Christie, Lou
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Raised in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sacco traveled to New York after graduating from Moon Area High School, and found work as a session vocalist. He also recorded a few unsuccessful discs of his own for various record labels in both New York and Pittsburgh.
One of his singles, “The Gypsy Cried” was released on the tiny C&C label and credited to “Lou Christie” without Sacco’s permission or consent. He has stated that he hated the name for decades afterwards. It features the vocal style that would categorize all of Christie’s biggest hits: verses sung in his normal register, and then a dramatic shift to his falsetto on the choruses. After the C&C release became a hit in his home town of Pittsburgh, the song was picked up by Roulette Records and charted nationwide, peaking at #24. “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.
His follow-up single “Two Faces Have I” was an even bigger hit, peaking at #6, as Christie joined Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars Tour. On that tour, he was reportly linked in an interracial romance with Diana Ross of The Supremes. A third Roulette release, “How Many Teardrops” stalled at #46 as Christie’s career was temporarily derailed by his induction into the US Army.
Already, Christie was frequently, if unfairly, 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 it and their normal registers.
One of his singles, “The Gypsy Cried” was released on the tiny C&C label and credited to “Lou Christie” without Sacco’s permission or consent. He has stated that he hated the name for decades afterwards. It features the vocal style that would categorize all of Christie’s biggest hits: verses sung in his normal register, and then a dramatic shift to his falsetto on the choruses. After the C&C release became a hit in his home town of Pittsburgh, the song was picked up by Roulette Records and charted nationwide, peaking at #24. “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.
His follow-up single “Two Faces Have I” was an even bigger hit, peaking at #6, as Christie joined Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars Tour. On that tour, he was reportly linked in an interracial romance with Diana Ross of The Supremes. A third Roulette release, “How Many Teardrops” stalled at #46 as Christie’s career was temporarily derailed by his induction into the US Army.
Already, Christie was frequently, if unfairly, 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 it and their normal registers.
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