History was made at the Bruun Rasmussen Auction House in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 28th. A never-released recording of John Lennon was sold for over $50,000.
The cassette dates back to 1970 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono were visiting Denmark and agreed to sit down for an interview with four teenage Danish boys for their local school publication. The vintage recording is 33 minutes long and features never-before-heard insights from John regarding his grievances towards the Beatles' aesthetic and his hair length. In addition, Yoko and John discussed their peace campaign in-depth and sang Give Peace a Chance and Radio Peace for the star-struck students.
According to the auction house workers, the famous couple even danced around a decorated Christmas tree while humming carols. The recording marked roughly a year after the hippie couple had taken residence in a farmhouse located in northern Denmark. In fact, their abstract song, Radio Peace, referred to a revolutionary radio station they were hoping to start in Amsterdam. Peace was undeniably the key theme of the interview, with one of the children asking how they could help John and Yoko's cause.
"If you can't think of any idea yourself, imitate what we do. Just sit down and think, what can I do locally for peace?" John answered in the recording. And years later, one of the four former Danish teens can still recall the meeting as if it were yesterday. "The meeting with John Lennon and Yoko Ono has had a great impact on our lives because we saw them as kind of political prophets and symbols of peace," Karsten Hojen, one of the interviewers, explained. "I hope the new owner will enjoy listening to our conversation and be inspired the same way we were 50 years ago."
Prior to the auction, the tape's value was estimated by the auction house to be between $31,500 to $47,000 but quickly rose in worth as the bids grew higher and higher. It was eventually sold at $58,300 - the equivalent of 370,000 Danish crowns.
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