The Zimmers are a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, thought to have the oldest members of any band in the world. The oldest member (Buster Martin

Buster Martin

Pierre Jean "Buster" Martin claimed to be the United Kingdom's oldest employee, stating that he was born in 1906....

) claims to have been born in 1906, although some sources indicate he was born in 1913. The former lead singer Alf Carretta died on 29 June 2010, aged 93. The group takes its name from the Zimmer frame

Walker (tool)

A walker or walking frame is a tool for disabled or elderly people who need additional support to maintain balance or stability while walking...

(walker).

The band was created as a feature in a BBC Television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 documentary, which was first broadcast on 28 May 2007. The feature of forming the band and recording a single was intended to give a voice to the feelings of isolation and imprisonment suffered by the elderly.

The Zimmers' logo is a parody of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' logo, as is the image of them walking across Abbey Road

Abbey Road (street)

Abbey Road is a thoroughfare located in the borough of Camden and the City of Westminster in London, running roughly northwest to southeast through St. John's Wood, near Lord's Cricket Ground...

.

Discography

The Zimmers released their first single, a cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of The Who's

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

 "My Generation", reaching #26 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, on 28 May 2007. The song was produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by Mike Hedges

Mike Hedges

-Career:Mike Hedges started as a tape-op at Morgan Studios in London in the late 1970s. Having graduated to engineer, he went freelance in 1981 and became an engineer/producer....

, the video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 shot by Geoff Wonfor, and it was recorded in the Beatles Studio 2 at Abbey Road

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

.

On 13 July 2007, during the Richard & Judy

Richard & Judy

Richard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...

show, The Zimmers announced their next single, a cover of The Prodigy

The Prodigy

The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

's "Firestarter

Firestarter (song)

"Firestarter" is a song by the English band The Prodigy, released on 18 March 1996. It was the first single from their third album The Fat of the Land, and their tenth single. It was also the group's first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, staying on top for three weeks...

".

In September 2008, the band released its first full-length album Lust for Life, featuring cover versions of
songs by Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

.

BBC documentary

Documentary-maker Tim Samuels

Tim Samuels

Tim Samuels is an award-winning British documentary filmmaker and broadcaster. His work is characterised by approaching serious topics in innovative and subversive ways to produce hard-hitting documentaries. Samuels formed older people's rock group The Zimmers for a BBC documentary and is a...

 travelled Britain, investigating the feelings of isolation and imprisonment suffered by the country's elderly, as part of the BBC's Power to the People series. Samuels recruits pensioners otherwise stuck in institutions and towerblocks, and they air their grievances, culminating in the recording of the group's first single, where the group "sticks it back to the society that has cast them aside".

Members

• Frank Armstrong
• Sylvia Beaton
• Jack Beers (died aged 98, on July 14, 2009)
• Joan Bennett
• Peggy Bohan
• Joan Bonham (died aged 81, on 10 February 2011, mother of John Bonham
  John Bonham
  John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
  
  )
• Evelyn Brierley
• Raffaele "Alf" Carretta (died aged 93, on 29 June 2010)
• Peter Comerford (deceased)
• Grace Cook
• Collaterly Sisters
• Charlotte Cox
• Peggy Crowley
• Gillian Davies
  Deddie Davies
  Deddie Davies is a Welsh character actress.She is most familiar to television viewers for comedy roles in a host of series, including The Rag Trade, That's My Boy and Chance in a Million. She usually appears in meek, spinsterish roles...
  
  
• Adrian Derrick
• Rose Dickens
• Tim Donovan
• Marie Duckett
• Annetta Falco
• Patsey Feeley
• Kathleen Fowler
• Rob Fulford
• Mollie P Hardie
• Maura Haughey
• Joanna Judge
• John Langridge
• John Leonard

• Dolceta Llewellyn-Bowden
• Avis Lewinson
• Ivy Lock
• Buster Martin
  Buster Martin
  Pierre Jean "Buster" Martin claimed to be the United Kingdom's oldest employee, stating that he was born in 1906....
  
   (deceased)
• Anne Morrissey
• Frank Morrissey (deceased)
• Delores Murray
• Peter Oakley
• Tim O'Donovan
• Sally Page
• Nadine Richardson
• Rita Roberts
• Bill Russell
• Irene Samain
• Gwen Sewell
• Anne Sherwin
• Dennis Skillicorn
• Jessie Thomason
• Dorothy "Bubbles" Tree
• John Tree
• Winifred Warburton (died aged 101, on 31 December 2008)
• Paddy Ward
• Norma Walker
• Potato

• Eric Whitty