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:

Chesterfield Kings -- "Elevator Ride" (2007)

So long

I'll be gone

So long

Moving on

Elevator ride

The Chesterfield Kings were formed in 1979 in Rochester, New York.  Lead singer and founding member Greg Provost was an underground music journalist and record collector, and a lot of the band's early releases were covers of obscure garage/psychedelic songs from the sixties.

Andy Babiuk, the other original band member who is still around, is the author of a complete history of the musical instruments used by the Beatles, which is titled Beatles Gear.  He and Provost are currently working on a similar book called Stones Gear.  (Welcome to the OCD club, Greg and Andy!)

The group has something of an obsession with the Rolling Stones.  The cover of their 1994 album, Let's Go Get Stoned, looks just like the cover of the Stones' 1966 album, Aftermath.

Here's the original:

Here's the copy.  (Note how the Mirror Records logo in the lower left-hand corner of the cover mirrors the London Records logo on the Stones album.)

"Elevator Ride" is from the Chesterfield Kings' 2007 album, Psychedelic Sunrise.  It was released on Wicked Cool Records, which is owned by Steven Van Zandt, who is a longtime friend of Bruce Springsteen and member of the E Street Band.

If you were a Sopranos fan, you'll remember Van Zandt -- who had never acted before -- as Silvio Dante. 

Van Zandt has hosted "Little Steven's Underground Garage," a syndicated radio show, since 2002.  Van Zandt also programs the "Underground Garage" channel for Sirius/XM satellite radio.

Van Zandt as Silvio Conte (far right)

On a recent trip to Cape Cod, I had a rental car -- $9.75 a day, I kid you not -- that was equipped with Sirius/XM radio, and I listened to quite a bit of "Underground Garage" (channel 21).

Van Zandt programs everything from fifties songs (one of the songs I heard was "Charlie Brown," by the Coasters) to brand-new garage-band stuff -- he seems to use his show to promote the bands who have signed to his label.  

The "Underground Garage" has an eclectic group of on-air hosts, including Andrew Loog Oldham (the Rolling Stones' original manager/producer) and Handsome Dick Manitoba, the lead singer of The Dictators.  (Click here to read a 2 or 3 lines post about the Dictators' "The Next Big Thing.") 

Manitoba was hosting when I picked up my rental car (only $9.75  a day -- can you believe it?), and "Elevator Ride" was one of the first songs I heard him play. 

Satellite radio display on
my $9.75-per-day rental car

The next several installments of 2 or 3 lines will feature some other songs I heard on "Underground Garage" and other Sirius/XM channels, as well as photos from my Cape Cod bike rides.  (My Cape Cod posts are always wildly popular, you know.)

Here's "Elevator Ride":

Here's a link you can use to buy the song from Amazon: