ashley once broke into Paul’s house and took clothes, pictures, and other items.

   • 2007, Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties, Chicago Review Press, →ISBN, page 364:

     To the extent that it means anything at all, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window refers to some of the ‘Apple scruffs’ – the female fans then given to standing guard outside Apple, Abbey Road, and the group’s homes – who climbed a ladder left in McCartney’s […]

Further reading

• Apple scruffs on Wikipedia.Wikipedia