Ellen Lucille "Evelyn" Thomas (August 22, 1953 – July 21, 2024) was an American singer from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, best known for the

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

dance hits " High Energy", "Masquerade", "Standing at the Crossroads", "Reflections", and "Weak Spot".

Life and career

Thomas was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on August 22, 1953. Although best known worldwide for her 1980s

club hits, Thomas recorded and performed

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...

, R&B, and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

songs in the 1980s. She was discovered by British producer

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, DJ, and prominent Doctor Who fan. A populariser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG, he has co-written and co-produced records with sa ...

, who was in the United States in 1975 scouting for

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singers he could promote in the UK. The two recorded several tracks which resulted in a contract with

20th Century Records 20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores and Fox Records) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. The history of the label covers three distin ...

. Thomas scored a chart hit with her first single, reaching the UK top 30 in 1976 with the single "Weak Spot", co-written by Levine and Paul David Wilson. A follow-up single, "Doomsday", entered the UK charts twice, and Levine and Thomas would continue their association for quite some time. She signed to US label

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

for her first album release, ''I Wanna Make It on My Own'', released in 1978. With Casablanca doing little to promote the LP, she switched to AVI Records for the double A-side 12-inch single "Have a Little Faith in Me" / "No Time to Turn Around" which prompted the label to release it as an LP, backed with Rick Gianatos' extended remixes of her 1976 tracks "My Head's in the Stars" and "Love's Not Just an Illusion". By 1984, Levine had re-established himself as a producer and asked Thomas to come to London to record a new track " High Energy". Just a few weeks after it was released, it became a chart hit in Europe, peaking at number one in Germany and at number five in the UK. The song was her only ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entry, peaking at number 85, although three additional songs hit the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' dance chart. The follow-up single, "Masquerade", was taken from her third album, ''High Energy'', released the same year. While it received heavy rotation in European clubs, it failed to break into the UK top 40. Later in the year, "Heartless" became her only single other than "High Energy" to chart outside of the dance charts in the US. "Heartless" peaked at number 84 on the Black Singles chart (later renamed the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart) in 1985. Though she would not return to the US pop or R&B charts, she had a dance chart hit with a cover of

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

' 1967 song " Reflections", peaking at number 18 on the

Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart in early 1986. A second Thomas release that summer fared even better on the dance charts, with "How Many Hearts" narrowly missing the top 10, peaking at number 11. The two songs would later appear on Thomas' fourth album release, ''Standing at the Crossroads'', in 1986. In 2009, Thomas and three others formed an entertainment company, called Eljopan Entertainment Incorporated. Thomas died on July 21, 2024, at the age of 70. Her death was acknowledged by Levine who premiered a posthumous song, "Out with the Old", in her honour on August 1, 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

*''I Wanna Make It on My Own'' (

, 1978) *''Have a Little Faith in Me'' (AVI Records, 1979) *''High Energy'' (Record Shack, 1984) *''Standing at the Crossroads'' (Record Shack, 1986)

Compilation albums

*''The Best of Evelyn Thomas'' (Hot Productions, 1991) *''High Energy: The Best of Evelyn Thomas'' (Hallmark, 2000)

Singles

References

External links

Discography
at

Rate Your Music Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online encyclopedia of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also features comm ...

.
Evelyn Thomas
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Evelyn 1953 births 2024 deaths Singers from Chicago American women singers American disco musicians American house musicians American soul singers American hi-NRG musicians American women in electronic music Casablanca Records artists 21st-century American businesswomen