Lou Christie, the singer and songwriter who set teen fans screaming in the 1960s with hits like “Lightnin’ Strikes” and “Two Faces Have I,” has died. He was 82.
Christie died at his home in Pittsburgh after a short illness, his family said Wednesday in an announcement on social media.
“He was cherished not only by his family and close friends, but also by countless fans whose lives he touched with his kindness and generosity, artistic and musical talent, humor and spirit. His absence leaves a profound void in all our hearts. He will be greatly missed, always remembered, and forever loved,” the statement read.
Christie was born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco on Feb. 19, 1943, in Glenwillard, Pa., and took on his stage name, courtesy of a local music producer, when he was a still a teen. Soon he would meet his decades-older songwriting collaborator Twyla Herbert, a classically trained but eccentric musician who died in 2009, and together they would write almost all of his songs and hundreds more for other artists.
In Pennsylvania, Christie recorded and released a single, “The Gypsy Cried,” that became a local hit in the Pittsburgh area. He moved to New York, got work as a backup singer and eventually wound up touring with Dick Clark’s Cavalcade of Stars, sitting on a bus with Diana Ross and other standouts.
“I was with Gene Pitney and Johnny Tillotson, the Supremes, Paul and Paula, Dick and Dee Dee, the Crystals, the Ronettes, Fabian, Frankie Avalon,” the singer told writer Gary James for ClassicBands.com. “To me, this was my graduating class and still is today.”
Christie’s fans screamed over his signature falsetto when “Two Faces Have I” made it to No. 6 on the Billboard 100 in 1963, the year he released his self-titled first album. He spent two years in the U.S. Army and upon his return released the single “Lightnin’ Strikes.” The song, off the 1965 album of the same name, hit No. 1 on that chart in 1966.
He stirred up a bit of scandal with the 1966 song “Rhapsody in Rain,” with lyrics that at the time were considered explicit: Baby the raindrops play for me / A lonely rhapsody ‘cause on our first date / We were makin’ out in the rain / And in this car our love went much too far / It was exciting as thunder / Tonight I wonder where you are” and “Baby, I’m parked outside your door / Remember makin’ love, makin’ love, we were makin’ love in the storm.” The tune topped out at No. 16 on the charts.
His array of album releases grew with “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” in 1969, “Paint America Love” in 1971, “Pledging My Love” in 1997 and more records over the years.
The life of a teen idol in the early 1960s was a mix of dismissal and adulation, according to peer Fabian Forte, who performed as Fabian and toured with Christie in rock ‘n’ roll revival shows in the 1980s.
“They laughed at us. They wouldn’t take us seriously as artists,” Forte told The Times in 1985, talking about music critics in the 1950s and early ‘60s. But, he added, “Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t all bad. For a teen-age boy, you can imagine what it was like having all those girls drooling over you. That was heaven.”
The teen idols of that era faded with the British Invasion, but Christie didn’t fade with them.
“I hit the end of that whole era,” Christie told writer James for ClassicBands.com. “I’ve always been between the cracks of rock ‘n’ roll, I felt. The missing link. … We had the teenage idols. We had Frankie Avalon. We had Fabian. That thing was just about closing down when a lot of my records started hitting. … They all disappeared, but my records kept going through that English Invasion.”
In addition to releasing more music later in life, Christie would offer up his vocal talents to help raise money for causes including the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and a rock ‘n’ roll retirement home for artists from the ‘50s and ‘60s planned by the Starlight Starbright foundation.
And in those years after his No. 1 spotlight had dimmed, Christie still knew how to put smiles on fans’ faces, as evidenced after a performance at a festival at Magic Mountain in 1985.
The event began late on one of the hottest days of the year after its lineup and schedule had switched around repeatedly leading up to the concert and the promoter had gone missing. Some acts that concert-goers expected to see wound up not performing — but Christie was not one of them.
“I’m really glad the show turned out well,” Christie told The Times in 1985, lounging in his trailer after his set at the “Spirit of the ‘60s” festival. “I tell you, I was going crazy with this thing — on, off, on again, off again. I had to cancel some dates I had arranged for after this was canceled the first time. But” — and a big smile crossed his face — ”they got their show, all right. The baby boomers really dug it. Even people backstage enjoyed it.”
A representative for the singer did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times’ request for comment.
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