![]() Sacco's father liked the name change, because it had "Christ" in it.Ĭenci liked Sacco's falsetto voice and suggested that he listen to the Four Seasons' recent hit "Sherry". Cenci told Sacco that there was only one great Italian singer and that he had to change his name. One of the first things Cenci did was change the name Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco to Lou Christie. In 1962, Sacco approached Nick Cenci with some demo tapes. After graduating from high school in 1961, Sacco traveled to New York City and worked as a session vocalist. Sacco performed with several vocal groups and between 19 released several records on small Pittsburgh labels, achieving a local hit with "The Jury" by Lugee & The Lions (a group consisting of Sacco, Twyla Herbert's daughter Shirley, and two others) released on the Robbee label. At age 15 he met and befriended Twyla Herbert, a classically trained musician 20 years his senior, who became his regular songwriting partner and wrote hundreds of songs with him over the next 30 years until her death in 2009. His teacher, Frank Cummings, wanted him to pursue a career in classical music, but Sacco wanted to cut a record to get on American Bandstand. While attending Moon Area High School, he studied music and voice, served as student conductor of the choir and sang solos at holiday concerts. It's also the second most memorable track on the disc leading up to the hit.Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper " Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 UK number-two " I'm Gonna Make You Mine".īiography Early life and career Ĭhristie was born Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco on February 19, 1943, in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania, and grew up in suburban Pittsburgh. But despite "Wonderful Dream"'s doo wop, "It'll Take Time" is pure sugar-coated pop music written by Stan Vincent. The book Bubble Gum Music Is the Naked Truth barely lists Lou Christie, a mere two mentions putting him in the "general rock" category. ![]() Christie's own "Are You Getting Any Sunshine" is a snappy singalong tune full of bubblegummy sounds. Carrying the sentiment of the Beatles' "All I Gotta Do" or "Anytime at All" and Madeline Bell's "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," that determination that declares all is fair in love pushes "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" over the top. It's got horns, percussion, dramatic vocals, and keyboards, plus an explosive chorus. All of it fades when compared to the splendid production and punch of the hit single. Stan Vincent's "Generation" sounds like a '60s TV commercial, while Herbert Twyla and Lou Christie conclude the disc with the maudlin "I'm Gonna Get Married," one of three titles the songwriting team penned for this album. Instead of taking it the Vegas route, it needed the same love and attention they gave the title track, serious intensity missing from a much-covered song that never became a hit. Heck, the Manhattan Transfer gave that title extra legitimacy - and Christie fails to put his extraordinary voice to the wall and score a hit with this. Holland-Dozier-Holland's "Mickey's Monkey" is odd and interesting, but the cover of the Crystal Mansion's near-hit "The Thought of Loving You" is, well, schlocky. ![]() The problem with both discs is that the hit singles are far and away better than anything else in the grooves. Stan Vincent does admirable arrangements and co-production, the finesse that brought the Five Stairsteps up the charts for him a year later with "O-o-h Child" makes this recording more solid than Charles Calello's work on Lightnin' Strikes. Is it bubblegum? Being on Buddah lends itself to tagging artists with that term/genre, and album tracks like "Down When It's Up-Up When It's Down" could be The Partridge Family or Tony Orlando & Dawn, further confusing the artist's place in the music world. Three years after Lou Christie's Lightnin' Strikes project on MGM, he garnered a Top Ten hit with "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" and an album titled after the Tony Romeo song that climbed the charts for the pop singer.
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