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Lou Christie, “Lightnin’ Strikes” and “Rhapsody in the Rain” Singer, Dies at 82

The Pittsburgh native, famed for his distinctive falsetto, also had hits with “The Gypsy Cried,” “Two Faces Have I,” “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” and more.

“Lightnin’ Strikes,” arranged, conducted and produced by Charles Calello and featuring backing vocals from Bernadette Carroll, Peggy Santiglia and Denise Ferri of The Delicates, was released on MGM Records in December 1965 and made it to No. In a 2016 examination of the tune — it’s sung from the perspective of a guy who’s not faithful — the website Rebeat noted that “When Christie spots ‘lips begging to be kissed,’ his voice mutates into a shrill keen, completely unrecognizable from the charmer he posed as just seconds earlier. Christie, whose résumé also included “Outside the Gates of Heaven,” “Are You Getting Any Sunshine?,” “Big Time” and “She Sold Me Magic,” recorded his last album in 2004 and more recently toured with Frankie Avalon and Fabian as a member of Dick Fox’s Golden Boys.

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