On February 19, 1966, Lou Christie’s soaring and catchy song “Lightnin’ Strikes” became the pop singer’s one and only single to top the Billboard Hot 100. Christie co-wrote the tune with his frequent collaborator Twyla Herbert.
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“Lightnin’ Strikes” knocked Petula Clark’s “My Love” from the top of the Hot 100. It spent one week at No. 1 before being replaced by Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.”
[RELATED: “Lightnin’ Strikes” Singer Lou Christie Dead at 82]
The song is sung from the perspective of a guy who is explaining to a girlfriend that he wants her to be faithful while admitting that he is constantly getting infatuated with other women.
Christie, whose given name was Lugee Sacco, scored his first Top 40 hits in the early 1960s. They included “Two Faces Have I,” which reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1963. Lou was known for his high falsetto vocals, which were reminiscent of Frankie Valli. Chrisie’s falsetto made the choruses of “Lightnin’ Strikes” soar.
The song included backing vocals by girl-group singers Peggy Santiglia, Bernadette Carroll, and Denise Ferri.
In a 2005 interview with Goldmine magazine, and reported by SongFacts, Christie recalled that “Lightnin’ Strikes” didn’t receive any support from his label, MGM Records, when he brought the song to the company.
“[T]hey didn’t even like it!” he recalled. “[Label head] Lenny Shear threw it in the wastebasket and said it was a piece of crap! So we put up our own money to get it played around the country, and it started taking off once it got played. Three months later, Lenny was taking a picture with me for Billboard magazine, handing me a gold record. I loved that.”
Songfacts: Lightnin’ Strikes | Lou Christie
Christie is sending mixed messages in this song: First, he’s admitting he can’t settle down to just one girl, but in the second verse he wants his girl to be trustworthy, true and pure. He bluntly admits he’s willing to settle down to her one day, but for now if somebody’s looking and reading his mind he’s going for it. Can the character in this song ever be true to one girl? Doubtful. Christie and his songwriting partner Twyla Herbert wrote several stories based on pre-marital sex. Their love went much too far in their car in “Rhapsody In The Rain.” “They” had to run away and get married in the song “Baby, We Got To Run Away.” “She” gave it to him once and wouldn’t give it to him again in the song “Trapeze.” “If My Car Could only Talk” and “Watch Your Heart After Dark” are other songs of this nature. (thanks, Dennis – Ambridge, PA)
More About Lou Christie
At age 15, Christie met Herbert, a classically trained pianist more than 20 years older than him. The two soon began what became a lifelong songwriting partnership.
After the success of “Lightnin’ Strikes,” Christie scored one other Hot 100 hit with a song he co-wrote with Herbert. “Rhapsody In The Rain” peaked at No. 16 in 1966. Lou also had a No. 10 hit in 1969 with “I’m Gonna Make You Mine,” written by Tony Romeo. Romeo became best known for writing the chart-topping Partridge Family hit “I Think I Love You.”
Christie continued to perform into the 2020s. He died of cancer on June 18, 2025, at age 82.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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