Three of a kind #63

It's all about musical instruments today; more specifically, trumpets, violins, cellos and pianos. Ooh, and let's throw in some auction facts and figures along the way, shall we? keep the Bargain Hunt demographic happy. (literally thousands of them read this blog, you know.)

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Trumpets & Violins mp3

GOING, GOING, GONE! The most expensive trumpet ever to sell at auction was Dizzy Gillespie's Martin Committee, which fetched $55,000 at Christie's New York, in 1995. Some say Dizzy was too full of himself, that he was always blowing his own trumpet, but I won't hear a word of it.

As for the costliest violin, that distinction goes to "The Lady Tennant" Stradivarius, which brought in a whopping $2.03 million, also at Christie's, in 2005. It's not clear whether it was the blue team or the red team who found this particular item, but host David Dickinson professed himself to being "as pleased as punch" with that morning's recording.

Nick Drake - Cello Song mp3

GOING, GOING, GONE! Another world record for a Stradivarius here, the "Bonjour" cello (built in 1696 and named after French cellist Abel Bonjour, fact fans) sold for $1.03 million in 1999, making it the swankiest cello ever. "A nice bit of gear" was apparently how the item was described in the auction's catalogue.

Brenda Russell - Piano In The Dark mp3

GOING, GOING, GONE! George Michael forked out a ridiculous £1.45 million in October 2000 for John Lennon's Steinway Model "Z" piano, on which the ex-Beatle was said to have composed Imagine. The piano still bears Lennon's old cigarette burns. Callous bastard.