Jonathan Knott

Recap: what we’ve learned about the Beatles’ Greek island mystery My attempts to clarify a historical footnote led me into a maze of phantom islands, financial strategies, secret services and cold war propaganda.

Exactly 58 years ago, the Beatles were in Greece searching for an island to buy.

For my Substack, I've recapped everything I've learned about this story - including phantom islands, financial strategies, cold war propaganda - and a bit more clarity about the mysterious 'Magic Alex':

Where does the island name ‘Leslo’ come from? While the name appears in Paul McCartney’s authorised biography, the author’s records suggests it didn’t originate from the Beatle himself.

In this post, I look at why the Greek island the Beatles wanted is often referred to as ‘Leslo’ - despite there being no known island called this. It's included in Barry Miles’ Paul McCartney biography – but the author didn’t add it until a later draft: open.substack.com/pub/followth...

John Lennon’s island fantasies Considering Lennon’s interest in islands could help us understand his idealism, his reading habits, and his musical and literary writing – perhaps even his relationship with his father.

I wrote about John Lennon's enduring fascination with islands, and what that might tell us about him: www.beatlesingreece.com/p/john-lenno...

I spoke to @gimmesometruthpod.bsky.social for this episode on the Beatles in Greece - discussing where they went, which island(s) they wanted to buy, and what we know about the mysterious 'Magic Alex': gimmesometruth.podbean.com/e/greece-1967/

A secret service connection? Argyris Mardas, IDEA and KYP Employment by Greece’s Central Intelligence Service could explain why Alexis Mardas’ father is often associated with military and secret activity

I looked at the evidence that the father of the Beatles' friend ‘Magic Alex’ may have worked for KYP, Greece’s Central Intelligence Service: followthesun.substack.com/p/a-secret-s...

The Beatles’ Puzzling Plan to Buy A greek Island Hello Beatle people; The following is a guest post by UK journalist Jonathon Knott regarding the circumstances which surrounded the Beatles’ ill-fated intention to purchase a Greek Island back in 1967...

For Erin Torkelson Weber’s website, I looked at the evidence for the Beatles’ abandoned plans to buy a Greek island: beatlebioreview.wordpress.com/2024/04/06/t...

How Britain got on board with Greece’s dictators When Greek army officers seized power in Athens in 1967, Harold Wilson’s Labour government decided to do business with its repressive NATO and commercial ally, overriding human rights concerns, decl...

'How Britain got on board with Greece's dictators' - my article for Declassified UK www.declassifieduk.org/how-britain-...

'Alex said they could pay less tax in Greece’: the financial context of the Beatles’ island plan... Alexis Mardas is said to have claimed that he could help the Beatles ‘pay a lot less tax in Greece than they were paying in England’

In 1967, tax rates of around 90% presented a major conundrum to the Beatles’ accountants. The group’s friend Alexis Mardas is said to have suggested that he could help them ‘resettle and pay a lot less tax in Greece’. New Substack post: