A group of British seniors calling themselves the Zimmers have become an internet sensation for their cover of the Who's My Generation. This screen shot from the video features Zimmers lead singer Alf Carretta, who is 90. (YouTube)
At first, it seems like a typical bit of viral video, the sort of YouTube confection that gets passed around offices like a box of oversweet chocolates. A clutch of seniors calling themselves the Zimmers gather in a recording studio to have a spirited go at the Who’s classic 1965 single My Generation. Naturally, it’s the delivery that makes it novel. The lead vocalist is a gap-toothed nonagenarian named Alf Carretta, who sings the lyrics in an endearingly halting manner, while a chorus of his contemporaries chimes in with the recurring mantra “Talkin’ ’bout my generation!”
Watching a group of seniors do a deadpan version of a snotty rock ’n’ roll anthem is innately droll, but that’s not the intention; there’s a message here. Pete Townshend originally wrote the song in defence of the Mods, the skinny-suit-wearing, Vespa-driving, amphetamine-popping British teens who scandalized their elders in the early to mid-’60s. When the Who’s Roger Daltrey sang, “I hope I die before I get old,” he was extolling the heady pleasures of youth; once youth was gone, there wasn’t much point in going on. Coming from Carretta’s lips, the immortal line becomes even more poignant — and given how robust he seems at age 90, not a little defiant. (At the end of the clip, he knocks over the drum set, Keith Moon-style.)
Indeed, the Zimmers clip is nothing if not a celebration of the pre-boomer generation. The project is largely the effort of documentarian Tim Samuels, who struck upon the idea while shooting a BBC series on British seniors. The series was meant to show the loneliness and neglect of the aged, as well as debunk their image of fragility. Toward the end of shooting, Samuels decided to gather his subjects to make a musical statement. As Samuels told London’s Daily Mail, “We decided to get them recording a single to highlight the way they are mistreated in this country, by challenging the misconceptions we have about them.” The call went out, strings were pulled and lo, the gang booked Abbey Road Studios — immortalized by the Beatles — for one unforgettable recording session.
The Zimmers’ version of My Generation will be available as a download May 21, and in British stores May 28. Profits from the sales of the single will go to an agency called Age Concern, which advocates on behalf of British seniors.
While Carretta is the Zimmers’ frontman, the most famous band member is Peter Oakley, better known to his acolytes as blogger Geriatric 1927 (a reference to his birth year). Over the past year, Oakley has gained an ardent following through his video diaries on YouTube, in which the 79-year-old Londoner narrates his life. The lo-fi clips are captivating in their utter honesty, and demonstrate that YouTube can be home to more than just rare TV clips and stuff that’s too stupid or tasteless for America’s Funniest Home Videos.
Oakley’s status has helped promote the project, which has not only become a viral success but has received significant press in Britain. There are rumblings that the Zimmers will even do a live club performance — albeit one with plenty of chairs on stage, for delicate knees. The Zimmers’ My Generation not only shows the gusto of British seniors but challenges the notion that fame only favours the young.
Andre Mayer writes about the arts for CBC.ca.
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