A Working-Class Siren Song, Sung Blue

Mike and Claire Sardina of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were a likable couple with a story of compelling social interest. Through the 1990s, the Sardinas were at the center of a locally beloved Neil Diamond cover act, Lightning & Thunder. They met in the Milwaukee music scene and, in short order, became a musical and romantic partnership that endured nearly two decades before Mike’s death in 2006. Their love story is undiluted late 20^th-century Americana. Both were divorced with children, and struggled defiantly to balance their musical ambitions with the day-to-day challenges of  working-class life. Their story, with all its complications, is interesting for what it reveals about the life and struggles of everyday Americans.