Lou Christie



Lou Christie was born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, on February 19th, 1943, in Glen Willard, Pennsylvania. A former student of Classical music, he moved to New York in 1963 where he sang backing vocals on a variety of sessions. Lou recorded unsuccessfully with such groups as The Classics, and Lugee And The Lions. In 1963, Lugee was signed by Roulette Records and recorded his debut single for them, "The Gypsy Cried". It was only after the disc was released that he found out that a record executive had decided to give him a new stage name, Lou Christie. "And I was pissed off about it for twenty years," he admits. "I wanted to keep my name and be a one-named performer, just Lugee. "The Gypsy Cried" was a local hit in Pittsburgh before it became a smash across the US, climbing to number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved sales in excess of one million. The following year "Two Faces Have I" proved even more successful, reaching number 6. These two successes earned him an invitation to join Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars, which toured the United States extensively. A romance developed between Lou and Supremes lead singer Diana Ross, but just as his career was getting into high gear, Christie was drafted into the US military.

Lou served six months at Fort Knox and when his service was up, he resumed his career immediately. After recording a song called "Lightnin' Stikes", he took the master to his new label, MGM. They hated it so much that the president of the company actually took the tape and threw it in a waste basket. Dejected, Lou moved to California to try to promote his song, which in the end, MGM decided to release after all. It took eight weeks after first appearing on the Billboard chart, but "Lightnin' Strikes" went all the way to number one and gave Lou his third Gold record in February, 1966.

His next single, "Rhapsody In The Rain" proved to be controversial, so much so that entire chains of radio stations refused to play it. Lou was forced to go back into the studio to re-record some of the suggestive lyrics. Although it seems odd by today's standards, AM radio in the 1960s was not about to play a song about a couple making love to the rhythm of a car's windshield wipers. According to Christie, the original lyrics were changed from: "We were makin' out in the rain" to "We fell in love in the rain", and "In this car, we went too far" to "Our love came like a falling star." The single went on to be a Top 40 hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number 16 in America and number 37 in the UK.

In 1969, now signed to Buddah Records, Christie had his final US Top 10 hit with "I'm Gonna Make You Mine", his style virtually unchanged from the earlier hits. His brand of music fell out of fashion when Disco reigned in the 1970s and Lou went through an extended down period. Numerous singles followed on various labels, but Christie was unable to regain any commercial ground. His final Billboard entry, "Are You Getting Any Sunshine", stalled at #83 during a one week stay on the Hot 100 in December, 1969.

A curious, almost anachronistic performer, he spent nearly two decades performing on the US Rock 'n' Roll revival circuit, touring often with Lesley Gore. But in the 1990s, years after scoring his first hit record, his career went on the rise again. His album, "Beyond The Blue Horizon" was released in 1994 on the Varese Sarabande label, and songs from that record have been featured in several movies, including Rain Man, A Home Of Their Own, and Dutch.

In 1999, Lou recorded his first album of all-new material in more than twenty years called "Pledging My Love", and his stage shows were frequented by Tom Jones-style groupies. It wasn't uncommon for his female fans to throw bras and panties on stage while he performed. "It's kind of flattering and kind of strange at the same time," Lou said. In 2004 he released his first concert album, "Greatest Hits Live From The Bottom Line", which featured the studio recording "Christmas In New York" as a bonus track. He remained a popular concert act on the oldies circuit in the US and UK. Lou also hosted a series of programs on Sirius XM radio for the '60s channel. On January 14, 2012, he was in Oceanside, California where he received an award in appreciation for his continued support of injured US armed forces veterans.

Looking back, Lou says he isn't bitter about the leaner times he experienced because it prompted him to become a better showman. "All of the success that I had in the early '60s in one way, took me away from performing," he noted. He also said that he cherished all of his names. "When I do my income taxes, when I do all of my business, everything is signed 'Lou Christie Sacco.'"

Lou continued as an active performer, appearing as part of oldies packages across America. His name surfaced in the news again on May 18, 2014 when his only son, 46-year-old Christopher, was killed in a traffic accident in Houston, Texas. Lou told the press, "It was devastating for all of us... I have to pull myself together to do it. It's a hard emotional thing to get out there and do it and forget about what happened." His 2015 tour schedule included dates across the U.S. with Danny And The Juniors, The Marcels, Darlene Love and The Lettermen. Lou continued to perform across America, and in 2022, despite the limitations that the COVID-19 virus put on touring, he was still scheduled for scattered shows across America. He also got together with a group of other Pittsburgh singers, including Jimmy Beaumont of The Skyliners, to record a song called "The Soldier", with 100% of the sales going directly to the Hope For Warriors Foundation.

Lou Christie's Top 40 Hits

The Gypsy Cried - (#24) 1963
Two Faces Have I - (#6) 1963
Lightnin' Strikes - (#1) 1966
Rhapsody In The Rain - (#16) 1966
I'm Gonna Make You Mine - (#10) 1969

For more, be sure to read Gary James interview with Lou Christie