Imagine! The Aftermath buy iconic Lennon mic

Mullingar band The Aftermath (Johnny and Mick Cronin) have bought the microphone John Lennon used when he recorded Imagine, for a sum of around €7,000.The legendary Beatles microphone, which has not be switched on since 1971, fetched £6,650 pounds sterling at an auction last May and it has emerged that the boys of 'Irish lad rock' are now the proud owners. The iconic mic is safely stored at their newly opened recording studios in Drumlish, County Longford.Lennon had installed the microphone in his Georgian manor estate Tittenhurst Park near Ascot in 1970, and the location went on to become the recording venue for the Plastic Ono Band and Imagine albums.It is believed Yoko Ono, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, who sold the mic, also used it during recording sessions.Mick Cronin said he and his brother, who have been fans of The Beatles for as long as he can remember, could not believe their luck when their bid was accepted for what is a stunning piece of Beatles music history."It's like the Holy Grail to us, we can't believe we actually have it," said Mick. "We had it sent away to Germany to have it checked out and make sure it still works because it hasn't been switched on since 1971. We didn't want to damage it, we're looking forward to the day we can sing into it," he continued."It's cool that we have a little piece of history. I mean Phil Spector would have had his hands on it - I know he was a nutter and everything but he did record an awful lot of great songs," Mick laughs.He went on to tell how he and Johnny started bidding on the recording equipment specialist's MJQ Ltd's website, firstly as a bit of fun, and did not expect to bag the microphone."Obviously we had a limit of money in mind, but we certainly didn't expect that we'd actually get to purchase it. We were sure Liam Gallagher or someone would have come in with a huge bid, I mean where was he that day?!" he jokes.MJQ Ltd, who handled the sale, also sold the mixing console from London's Abbey Road studios, as well as an acetate disc used for mastering recordings, in which all four Beatles etched their names. That was expected to fetch tens of thousands of pounds.The Aftermath play Danny Byrne's, Mullingar on Saturday October 29.