Lou Christie

All Music Guide:

While Lou Christie's shrieking falsetto was among the most distinctive voices in all of pop music, he was also one of the first solo performers of the rock era to compose his own material, generating some of the biggest and most memorable hits of the mid-'60s. Born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco in Glen Willard, PA on February 19, 1943, he won a scholarship to Moon Township High School as a teen; there he studied music and vocal technique, later joining a group dubbed the Classics. Between 1959 and 1962, in collaboration with a variety of Pittsburgh-area bands, he cut a series of records for small local labels, adopting the stage name Lou Christie along the way. Eventually he made the acquaintance of Twyla Herbert, a classically trained musician and self-proclaimed mystic some 20 years his senior; they became songwriting partners, and in 1962 penned "The Gypsy Cried," which he recorded on two-track in his garage. The single became a local phenomenon, and was eventually licensed for national release by the Roulette label, peaking at number 24 on the pop charts in 1963.

After relocating to New York and landing session work as a backing vocalist, Christie wrote and recorded a follow-up, "Two Faces Have I"; it landed in the Top Ten, but shortly after its release he began a two-year stint in the Army. He returned to action in 1966, picking up right where he left off with his biggest hit yet -- the lush, chart-topping "Lightnin' Strikes." Christie's next smash, 1966's "Rhapsody in the Rain," was notorious for being among the more sexually explicit efforts of the period. After brief stays with Colpix and Columbia, he next moved to the Buddah label, scoring one last Top Ten hit in 1969 with "I'm Gonna Make You Mine." Drug problems plagued Christie during the early '70s, and after getting clean at a London rehab clinic, he dropped out of music, working variously as a ranch hand, offshore oil driller, and carnival barker; by the 1980s, he was making the occasional appearance on oldies package tours, and in 1997 issued Pledging My Love, his first new material in over a quarter-century. On October 21, 2003, Christie appeared at the Bottom Line in New York City, with performances from the show (one of the last to be held at the longstanding venue) heard on Greatest Hits Live at the Bottom Line, released by Varèse Sarabande the following year).

Wikipedia:

Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 hit, "Lightnin' Strikes", and his three-octave vocal range.

Biography [edit]

Sacco was born in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania and raised in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He traveled to New York after graduating from Moon Area High School and found work as a session vocalist.

Robbee and Roulette: 1961-1963 [edit]

Christie recorded a few unsuccessful discs of his own for various record labels in both New York and Pittsburgh, including "The Jury" (as "Lugee & The Lions") on the Pittsburgh-based Robbee label, which achieved local success. "The Gypsy Cried" features the vocal style that would characterize all of Christie's biggest hits: verses sung in his normal register, and then a dramatic shift to his falsetto on the choruses. That song was released in 1962 on the C & C (sometimes listed as Co & Ce) label and unexpectedly credited to "Lou Christie" without his permission. He had been working on a list of potential stage names, and he has stated that he hated the name for years afterwards: "I was pissed off about it for 20 years. I wanted to keep my name and be a one-named performer, just 'Lugee'."

Christie was frequently written off by critics as an imitator of Frankie Valli, as both men possessed similar falsetto vocals and the ability to change almost effortlessly between their falsetto and normal registers. Later reviewers have been less harsh, noting that Christie was one of the first singer-songwriters of the era, a status later noted by John Lennon, who referred to Christie as "A truly creative person".

After the C & C release became a Pittsburgh hit, "The Gypsy Cried" was picked up by Roulette Records and charted nationwide, peaking at #24, selling over one million copies, and receiving a gold disc. "The Gypsy Cried" was the first of numerous songs Christie co-wrote with his songwriting partner Twyla Herbert, a self-described eccentric and mystic, who was over twenty years older than Christie but shared his love of classical music. The two struck up a working relationship after Christie auditioned for her at the age of 15 and began a lifelong friendship which ended only with her death in 2009.

Christie's follow-up single, "Two Faces Have I" in March 1963, was an even bigger hit, peaking at #6 and also selling over a million copies. He joined Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars Tour and performed his early hits on Clark's American Bandstand and Where the Action Is. He also appeared on local and regional TV in performance during the 1960s.

A third Roulette release, "How Many Teardrops" (written by Milan), stalled at #46 as Christie's career was temporarily derailed by his induction into the US Army. Christie would not have another charting single for two and a half years.

Re-establishment and "Rhapsody In The Rain": 1965-1966 [edit]

Christie's career was quickly re-established after his discharge when he signed with the MGM label. MGM reportedly disliked Christie's first single for the label, with MGM's president reportedly throwing the tape into a wastepaper basket. But Christie's new management promoted the record in California, and when it gained some traction (eventually reaching #2 on KHJ the last two weeks of 1965), MGM released it. "Lightnin' Strikes" reached #1 in the U.S. on Christie's 23rd birthday on February 19, 1966; entered the UK Top 20, becoming his first hit in that country; and peaked at #1 in Canada. The song featured his signature falsetto and included a female chorus (Bernadette Carroll, Denise Ferri, and Peggy Santiglia, though Fred Bronson's listing stated Linda Scott and Ellie Greenwich instead) shouting "Stop!" in counterpoint to the lead vocal:

Christie's next release ignited a firestorm of controversy and censorship. Released in the spring of 1966, "Rhapsody In The Rain" featured a haunting melody inspired by Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet", telling of a teenager's memory of his sexual experience in the back seat of a car during a rainstorm as the windshield wipers made a rhythmic sound of "together, together". Later after the romance ends, the wipers seem to say "never, never". Many radio stations banned the song after hearing the opening lyrics:

MGM insisted on a re-recorded version that toned down the lyrical content. The re-dubbed lyrics for the "clean" version of the song were changed to:

Despite the edited version, many radio stations instead played two older songs re-released by other labels Christie had once recorded for: "Outside the Gates of Heaven" (A side of "The Gypsy Cried", but in 1966 on Co & Ce Records, successor to C & C) peaked at #45, while "Big Time" (on Colpix Records) managed to hit #95. All three singles hit nationally within three weeks of one another, in March 1966, while "Lightnin' Strikes" was falling off.

Whether it was the controversial lyrics or competition from the other singles released simultaneously, "Rhapsody" stalled at #16 in the US and #37 in the UK. Christie's career seemed to be derailed once again as his followup for MGM, "Painter", which also borrowed a melody from classical music - this time from Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly - stalled at #81. Two further MGM releases (produced by Jack Nitzsche) from 1966 missed the Billboard Hot 100 entirely, even though "If My Car Could Only Talk" (peaking at #118) seemingly revisits the ill-fated lovers from "Rhapsody".

Resurgence and Romeo: 1969-1970 [edit]

After being dropped by MGM and an unfruitful stint with Columbia Records in the late 1960s, Christie teamed up with Buddah Records (a move prompted by his business manager Stan Polley) and bubblegum music record producer Tony Romeo and had a surprise Wall of Sound constant uptempo hit "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" (which Romeo wrote) in the early autumn of 1969. Helped by two promotional videos distinctly different from each other, the song peaked at #10 in the US but climbed to #2 on the UK Singles Chart and thus became his biggest hit there.

A follow up, "She Sold Me Magic" charted only in the UK, peaking at #25, and was later covered by Elton John. Conversely, "Are You Getting Any Sunshine?" only charted in America, where it reached #73.

Recoveries and remakes: 1971 to present [edit]

Christie spent the early 1970s between London and New York. In 1971 he released a concept album called Paint America Love, regarded by some as his best LP, and married former UK beauty queen Francesca Winfield in London. In 1974, Christie would try another new musical style, going country on his Beyond The Blue Horizon album. The title track, a remake of a hit song from 1930, written for the film Monte Carlo, featured one of Christie's strongest non-falsetto vocal performances. The song missed the Country charts and only made #80 on the pop chart but managed #12 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song has been used in several film soundtracks, including 1988's Rain Man.

Christie became active on the oldies circuit starting in the early 1980s, scoring a final US chart hit, credited as "Summer '81 Medley" by The Cantina Band (featuring Lou Christie), in 1981, performing a medley of Beach Boys classics.

In 1997, Christie recorded his first all-new album since the 1970s entitled Pledging My Love, produced by Alan Grossman & Jimm Mosher of Hit Music Studio in Spencer, North Carolina. Billboard labeled this new album "Most Impressive Comeback" album. Most of it was penned by Christie, presented in a contemporary manner, and included the songs "What Happened to the Nights", "Techno Pop" (a diatribe about the loss of communication in our lives), and "I Sure Fell in Love" and covers of the Critters' "Mr. Dieingly Sad" and Johnny Ace's title tune. Cub Koda said it was "loaded with AOR hits".

In 2004, Christie released his first concert album, Greatest Hits Live From The Bottom Line, which featured studio recording "Christmas In New York" as a bonus track. In addition to the occasional new release, Christie remains a concert act on the oldies circuit in the US and UK. He has also hosted a series of programs on SiriusXM radio for the 1960s channel.