rockschoolpodcast

Lou Christie’s chart-topping, multi-million selling career as a songwriter, recording artist and performer started in a two track studio in Glenwillard, PA, his rural hometown. At the tender age of 18, he co-wrote and released his first Gold record, 1962’s “The Gypsy Cried”, followed quickly by “Two Faces Have I”, a Top 5 pop hit in 1963, transforming him into a national teen idol. He soon joined Dick Clark’s Caravan Of Stars, touring the country alongside other breakout artists including the Supremes, Brian Hyland and Bobby Freeman and was featured regularly on such TV shows as American Bandstand and Where The Action Is. After a two-year stint in the Army, Christie forever embedded himself and his trademark high-falsetto voice into America’s consciousness with 1966’s “Lightnin’ Strikes”, a platinum-plus single which hit the top of the Billboard pop charts as well as the UK Top 20 and remains a radio and streaming staple today. More hits followed through the 60’s, including 1966’s controversial “Rhapsody In The Rain” and 1969’s Top 10 “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”. Christie, one of the few solo artists from the 1960’s to have co-written nearly all of his songs and created his own original sound, has kept his music alive through the decades via active touring in American and around the world. His songs have appeared in a myriad of high profile films including Barry Levinson’s Rain Man, Whit Stillman’s Barcelona and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and he has been cited as an influence by such contemporaries as Elton John, John Lennon and Madonna.