It’s the heartwarming ‘carpool karaoke’ clip that has turned 80-year-old Ted McDermott into a very modern celebrity.
Since being uploaded to Facebook and YouTube, the video of him singing the old classic Quando Quando Quando with his son Simon in the front seat of the car has been watched by more than 60 million people worldwide – and raised £125,000 for charity.
On Friday, Ted released his first single, a cover of Frank Sinatra’s You Make Me Feel So Young, after a Decca record company executive spotted the karaoke video online.
A video of Ted McDermott singing the old classic Quando Quando Quando with his son Simon in the front seat of the car has been watched by more than 60 million people worldwide
Ted released his first single, a cover of Frank Sinatra’s You Make Me Feel So Young, after a Decca record company executive spotted the karaoke video online
If Ted – a former Redcoat at Butlins – could understand it, he would no doubt be delighted.
But therein lies the tragedy. He is in the cruel grip of Alzheimer’s, which for five years has slowly robbed him of his comprehension and dignity.
Often he fails to recognise Simon and he repeatedly proposes to his beloved wife Linda, now 71 and his full-time carer.
They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year.
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Simon, 40, has described how making the single should have been his father’s ‘dream come true’. But he is barely aware it happened.
Simon said: ‘It’s incredibly bittersweet. My dad loved music his whole life and gave it up to get a proper job when Mum was pregnant with me.
‘He remembers singing with the orchestra and will tell everyone about it.
‘But I’ll play it to him and he doesn’t recognise his own voice.
‘He’ll say: “That’s a good singer, that”.’
Ted was a former Redcoat at Butlins but gave up the job after meeting his belived wife Linda
In his younger days, Ted was known as Songaminute Man because of his uncanny ability to remember the words to all the classic hits.
Simon remembers him singing along to his record collection, and performing at working men’s clubs and charity events.
He gave up the Butlins job after meeting Linda and worked as a wood machinist at a Blackburn factory.
In 2011, Ted became forgetful and was diagnosed in 2013.
Simon says: ‘He talks to me about his son Simon who lives in London and about a friend called Simon who comes around.
‘But he won’t necessarily recognise me as either of those people.
‘He recognises Mum, but he’ll say things like, “You know we’ve been living together a long time? Do you think it’s time we got married?” He keeps falling in love with her.’
There have been plenty of sad times too, of course – last year, Ted became aggressive, flying into screaming, violent rages.
Simon became determined to chronicle his father’s talent before it vanished. One day, after recording a selection of old hits, he took his parents for a drive around Lancashire’s Ribble Valley.
When Quando Quando Quando came on the stereo, Ted burst into song.
‘I decided to record us singing in the car, the three of us – I wanted to keep that moment for myself as it was such a happy one. I put it on Facebook, and someone shared it.
‘And it became a thing – every time I went for a drive with Dad, I’d record us singing and put it on Facebook. There seems to be something about the car which inspires him.’
Ted with baby Simon and wife Linda. The new single with Quando Quando Quando makes Ted likely to be the country’s oldest rookie hit-maker
Simon began linking the videos to a Just Giving page where strangers viewing the clips have made donations for the Alzheimer’s Society.
The charity helped the family through the darkest days when Ted was first diagnosed.
The new single with Quando Quando Quando – made famous by Pat Boone in 1962 – on the B-side, makes Ted likely to be the country’s oldest rookie hit-maker.
His son says: ‘In lucid moments, Dad says to me, “People have been listening to my music, Simon. That’s really good.”
‘I can’t say encouraging him to sing has staved off his condition but it’s made his life – and ours – happier, for the moment. You can’t ask more than that.’
- Teddy Mac’s You Make Me Feel So Young is available to download. The proceeds are being split between the McDermott family and the Alzheimer’s Society.