Heinz – "I'm Not a Bad Guy" (1966)

They say I go around making girls cry

You know that it’s a lie!

Well, maybe I did make two or three girls cry.  (Possibly it was just one girl.)

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Heinz – he was born Heinz Burt in 1942 – was discovered in 1963 by Joe Meek, the innovative British sound engineer and record producer whose best-known record was the space-agey instrumental “Telstar” (which claimed the #1 spot on both the American and British pop charts).

Meek did his damnedest to make Heinz a star, but to little avail.  Of the dozen or so singles Heinz released, only “Just Like Eddie” – a tribute to the late Eddie Cochran – made it into the top ten in the UK.

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Meek (who was gay) had a thing for his protegé (who was not), and persuaded the young singer to move into his apartment.  But Meek’s hopes were dashed when Heinz brought around his new girlfriend to meet the producer.

Heinz with Joe Meek

Heinz eventually moved out, leaving behind some of his possessions – including his shotgun.  On February 3, 1967 – the eighth anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death – Meek used that shotgun to kill his landlady and then himself.

After that, Heinz earned his daily bread outside of the music industry – although he occasionally appeared in sixties revival shows. 

Sadly, Heinz died in 2000 as a result of a motor neurone disease similar to ALS.  He had to sing from a wheelchair when he last performed on stage two weeks before his death.

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Click here to listen to “I’m Not a Bad Guy,” a B-side that was released in 1966.  It’s played with some regularity on the Sirius/XM “Underground Garage” channel.

Click below to buy the record from Amazon: