Evelyn Thomas - Love's Not Just An Illusion

  • 6 years ago
"Love's Not Just An Illusion", the third single I cut with the fabulous Evelyn Thomas, way back in 1976. I was lucky enough to film Evelyn singing all her old classics, virtually every single one! "My Head's In The Stars" and "Have A Little Faith In Me" both have videos appearing on my DVD set "Northern Soul's 200 Greatest Floorfillers". I first discovered Evelyn while holding auditions in 1975 in Chicago, arranged by Danny Leake, who I'd met the year before, in England, with his group, 100% Pure Poison. In February 1976, Evelyn's first record, "Weak Spot" and a song by a young Chicago postman, L.J. Johnson, both charted in the same week, and both acts were flown over to appear on Top Of The Pops, both on the same show. The entire music business was flummoxed as to how two completely unknown young black singers from Chicago, who had never even recorded before, both had hits on entirely different labels in the same week as each other. Evelyn's second release, "Doomsday" also hit the charts, debuting its first week at number 41, which in those days was a fair sized hit. It was a further eight years before Evelyn went on to record her classic, the seven million selling "High Energy" My biggest ever hit, made in 1984 for Record Shack Records, which sold seven million worldwide. How they ever went bust after that is a mystery, but I stepped in and rescued the whole catalogue from the liquidator. What a privilege to now have a video of this heart stopping song.