The music industry has lost an influential figure with the passing of Evelyn Thomas at the age of 70. Northern soul legend Ian Levine shared the news on Twitter, adding that Thomas was someone he had worked with for many years. Levine signed Thomas to his label in 1975 and the pair collaborated on several projects throughout her career. They last worked together in 2009, but Thomas recently reached out to Levine, knowing she was dying.
Levine revealed that he and co-producer Fiachra Trench wrote a song for Thomas titled ‘Inspirational’ upon receiving her message. While Thomas was too ill to record the song, her daughter Kimberly, also known as YaYa Diamond, plans to record it in honor of her mother. Levine took the opportunity to praise Kimberly for being an “amazing and caring daughter” during her mother’s time of need.
Thomas worked across various genres including disco, dance, and R&B. Her debut single ‘Weak Spot’ and follow-up track ‘Doomsday’ both charted in the UK, which helped secure her appearance on the TV show Top Of The Pops in 1976. Thomas would go on to release her debut album ‘I Wanna Make It On My Own’ with Casablanca Records, produced by Levine and Trench. However, it was her collaboration with the two on the Hi-NRG single ‘High Energy’ that became her biggest hit, selling over seven million records worldwide.
Thomas would eventually move to Levine’s new label Nightmare Records, where they continued to work together until 1988. Her cover of ‘Reflections’ by The Supremes and ‘How Many Hearts’ from her final album ‘Standing at the Crossroads’ (1986) also became dance hits. Levine noted that ‘High Energy’ was a song written specifically for Thomas and that she was the only person who could have performed it so well. He added that her music will continue to live on
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