#24: Outside The Gates Of Heaven by Lou Christie

City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #45
YouTube: “Outside The Gates Of Heaven”
Lyrics: “Outside The Gates Of Heaven”

Lou Christie was born in 1943 with the birth name Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco. He was born in Glenwillard, a suburb of Pittsburgh. His first public performance was a first-grade Christmas pageant, in which he sang “Away in a Manger.” While in high school, he studied music and voice, served as student conductor of the choir and sang solos at holiday concerts. 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. At age 15 he met and befriended Twyla Herbert, a classically trained musician 20 years his senior, who became his regular songwriting partner. Lugee Sacco performed with several vocal groups and between 1959 and 1962 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. After graduating from high school in 1961, Sacco traveled to New York City and worked as a session vocalist.

In 1961, Lou Sacco backed Marcy Jo on her regional hits “Ronnie“, and in 1962 “I’m A Dreamer, Aren’t We All“. Lou with his four-octave range was noticed.

In 1962, Sacco approached Nick Cenci with some demo tapes. One of the first things Cenci did was change the name Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco to Lou Christie. Sacco’s father liked the name change, because it had “Christ” in it. The singer himself did not like the name, though he was open to using a stage name and was compiling a list of suggestions. Cenci unilaterally picked “Lou Christie” without asking him. Christie later recalled it taking him 20 years to get used to his stage name.

Lou Christie’s first single release was “The Gypsy Cried”. It reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on CHUM-AM in Toronto. His followup single, “Two Faces Have I”, climbed to #6 in the Billboard Hot 100, and the Top Ten in Canada and New Zealand. He joined Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars tour alongside the Supremes and Brian Hyland.

Christie released another half dozen singles that failed to crack the Top 40 on the national charts. His eighth effort after “Two Faces Have I” was titled “Lightnin’ Strikes”. The single reached number-one in both Canada and the USA, as well as peaking at #3 in New Zealand, #9 in Australia and #11 in the UK. The song was featured in the 1996 film Waiting for Guffman. 

Lou Christie’s next single release was “Outside the Gates of Heaven”.

“Outside The Gates Of Heaven” was cowritten by Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert. A guy is begging his sweetheart not to lock him outside the gates of heaven, as heaven in this case is her heart. Angels in heaven can see how much her act of walking away from the guy is hurting more and more each day. He prays that the gates to heaven won’t always be closed, and that one day the gates to heaven will open wide.

“Outside The Gates Of Heaven” reached #2 in Grand Rapids (MI), #6 in St. John’s (NL), #7 in Windsor (ON), #8 in Battle Creek (MI), and Birmingham (AL), #9 in Salt Lake City, and #10 in Hamilton (ON). However, the single stalled at  #45 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Christie’s next release, “Big Time”, fared poorly as it only cracked the Hot 100 in the USA, stalling at #95. However, he rebounded onto radio listeners radar with “Rhapsody in the Rain”. Many radio stations banned the song due to the controversial lyrics suggesting sexual climax. It failed to chart in over a dozen states across the USA. According to Lou Christie, the original lyrics were changed from: “We were makin’ out in the rain” to “We fell in love in the rain;” And “In this car, we went too far, it was as exciting as thunder” to “Our love came like a falling star.” Nonetheless, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Lou Christie went through another dry spell with nine consecutive single releases selling poorly. With only two of these cracking the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. However, in 1969 Lou Christie scored an international Top Ten hit with “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”. His backing vocalists were Lesley Gore, Valerie Simpson and Linda Scott. The single peaked at #2 in the UK, #4 in Ireland, #5 in Canada, #7 in South Africa, #10 on the Hot 100, #13 in New Zealand, #14 in the Netherlands, and #17 in Belgium. It was his last hit to reach the Top 50.

One of his final singles, “Beyond The Blue Horizon”, was a remake of the 1930s pop standard. It reached #10 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 1974. He released his twelfth studio album in 2015 titled Summer In Malibu. 

Lou Christie appeared on Hollywood Squares, The Midnight Special, Disco 2, Anything You Can Do, 5 episodes of Top of the Pops, Lift Off, Upbeat, Malibu U., The Clay Cole Show, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, The Mike Douglas Show, six episodes of American Bandstand (between February 8, 1963, and September 3, 1966), Hollywood Discotheque, and Ready, Steady Go!

Lou Christie maintained the ability to sing falsetto well into his 70s, which made him a popular act on the oldies circuit. He continued to tour into this 80s. As well, he hosted shows on SiriusXM’s ’60s channel. Lou Christie died from cancer in Pittsburgh, in 2025 at the age of 82.

March 25, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
KiMi Robinson, “Lou Christie, ‘Lightnin’ Strikes’ singer and teen idol, dies at 82,” USA Today, June 18, 2025.
“Remembering Lou Christie With 25 Fascinating Facts About the “Lightnin’ Strikes” Hitmaker,” ThatEricAlper.com, June 21, 2025.
Lou Christie, “Lightnin’ Strikes“, Hollywood A-Go-Go, January 15, 1966.
Mark Copolov, “Lou Christie Interview,” Purple Haze with Mark Copolov, 88.5-FM Southern, Bentleigh East, Victoria, Australia, 1997.

Newfoundland’s Only Official Survey | VOCM 590-AM St. John’s (NFLD) | April 15, 1966