The above video was the most watched this week on YouTube. It all started when documentary filmmaker Tim Samuels was making a hard-hitting series for the BBC about the isolated and disenfranchised elderly in Britan titled Power To The People. He wanted to have a grand finale for his project by bringing together 40 of his subjects to record The Who's My Generation at Abbey Road studios in London to bring attention to their situation and blow some misconceptions of the elderly out of the water. U2's producer and Band Aid's video director jumped on board, the project gained momentum and the recording session went down:
They were then coached from around the country to the North London studios, where the single was painstakingly recorded between band members having to sit out sections due to treatment for various medical problems. One fainted in over-excitement before she even reached the studios.
Don't let that concern you, they all had a blast. Ninety-nine year old Winnifred Warbuton said the recording was "the best day in her life" and frontman Alf Carretta, 90, stated, "I feel like the whole experience has brought me back to life. I was stuck in a rut and now I feel alive again". The man flipping the bird at the end of the video is Britain's oldest working citizen Buster Martin, 100.
Already a cult hit on YouTube, the single comes out in May in Britain and looks like it might be a chart-topper! Check out The Zimmers' MySpace page too. Profits from the single will go to the non-profit organization Age Concern.
On a side note, I saw Bill Haley's Comets at the Viper Room a couple of years ago. They were all in their seventies with one guitarist in his eighties. Dressed to the nines in tuxedos, acting youthful and totally rocking the house.
Who are your golden oldies (musically or otherwise)?
The Spin I'm In: Meet The Zimmers!
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Song |
Artist |
iTunes |
Napster |
AMG |
Malaria |
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Helicopter |
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Plastic Factory (1967 Demo) |
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Pinata |
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Janitor |
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Mother In Law |
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R-O-C-K |
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