https://triblive.com/aande/music/pittsburgh-singer-lou-christie-dead-at-age-82/
I feel like the Grim Reaper sometimes lately. Today I report the passing of the guy with the legendary falsetto voice, Mr. Lou Christie.
Ain't gonna lie - I only know of two or three of his tunes, but Lightin' Strikes is one of the coolest radio hits ever! You've got Lou's ... standard voice over the verses punctuated by those go-go/cheerleader females - then you get Lou's patented falsetto! There's even a cool guitar solo in there! Guilty pleasure! This is one of those songs where I crank the freakin' car radio up to 12 and do my best to sing along with!
Goodbye, Lou! Thanks for the thrill!
I remember Lightening Strikes. Lou Christie with the Frankie Valli or Brian Wilson high falsetto singing style.
It sounded good in my 1962 Buick LeSabre my dad bought me. It was about 1965. Top 40 radio was so popular then.
@robertdee Aside from Lou's falsetto the best part of the song is Ralph Casale's, "stuttering guitar solo". Ralph was a session player (much like Tommy Tesdesco of the Wrecking Crew) who played on many, many songs. The Lightnin' Strikes solo was actually played on a 6-string bass. It always reminds me of Springsteens solo on Born to Run.
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Ralph Casale, who was one of the top New York session musicians in the '60s, played guitar on this song. When we interviewed Ralph, he told us how he came up with the solo. Said Casale: "I was asked by producer/arranger Charlie Calello to play the six string bass guitar which sometimes doubles the same line the bass plays. When the track was being played back without vocals I started jokingly improvising a solo on the bass guitar with a fuzz box. I didn't know what the song was about but Charlie obviously did. He stopped the playback and said 'I love it!' I laughed, and asked if he was joking. He excitedly replied, 'I'll tell you where to play it!' After recording it and listening to the entire song I realized why he included my solo. It actually sounded like thunder and fit in nicely with the entire recording. That's how the solo in Lightnin' Strikes was born!"
@rusty Nice read. Thanks. And a lot of music was recorded in New York City.
Lightening Strikes sure sounded good on my radios in 1965.
