Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally by his stage name 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".

Christie was born Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco[2] on February 19, 1943, in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania,[1] and grew up in suburban Pittsburgh.

While attending Moon Area High School, he studied music and voice, served as student conductor of the choir and sang solos at holiday concerts.

With those hits, Christie joined Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars Tour, alongside Diana Ross, Brian Hyland, and others.

[2] During this pre-Army phase of his career, the female vocalists featured on Christie's records were The Tammys, a trio from Pleasantville, Venango County, Pennsylvania.

Christie and Herbert wrote the single "Egyptian Shumba" for the group, and although it was not a hit, it became a cult favorite in the Northern Soul scene in the early 1970s.

"Lightnin' Strikes" reached #1 in the US 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) shouting "Stop!"

in counterpoint to the lead vocal: Christie's next release in the spring of 1966, "Rhapsody in the Rain", featured a 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".

He 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 backing vocalists Linda Scott, Lesley Gore, and Valerie Simpson,[2] and by two promotional videos distinctly different from each other, the song peaked at No.

In 1971 he released a concept album called Paint America Love, regarded by some as his best LP,[12] and married former UK beauty queen Francesca Winfield in London.

In the US, he recorded "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", but after a dispute between his manager Stan Polley and Neil Bogart of Buddah, Christie's vocals were removed and replaced by those of the similar-sounding Robert John, whose version became a major hit.

[2] Christie was also peripherally involved in the legal issues around Five Arts Management, a company set up by Polley, which contributed to the suicides of Badfinger members Pete Ham and Tom Evans.

In 1997, Christie recorded his first all-new album since the 1970s, entitled Pledging My Love and produced by Alan Grossman & Jimm Mosher of Hit Music Studio in Spencer, North Carolina.

[15] 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.

[16] 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.

Groove N Jams published a favorable review of "Luv Attack" writing, "The way Christie drops alien processing into the mix feels as sharp and strange and thrilling as anything he did in the 60s.