Group for the ages cracks British chart

LONDON, June 4 (UPI) -- The Zimmers, a new 40-member British rock group with a combined age of 3,000, basked in the glow of popularity with a top-30 entry in Britain's singles chart.

The group, whose members' average age is 78, debuted at No. 26 with their cover of The Who classic, "My Generation," The Independent reported Monday.

Taking care of vocals is Alf Carretta, a spry 90, who opens the video by saying, "This is the first time I've done this, by the way."

Buster Martin, who crossed the century mark, has a bit of the rebel in him -- he closes the video by flipping the bird, the British newspaper reported.

The Zimmers were brought together by Tim Samuels, a BBC journalist who wanted to highlight how poorly pensioners were treated. Samuels traveled throughout Britain, asking seniors if they'd be willing to cut a single in London.

That day at Abbey Road studios -- where the Beatles recorded many of their hits -- turned into a four-hour studio session to record "My Generation."

The video, which includes guitar smashing a la Pete Townshend, has been watched by more than 2.4 million people on YouTube and generated nearly 4,500 comments.