Evelyn Thomas

Evelyn Thomas (* 22. August 1953 in Chicago as Ellen Lucille Thomas ) is an American singer .

Life

Evelyn Thomas grew up on the South Side of Chicago, where she began singing in a church. She found inspiration with the Motown stars, especially the divas and girl groups . After finishing school, she initially had an office job and took acting classes . The first recording, Something Special , was made by Thomas in 1973 with her church choir and Reverend Anne Crockett Ford. In 1974, Share the Bread of Presence , an album by the Center For Contemporary Celebration, followed. In the same year Thomas went to New York to apply as a singer on a new Broadway show . As a member of the choir she made various appearances until 1975 and was heard on The Wiz , the album of the original line-up for the show of the same name.

Back in Chicago she was discovered by the British DJ and music producer Ian Levine, one of the founders of the British boom in Northern Soul , who had come to America to find talent for his newly founded production company Voltafine. Levin produced Thomas' first single , Weak Spot , with Danny Leake and arranger Paul Wilson . In England the song rose to number 26 in the charts in January 1976, and a total of 70,000 copies were sold. The single Doomsday reached number 41 in the UK three months later. This was followed by the singles Love's Not Just an Illusion and My Head's in the Stars , which missed chart positions.

When Evelyn Thomas still couldn't land a hit in the United States in 1977, Levin brought her to England, where he worked on new titles for Thomas with his new partner, Fiachra Trench . The album I Wanna Make It on My Own was released in 1978.

The next productions with Evelyn Thomas were not made until five years later. In early 1984 the hit High Energy appeared , which founded the Hi-NRG movement. The song became a worldwide success and reached number one in Germany , number three in Switzerland and number five in Austria and England. Only in the USA the commercial success remained moderate with place 85, in the Billboard Dance Music / Club Play Singles the song reached the top position there too. A few weeks later the single Masquerade only made it to middle chart positions in Germany and England.

Despite various publications, Thomas did not return to the charts. She had minor successes in the dance charts in 1986 with her cover version of the Supremes classic Reflections and the title How Many Hearts .

Discography

Studio albums

• 1978: I Wanna Make It on My Own
• 1979: Have a Little Faith in Me
• 1984: High Energy
• 1986: Standing at the Crossroads

Compilations

• 1991: The Best of Evelyn Thomas - High Energy
• 1992: High Energy
• 1999: Greatest Hits
• 1999: Evelyn Thomas
• 2013: I Wanna Make It on My Own / Have a Little Faith in Me
• 2014: High Energy / Standing at the Crossroads (Special Edition) (2 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)						Remarks	[↑]: treated together with the previous entry; [←]: placed in both charts
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Dance
1976	Weak Spot The Best of Evelyn Thomas - High Energy	-	-	-	UK26 (7 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: January 9, 1976 Authors: Danny Leake, Ian Levine
	Doomsday The Best of Evelyn Thomas - High Energy	-	-	-	UK41 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: April 9, 1976 Authors: Danny Leake, Ian Levine
1984	High Energy High Energy	DE1 (19 weeks) DE	AT5 (2 months) AT	CH3 (12 weeks) CH	UK5 (18 weeks) UK	US85 (5 weeks) US	Dance1 (15 weeks) Dance	First published: April 12, 1984 Authors: Ian Levine, Fiachra Trench
	Masquerade High Energy	DE33 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK60 (4 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: August 6, 1984 Authors: Ian Levine, Fiachra Trench
	Heartless High Energy	-	-	-	UK95 (3 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: November 1984 number 84 (4 weeks) on the Billboard R&B charts. Authors: Ian Levine, Fiachra Trench
1985	Sorry, Wrong Number Standing at the Crossroads	-	-	-	UK100 (1 week) UK	-	Dance18 (8 weeks) Dance	First published: May 20, 1985 Authors: Ian Levine, Fiachra Trench
1986	Reflections Standing at the Crossroads	-	-	-	-	-[Dance: ↑]		First published: December 1985 Authors: Holland – Dozier – Holland Original: Diana Ross and the Supremes , 1968
	Cold Shoulder Standing at the Crossroads	-	-	-	UK81 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: January 20, 1986 Authors: Ian Levine, Fiachra Trench
	How Many Hearts Standing at the Crossroads	-	-	-	-	-	Dance11 (9 weeks) Dance	First published: August 1986 Authors: Ian Levine, Fiachra Trench
1994	One World	-	-	-	UK81 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: July 25, 1994 Groove Box feat. Evelyn Thomas Authors: Joe Issa, Mark Walker
1997	Tell the world	-	-	-	-	-	Dance43 (5 weeks) Dance	First published: March 1997 Redemption feat. Evelyn Thomas Authors: Joe Issa, Mark Walker

More singles

• 1976: Love's Not Just an Illusion (release: September 3rd)
• 1977: My Head's in the Stars (release: May 25th)
• 1979: Have a Little Faith in Me
• 1980: Thanks for Being There (April 25th)
• 1986: Tightrope
• 1987: No win situation
• 1987: Standing at the Crossroads
• 1987: Summer on the Beach
• 1987: High Voltage
• 1988: Only Once in a Lifetime
• 1988: That's Eurobeat Special Gigs (Promo)
• 1988: Sleaze
• 1989: This Is Madness
• 1989: No win situation
• 1991: Move Your Body (Systemex feat. Evelyn Thomas and MCLT Spice)
• 1998: Please Don't Let Me Go
• 2002: High Energy (Le Vibe feat. Evelyn Thomas)
• 2003: High Energy ( Axwell feat. Evelyn Thomas)
• 2008: Stick to the Plan
• 2009: Are You Man Enough (with Carol Jiani)
• 2009: Infidelity - The Remixes
• 2011: That's It (Anton Wick feat. Evelyn Thomas)

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Billboard Awards
2. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
3. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .
4. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .

Web links

• Evelyn Thomas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Evelyn Thomas at Allmusic (English)
• Evelyn Thomas at Discogs (English)
• Biography at jango.com