For the Love of Christie
But that doesn’t matter to Harry Young, the 44-year-old president of the Lou Christie International Fan Club. He’s been following the singer’s every move since 1977, when he began publishing Lightning Strikes, the club’s twice-a-year newsletter. Young has also penned detailed liner notes for five reissues of Christie’s recordings. Backstage after a 1982 concert at the Holiday Star Theatre in Merrillville, Christie pointed to his tall and studious-looking fan and said, “This guy knows me better than I do.”
In 1977, after graduating from Antioch College, Young went to the University of Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in Egyptology. He says he now approaches Christie’s music “in the same way an Egyptologist would approach ancient history.”
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Was Lou there?
Reaching under the nightstand again, Young pulls out a Japanese copy of Christie’s 1970 record “She Sold Me Magic.” He waves it like a wand. “The Billboard chart says it only went to number seven in Japan, but it definitely went gold in Japan.” His voice drops to a whisper. “Because I saw the gold record at his mother’s house.”
Young takes a breath and shakes his head. He can’t find it in his heart to say anything bad about Christie, though he will admit to being “totally confused” by the singer’s lounge treatment of “Mack the Knife.” He walks over to a box of CDs near his bed and takes out a copy of Christie’s latest solo CD, Pledging My Love, released in 1997 on Varese Sarabande. The laid-back texture of the record signals a departure. Young says, “In Billboard magazine, Gene Sculatti wrote, ‘Most Impressive Comebacks: Tie–Bob Dylan, ‘Time Out of Mind’; Lou Christie, ‘Pledging My Love.’ And should anyone doubt that endorsement, Sculatti’s column is reprinted in Lightning Strikes, volume 35.
