Credits: Yayadiamond / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0.
In 1984, disco made a brief comeback thanks to American Evelyn Thomas and her unforgettable track High Energy. Today, disco’s star has left the Nold (never old) generation orphaned. Evelyn Thomas, a namesake of a famous French TV host, left a lasting mark on the history of dance floors. Hi-NRG, a new disco sound from the 1980s born in gay clubs in San Francisco, was popularized by this young Black woman from Chicago, born in 1953.
Evelyn Thomas, who died at 70 this Sunday, July 21, grew up in a family where gospel music reigned. At a very young age, she joined the group The Move Mixers. In 1975, she was discovered by Englishman Ian Levine, who would become her producer and announced her death on X.
Evelyn Thomas’s first single, Weak Spot, took her all the way to London in 1976 on Top of the Pops. But it was in 1984 that High Energy became a true hit, launching her to star status in the genre. Co-written by Ian Levine and Fiachra Trench, the track entered the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and sold more than 7 million copies worldwide.
Unfortunately, none of her other subsequent songs reached such fame. Nevertheless, Evelyn Thomas continued a much quieter music career in the United States. After parting ways with Ian Levine in 2009, the artist, who was seriously ill, got back in touch with him a few months before her death. She asked the co-writers of High Energy to write her one last song. Inspirational was created, but the singer, too weak, could not perform it. In tribute to her mother, her daughter Kimberly — Yaya Diamond on stage — decided to record it. Ian Levine recalled that Kimberly had appeared as a child in the High Energy video, adding: "It’s hard for me to accept that my protégé of all these years has left us. Her music will outlive us all."
On Sunday, July 21, Kimberly paid tribute to her mother on Facebook. She thanked Evelyn Thomas for everything she passed on to her: "I already miss Evelyn Thomas. RIP mom."