Heinz

... was born in 1942 in Detmold, a city in north–western Germany (Nordrhein–Westfalen, or North Rhein–Westphalia). According to Wikipedia his full name was Heinz Henry George Schwarz, but a Guardian obituary gives his surname as Burt (as does Wikipedia in its page heading, with no explanation). His father was killed during World War II, and his mother decided to relocate to England; they settled in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

Heinz ended up working as a bacon slicer in Southampton, and he also played in a local group known as the Falcons. This brought him to the attention of the influential but unpredictable record producer Joe Meek, who (all sources seem to agree) fell in love with him. Meek persuaded Heinz to peroxide his hair, and installed him in his studio band, the Tornados. Following the success of their second single, Telstar, Meek launched Heinz on a solo career; but sadly Heinz lacked the talent to justify Meek's faith in him. Just Like Eddie was his only Top 20 hit, and Meek's suicide in 1967 (when he shot his landlady at the same time) effectively ended Heinz's career.

Joe Meek was as openly gay as it was possible to be in the 1960s, when homosexual acts were illegal in the UK. Heinz lived with him for three years at his home and studio in London's Holloway Road. The 2009 film Telstar, a bio–pic of Meek, depicts Heinz as Meek's gay lover; but Heinz and his family strongly denied that this was the case, insisting that Heinz was heterosexual. In a 1991 BBC documentary, however, Heinz did concede that Meek was in love with him: "It's an infatuation ... that was the thing with him, where I told him to get off, that I wasn't into that sort of thing ... if there's something you can't have you want it even more."

In later life Heinz suffered from motor–neurone disease. He died following a stroke in 2000, aged 57, in his adopted home town of Eastleigh.