Twila Moody was born in Riverside, California, and as a child moved with her parents to Pennsylvania,[2] where she married Earle Herbert (d.1982).
In the late 1950s, Lou Christie was 15 years old when he met Herbert, a "bohemian gypsy, psychic, and former concert pianist," at an audition in a church basement in his hometown, Glenwillard, Pennsylvania.
[3] Over 20 years older than he was, with flaming red hair, she was a self-described clairvoyant and mystic who allegedly predicted which of their songs would become hits.
[4] The pair co-wrote the great majority of Christie's hits, including "The Gypsy Cried", "Two Faces Have I", "Rhapsody in the Rain", "She Sold Me Magic", and most famously, "Lightnin' Strikes", a song later covered by such artists as Del Shannon and Klaus Nomi.
"[5] Herbert and Christie also composed for his backup singers, a girl group named the Tammys, a handful of songs, including the eccentric single, "Egyptian Shumba," which with its over-the-top, savage vocals and faux-Middle Eastern melody, has become a cult classic.