Heinz Burt

Heinz Burt (24 July 1942 – 7 April 2000) was a German-born British rock and roll bassist and singer of the 1960s, who performed under the stage name Heinz. He was also known as a member of the instrumental group the Tornados.

Heinz was born in Detmold, Germany, but from the age of seven was brought up in Eastleigh, Hampshire, England. His German father had been killed during World War II and his mother decided to move to Britain. Heinz was influenced by the US singer Eddie Cochran and played in a local Eastleigh group, the Falcons, in the 1950s.

Working in a Southampton grocery shop, Heinz came to the attention of record producer Joe Meek, becoming his protégé. Meek styled Heinz's image, which included persuading him to peroxide his hair.

Heinz was a member of the Tornados, famous for their multi-million selling hit Telstar. With Meek in love with Heinz, he struggled to launch him on a solo career. Due to the inadequacies of Heinz's voice, his vocals on his first single "Dreams Do Come True" were over-dubbed by another singer, a Meek artist named Mark Douglas or Billy Gray, but whose real name was William Halsey. The single was a commercial failure. With Meek vigorously promoting Heinz, he was sent on a tour with Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis. Audiences did not take to him, and he was attacked on stage and had beans thrown over him (to a contemporary audience 'Heinz' would have been associated with Heinz Baked Beans).

Heinz's next and biggest-selling solo hit was "Just Like Eddie", a tribute to Eddie Cochran. Its success coincided with the emergence of The Beatles and was the high point of commercial success for Heinz. Two successful EPs, Heinz and Live It Up, followed, and in 1963 he appeared in the British music-film Live It Up! as Ron. Following a well-received tour with Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and Bobby Rydell, Heinz was seen as belonging to an era of rock and roll as the more modern Merseybeat became more popular. He covered the Bob Dylan song "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", which was another commercial failure.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia.