Evelyn Thomas (b. 22 August 1953) is a disco singer from Chicago, Illinois.… Read Full Bio ↴Evelyn Thomas (b. 22 August 1953) is a disco singer from Chicago, Illinois. Since the start of her career. Thomas has recorded four studio albums. These albums are "I Wanna Make It On My Own" (1978), "Have a Little Faith in Me" (1979), "High Energy" (1984)" and "Standing At The Crossroads" (1987) and many singles. Thomas has an entertainment incorporated company, called Eljopan Entertainment Incorporated.

Discovered by British producer Ian Levine, who was in the US in 1975 scouting for gospel and soul singers he could promote in the UK, the two recorded several tracks which resulted in a contract with 20th Century Records. Evelyn 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 but each time floundered in the lower reaches, and sticky contract issues complicated her newfound success, though Levine and Thomas would continue their association for quite some time. She signed to US label Casablanca Records for her first album release I Wanna Make It On My Own, released 1978. With Casablanca doing little to promote the LP, she switched to AVI Records for the double A-side 12" 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". For a follow-up, Evelyn Thomas re-recorded three tracks from an aborted project by Levine's group Moonstone, "Love in the First Degree", "Summer on the Beach" and "Sleaze" (originally entitled "Out of the Ball Game") but with the disco backlash in the US, the tracks were left unreleased.

Although disco music had been declared "dead" in the US in a backlash in 1979, several songs which continued and advanced the exuberant surge of uptempo dance music managed to scale the US pop charts in the intervening years, notably Blondie's "Call Me" in 1980, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" in 1982, and Irene Cara's "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" in 1983. Unwilling to use the term "disco", the phrase "High Energy" had come into usage, probably, begun in England in the early 1980s. By 1984, Ian Levine had re-established himself as a producer and asked Evelyn Thomas to come to London to record a new track "High Energy". Just few weeks after it was released, it zoomed up the charts all over Europe - peaking at No. 1 in Germany and No. 5 in the UK, selling a total of 7,000,000 copies worldwide. In the US it hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, selling 250,000 copies. The song was her only Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at #85, although three additional songs hit the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. By 1984, the phrase had become embraced as a term by DJs across Europe and in the States, particularly in gay clubs where DJs who preferred to play records that surpassed a certain BPM (Beats Per Minute) threshold found many mainstream hits lagging in tempo. Evolving around that time to the abbreviated "Hi-Energy," the term soon became further shortened to "Hi-NRG", and was still widely in use more than three decades later to describe a certain genre of uptempo dance music

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. In the US the song was a top-twenty Dance hit. The following year, "Heartless" became her only single other than "High Energy" to chart outside of the Club/Dance charts in the United States. "Heartless" peaked at #84 on the Black Singles chart (later renamed the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart) in 1985.

Though she would not return to the US pop or R&B charts, US dancefloors continued to move to the fast beat of Evelyn Thomas. With a cover of the Supremes' 1967 hit "Reflections", updated in her Hi-NRG style, Thomas peaked at #18 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1986, the same year in which Kim Wilde had a similarly styled hit with the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On". A second Thomas release that summer fared even better on those charts, as "How Many Hearts" narrowly missed the top 10. The two songs would later appear on Thomas' fourth album release, Standing at the Crossroads, in 1987. In late 1987, the single "No Win Situation" shot to #1 on the now defunct UK Hi-NRG chart. After the singles "Only Once in a Lifetime" (1988) and "This Is Madness" (1989), both on Levine's Nightmare Records label, Thomas withdrew from the music business.

In spring 1997, Redemption featuring Evelyn Thomas had a minor US club hit with the track "Tell The World".
A new remix of her largest hit was released in 2004 as "High Energy 2004" and became a worldwide gay club hit. The remix was released on Dance Street/ZYX Records out of Germany in early 2005. The remix secured moderate radio and club play Stateside. This song was then ripped off by Daz Sampson in 2005 who tried to get it released in the UK before the Germans could release their remix.

In May 2008, Evelyn Thomas took part in the major RTL Disco Tour, performing in 15 cities throughout France. While in Europe, Thomas completed several new recordings in different countries with the aim of making a comeback. She has teamed up with Ian Levine for the first time in 20 years, recording the tracks "Pounding the Pavement", "One in a Million" and "I Can't Give You the World". She has recorded four tracks, "Stick to the Plan", "Missing the Target", "Infidelity" and the ballad "Why Must the Sunrise" for a diva album called The Plan for Night Dance Records, produced by Scandinavian songwriter Soren Jensen in collaboration with Clive Scott, formerly of Jigsaw. Thomas has also teamed up with French team Evolusound for a single release, "Prove It", written and produced by Frank Savannah and remixed by Laurent Schark.

In 2009, Thomas released a duet with Carol Jiani, "Are You Man Enough", produced by the Australian team of Peter Wilson and Chris Richards aka T1 Productions

Masquerade
Evelyn Thomas Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I don't know what I do, babe
I don't know what I do

I reach out to you and I hope
That you'll help me to be a success
I can't handle it if you're not there
I couldn't settle for less
'Cause I need somebody special

To help me enjoy all the fame
Someone to help me face the crowds
Who loves me for more than my name

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade
I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade
I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

You've been around through all the bad times
When I couldn't pay the rent
Now things are different
I want you here while the money's around to be spent
'Cause you deserve to share with me
All magic life has to give
I want you here right by my side
We only have one life to live

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade
I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

What good success if you're out of there on your own?
What good is money when you're spending it alone?
What good is fame when there's strangers in the crowd?
What good is talent if you're crying out loud?

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade
I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

I don't know what I'd do
Baby don't you know I don't know what I'd do
I don't know what I'd do, no no

When I'm giving interviews
And they ask me how I became a star
I tell them all about your help
Without you I couldn't go far
'Cause you are my guiding light
To deal with the problems around
My life is resting in your hands
And I can feel safe and sound

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade
I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

What good success if you're out of there on your own?
What good is money when you're spending it alone?
What good is fame when there's strangers in the crowd?
What good is talent if you're crying out loud?

I want you there baby
I don't know what I'd do
Don't know what I'd do, do, do
Don't know what I'd do

When I'm giving interviews
And they ask me how I became a star
I tell them all about your help
Without you I couldn't go far
'Cause you are my guiding light
To deal with the problems around
My life is resting in your hands
And I can feel safe and sound

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade
I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

Masquerade
It would be a masquerade

I would be so afraid
If you weren't there to help me share

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Evelyn Thomas's song "Masquerade" speak to the importance of having a supportive and understanding partner or friend in the midst of success. Thomas acknowledges that she is not sure what she would do without this person's help, and she relies on them to help her enjoy her newfound fame. She recognizes that success is not worth it if she is alone, without someone to share in the experience with her. The repetition of the phrase "masquerade" indicates her fear of being exposed as someone who is not able to handle the pressures of fame, and her desire for her partner to be there for her no matter what.

Throughout the song, Thomas emphasizes the importance of having someone by her side who loves her for more than just her name or success. She values this person's presence not just for their emotional support, but also because she believes they deserve to share in the benefits of her success. The lyrics suggest that without her partner, she would be alone, and that her life is "resting in your hands," indicating the depth of her dependence on this person.

Overall, the song is a powerful reminder of the importance of emotional connections and support during times of success and fame. It highlights the pressure and fears that accompany these experiences, and reveals the need for personal and emotional connections to make them truly worthwhile.

Line by Line Meaning

I don't know what I do, babe
I need your help and support to be successful, I cannot do it alone.

I reach out to you and I hope That you'll help me to be a success
I am counting on you to support me and help me become successful.

I can't handle it if you're not there I couldn't settle for less
Your presence and support are critical to my success, anything else would not be enough.

'Cause I need somebody special To help me enjoy all the fame Someone to help me face the crowds Who loves me for more than my name
I need someone special who can help me enjoy my success, face the crowds with me and love me for who I am, not just my fame.

Masquerade It would be a masquerade I would be so afraid If you weren't there to help me share
Without you by my side, it would feel like I'm hiding behind a mask and I would be scared to share my success alone.

You've been around through all the bad times When I couldn't pay the rent Now things are different I want you here while the money's around to be spent
You've been there through the tough times, and now that I have money, I want to share it with you and have you by my side to enjoy life.

'Cause you deserve to share with me All magic life has to give I want you here right by my side We only have one life to live
You deserve to share in all the wonderful things life has to offer, I want you with me, enjoying life to the fullest because we only live once.

What good success if you're out of there on your own? What good is money when you're spending it alone? What good is fame when there's strangers in the crowd? What good is talent if you're crying out loud?
Success, money, fame, and talent are meaningless if I can't share them with you or if I am not happy.

When I'm giving interviews And they ask me how I became a star I tell them all about your help Without you I couldn't go far
When I am asked about my success, I attribute it to your support and without you, I could not have made it this far.

'Cause you are my guiding light To deal with the problems around My life is resting in your hands And I can feel safe and sound
You guide me and help me through the problems in my life, I trust you fully and feel safe and secure with you by my side.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: IAN LEVINE, FIACHRA TRENCH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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