Lugee 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 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range. Sacco was born in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania[1] and raised in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sacco traveled to New York after graduating from Moon Area High School and found work as a session vocalist. His sister Susan Christie had a minor hit with the novelty song "I Love Onions", which peaked at #63 on the Hot 100 in 1966. ...show more

Lugee 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 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range. Sacco was born in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania[1] and raised in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sacco traveled to New York after graduating from Moon Area High School and found work as a session vocalist. His sister Susan Christie had a minor hit with the novelty song "I Love Onions", which peaked at #63 on the Hot 100 in 1966.

Robbee and Roulette: 1961-1963 Sacco also recorded a few unsuccessful discs of his own for various record labels in both New York and Pittsburgh, most notably "The Jury" (as by "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 tiny C&C label and unexpectedly credited to 'Lou Christie' without Sacco's permission. Sacco had been working on a list of potential stage names, and he has stated that he hated the name for decades afterwards: "I was pissed off about it for 20 years.

I wanted to keep my name and be a one-named performer, just 'Lugee'." 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 also 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. ...show less