Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Heinz and Wilko Johnson

I've been collecting unlikely pairings of musicians who feel like they come from completely different eras. And here's the latest.

Heinz Burt, protégé of the pioneering record producer Joe Meek and bass player with The Tornados, who had an era-defining hit with Telstar, and Wilko Johnson from Doctor Feelgood.

Burt - or just Heinz, as he was always billed - is the singer and Johnson is the long-haired guitarist nearest him when you see them in wide shot.

This video comes from The London Rock and Roll Show, which was held at Wembley Stadium in August 1972. This was the concert at which Roy Wood launched his new band Wizzard.

Without his hair dyed a startling blond and with sideburns, Heinz appears to be harking back to an era just before the one in which he found brief fame. The Tornados, and Meek's acts in general, looked forward, not back to the Fifites.

You can see the other unlikely pairings I have found in my post on Paul Rodgers and Bruce Thomas.

No comments: