Copenhagen, September 28 (U.S.): A cassette recording of an interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, including a song that was never released, while they were visiting Denmark in 1970 sold for 370,000 Danish kroner ($58,300) at auction in Copenhagen. .
The tape, which features the unreleased song “Radio Peace”, was recorded on January 5, 1970 by four 16-year-old Danish boys who successfully interviewed the couple for a school magazine, Reuters reports.
Bids for the cassette tape, which was put up for sale with photos from the meeting by former schoolchildren, started at 100,000 kroner. The amount was estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000 crowns ($31,500 – $47,000) before the auction.
It was not immediately known who bought the recording.
During the 33-minute taping, Lennon talks about the couple’s peace campaign, his frustration with the Beatles’ image and the length of his hair.
The recording also shows Lennon and Ono dancing to Christmas carols as they dance around the Christmas tree, Lennon playing guitar and the pair singing “Give Peace a Chance” and “Peace Radio”.
The auction house said the fast-paced song repeating “This is Peace Radio” refers to a radio station of the same name that Lennon and Ono hoped to establish in Amsterdam.
The couple arrived in northern Denmark in late December 1969, and stayed on an isolated farm for more than a month, according to the auction house.
In the recording, teenage boys ask how they can help Lennon and Ono in their search for world peace, and Lennon replies, “If you can’t come up with an idea yourself, copy what we’re doing. Just sit back and think, What can I do locally for peace?”
One of the record’s four owners, Karsten Huegen, now 68, was present at Tuesday’s auction. He was glad that he was able to convey the message of peace from the famous couple to the new owner.
“Meeting with John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a huge impact on our lives because we saw them as a kind of political prophets and symbols of peace,” Hogan said in a statement.
“I hope the new owner will enjoy listening to our conversation and be inspired in the same way we were 50 years ago.”