Luie Luie stands out as a genuine oddball in a world of faux freaks

As for why he wrote Touchy, Luie explained that back in the '70s everyone was doing drugs and people were disconnected from one another. "People lost contact with reality, and at that time we saw the dancers — I was playing in the nightclubs — and there was no more romance. The heart was not involved; it was movement. They lost the touch." Three decades later, though, Luie still stands behind his words. "I love it," he says of Touchy. "I loved it then and I love it now!"

Before he gets off the phone, Luie reminds me, "There's a lot to know, hijita." And he's right on that one, too. Just when you think you have the world of musical eccentrics all figured out, a new one drops on your plate who is truly, well, touched.