Talkin' 'bout OUR generation

But these pensioners are causing a big s-s-sensation.

Brought together for a TV documentary, they have attracted a cult following after recording a version of The Who's My Generation and are destined for chart stardom.

The group, who are 40 in number and call themselves The Zimmers, pulled in an audience of 20,000 within a couple days of posting their video on the websites YouTube and MySpace.

They now plan a round of personal appearances, the release of the single in May then perhaps an album, which if the current interest is anything to go by, should be a chart-topper.

The group, which is fronted by bingo devotee Alfie Carretta, 90, were handpicked by BBC documentary-maker Tim Samuels who was shooting a hard-hitting series on the isolation of the elderly in Britain.

As the programme evolved, Samuels decided as a finale to gather his elderly subjects to make a memorable musical statement about their situation.

The project snowballed. U2's producer Mike Hedges and Band Aid video director Geoff Wonfor became involved, and recording time was secured at the famous Abbey Road recording studios.

They were given training by Fame Academy's voice coaches. 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.

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and John Entwhistle they were not - in fact fans postings on MySpace talk of the band 'making The Rolling Stones look like teenagers'.

But with Alfie snarling 'Hope I die before I get old' and kicking over a drumkit, Winifred Warburton, 99, thrashing at the keyboard and Buster Martin, 100, the oldest working man in Britain, flicking a middle-finger at the cameras, they were a force to behold.

Indeed, they smashed up their instruments with just as much gusto as The Who used to do in the 1960s.

The Zimmers even recruited their own elderly marketing expert as a band member. Peter Oakley, 79, is an Internet star in his own right, with his own YouTube link, where he keeps a video diary. Producers linked the My Generation video to his already popular YouTube site, immediately attracting thousands of hits.

Profits from the single will go to Age Concern. Samuels told the Daily Mail: 'The series is all about finding those middle Englanders who suffer in silence. We are doing three programmes where those who have been disfranchised fight back with a bit of guerilla action and chutzpah.

'We collected a group of old people and take them through a rock and roll journey to bring them back to life a bit.

'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. And as it turns out, it has really taken off. We are negotiating a personal appearance at a nightclub in Haymarket, London, banking on plenty of radio play, and the single is out in May.'

He added: 'They are all enjoying the rock and roll ride in a very understated way. Some of them might not be able to stand for too long as their knees might give them a bit of gyp, but they are all sprightly enough.' The documentary, part three of BBC2's Power To The People series, goes out in May.