How do you highlight the plight of Britain's millions of pensioners, many of whom are bored and lonely?
Answer: Put them into a rock band and let their charisma speak for itself, says Tim Samuels, the creator of pop's most unlikely sensation – “The Zimmers”.
Five international TV crews jostled for the best position as the black cab pulled up outside the BBC. The taxi door opened and the questions fired out: "How are you coping with the fame?", "Is there going to an album?"
"What's your next record going to be?" shouted one of the two South Korean TV crews who had turned up.
Surrounded by camera and microphones, the person at the centre of the media scrum was an unfazed 99-year-old white-haired lady leaning on a walking stick.
Oh, I'm enjoying this very much" twinkles Winnie, before shuffling past the scrum into the TV studios.
What's propelled Winnie into the midst of a global frenzy is being a member of The Zimmers - perhaps the most extraordinary pop sensation in town.
The Zimmers are 40 lonely old people who have come together to cover The Who's "My Generation". Winnie isn't even the oldest in the band - Buster is 100. Lead singer Alf is a mere spring chicken at 90.
The Zimmers may be a global sensation, but they started as a half-baked idea with humble ambitions.
I set out to make a documentary which explored how we treat our old people in this country. For a long time I've thought that old people get a terrible deal. So many are just dumped in care homes, stuck at home on their own, and generally marginalised.
Looking for chutzpah
If you can judge a society by how well it treats its old people, we'd be in trouble.
"I wanted to do something to help them fight back; something with a little bit of attitude and chutzpah"
Tim Samuels

But I wanted to actually do something which might have an impact, rather than just turning up, filming someone, reinforcing their "victim" status, then heading off.
I wanted to highlight their marginalised status, then do something to help them fight back; something with a little bit of attitude and chutzpah.
But what to do with lonely old people? It had increasingly struck me that old people just get swept under the carpet and out of sight. Whether it's the half a million living in care homes, or the 3.5 million living alone.
We really wanted to make old people visible again - and push them right back into the heart of society. What better way than try and break them into the pop charts?
And so The Zimmers began to take shape. I went up and down the country meeting marginalised old people and seeing if they'd be willing to have a go at making a single. Most thought it was a faintly ridiculous idea, but were willing to give it a go - it'd be a nice day out in London if nothing else.
A few of them had even heard of The Who's My Generation - though Winnie did call it "The Generation Game."
The Fab 40
We ended up with 40 OAPs willing to sing - but still not the foggiest about how to turn them into chart-assaulting rockers. Salvation came from a couple of figures in the music industry who felt passionate about the cause.
Mike Hedges - producer to U2, Dido and the Cure - agreed to make the single, and Neil Reed at X-Phonics took on the challenge of releasing it. Then Band Aid video director Geoff Wonfor got on board, and we even managed to blag the Beatles' studio at Abbey Road.
So one magical afternoon, our "band" filled Abbey Road for their extraordinary version of My Generation. None had done anything like this before. These were old people bored in care homes, isolated living in high-rise tower-blocks and generally fed up with not being listened to.
And then 90-year-old Alf stepped up to the mic and snarled "I hope I die before I get old" - and we knew we had something pretty special.
But what happened next took us all by surprise, to say the least. The video of The Zimmers went on the internet, and within weeks had earned two million hits on YouTube [to see it, go to "internet links" above, right]. It became the number one featured video on the site. E-mails flooded in from around the world saying how inspirational the band were. There were interviews with media from more than 50 countries. One Brazilian show had 40 million viewers.
Then, in true Calendar Girls fashion, the Zimmers flew off to take on America.
"It's just brought me back to life - I feel that I have come alive again"
Lead singer Alf, 90

They have touched a universal nerve. Every society has qualms about how its old people are treated, and takes heart from seeing a bunch of them come together in rock'n'roll fashion to make themselves heard.
With luck, it will challenge a few preconceptions about old people. Mine have been changed. They've been a hilarious group to hang around with. Winnie, 99, is a constant source of rude jokes. She even penned her own "homo limerick" before going on the Graham Norton Show.
I hadn't quite expected to become a pop svengali, some kind of geriatric Simon Cowell. But whatever happens to the band, at least it's changed the lives of some of those who have come along for the ride.
After giving yet another interview to South Korean TV, Alf our lead singer, said: "It's just brought me back to life. I was 90 and stuck in a rut. And now I feel that I have come alive again."


Article 2:


The tufts of punk red hair sticking up are familiar. The words are delivered down the lens with the same hint of menace.
But there's a difference with this latest cover of The Prodigy's Firestarter. The lead singer snarling how he's "filth infatuated, yeahhh" is 91.
Popstar pensioners The Zimmers are back.
The band - whose average age is nearly 80 - stormed the charts in May 2007 with their version of The Who's My Generation. After months in the studio, they're now releasing their debut album.
Alongside Firestarter, 91-year-old lead singer Alf Carretta and the Zimmers take on other angst anthems, including Iggy Pop's Lust For Life - which gives its name to their album. There's also a full-throttle cover of the Beastie Boys' Fight for Your Right To Party.
Because The Zimmers want to show that we are wrong to write off old people, as if ageing means losing your personality, sense of humour - and rock'n'roll spirit.
It's a message the band has been pushing since My Generation became the most unusual top 30 hit of 2007. Not resting on their laurels of 5 million YouTube views of their video, interviews with media from 70 countries and an appearance on the Jay Leno Show alongside George Clooney, the band became part of the UN's International Day of Older People last week.
But once the razzmatazz of stretch limos and Malibu beach photo shoots faded, it's been back to the task facing any band - working on the next release.
A task somewhat harder than usual, given that none of the group has any professional musical background. They are just 40 lonely old people I brought together for a BBC documentary to challenge the way we view the elderly.
Rock spirit
But it hasn't stopped the Zimmers from morphing into true rockers.
There have been artistic differences and temper tantrums that would do a boy band proud. Members have threatened to walk out, nearly walked out, and even have walked out...but come back through the door
But there's been overwhelming dedication and professionalism, from tough recording sessions with top producers - who are more accustomed to working with U2 and David Bowie - to performing at gigs around the world.
The past year hasn't brought the material trappings of stardom, but it has given an unexpected lease of life.
"It's been so exciting, every day has been different," says sextagenarian rocker Dolores Murray, who previously immersed herself in bingo. "One day in the studio, the next on a plane to Germany, then back for a radio show, a trip to a school, off to Downing Street and then onto a photo shoot. I never knew retirement would be so full.
"People come up to us in the street and thank us for what we are trying to do. It's quite overwhelming at times when people tell us that they feel empowered after meeting us and hearing what we stand for."
Empowered; That's one way to describe Alf's twisting Firestarter.