THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

534-Evelyn Thomas-High Energy.

1984-Number 5 single.

Best Bit-At 2.15. You can’t get any higher than this…..legally.

‘Hi-NRG’ (pronounced ‘high energy’) is a musical genre of uptempo ‘Disco,’ or ‘Electronic Dance Music,’ (EDM) that originated during the late 1970’s, and early 1980’s. In 1977 the American singer Donna Summer (1948-2012) (see also best songs 78 and 11) was interviewed about her single ‘I Feel Love,’ which was a mostly Electronic, high tempo Disco song, she said, ‘This song became a hit because it has an high energy vibe,’ which led to the naming of the genre. The ‘Hi-NRG’ music genre would prove very influential, with notably the British music producers ‘Stock Aitken and Waterman (see also best songs 627) using the genre in a lot of their productions, and further down the line the genre would influence ‘Techno,’ and ‘Trance’ music of the early 1990’s.

‘High Energy’ was co-written, and co-produced by Ian Levine, and Fiachra Trench, and was the first of three singles released from Evelyn Thomas’ third studio Album of the same name from 1984. Evelyn Thomas was born Ellen Lucille Thomas, on August 22nd, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, she was discovered by the British music producer Ian Levine when he was in the United States in 1975 scouting for ‘Gospel’ and ‘Soul’ singers, that he could promote in the UK. Together they recorded several tracks which resulted in a contract with ’20th Century Records.’ The discography of Evelyn Thomas includes four studio Albums released between 1978-1986, and 25 singles released between 1976-2008, there are also two official compilation Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, her only charting single remains ‘High Energy,’ which stalled at Number 85, although three of her tracks have reached the ‘Billboard Dance Club Songs’ chart, with ‘High Energy’ making the Number 1 spot. In the UK, Evelyn Thomas has charted twice within the top 40, with ‘Weak Spot,’ also co-written by Ian Levine, reaching Number 26 in 1976, and ‘High Energy,’ peaking the highest at Number 5 in 1984.

Ian Levine was born Ian Geoffrey Levine, on June 22nd, 1953, in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, he was very influential in the ‘Northern Soul’ scene (see also best songs 969) in the 1970’s, and then with ‘Electronic Dance Music’ in the early 1980’s. Ian Levine who has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million, first got in to music as an avid collector of ‘Motown’ records, building up an extensive collection, which led to his interest in the promoting of ‘Northern Soul’ music. In 1971 he became a disc jockey at the ‘Blackpool Mecca,’ England, which played ‘Northern Soul’ singles, before moving on to playing at the world famous ‘Wigan Casino,’ where he and his fellow DJ Colin Curtis, were responsible for guiding the ‘Northern Soul’ scene away from its oldies-only policy, and towards ‘Modern Soul,’ and ‘Disco.’ In 1979, Ian Levine began advising London’s gay disco ‘Heaven’ on its set-up, and he became the club’s first resident DJ, remaining there through most of the 1980’s, before leaving in 1989. Levine was also one of the first DJ’s to mix records in the UK. Ian Levine is also remembered for setting up his own record label ‘Motorcity Records’ in 1987. In that year, he had began recording some former artists from ‘Motown,’ and after a reunion of 60 Motown stars, including Edwin Starr (1942-2003) (see also best songs 429) and Levi Stubbs (1936-2008) (see also best songs 650) on top of a hotel opposite the original ‘Hitsville USA’ building, in Detroit, ‘Motorcity Records’ was launched as a record label. The label recorded 850 songs by 108 artists, but due to due to severe financial losses the label had to be closed down in the 1990’s.

‘High Energy’ was also co-written by Fiachra Trench, who was born Fiachra Terence Wilbrah Trench, on September 7th, 1941, in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. He began his songwriting partnership with Ian Levine in the early 1980’s, and together they wrote ‘Hi-NRG’ tracks for artists, including Evelyn Thomas, Miquel Brown, and Barbara Pennington (1954-2023.) Trench has worked alongside many of the world’s top performers throughout his career, and is credited with the string arrangements on the ‘Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays,’ (1979-UK Number 1) Fairytale of New York,’ by the Pogues, (1987-UK Number 2) (see also best songs 32) and ‘Have I Told You Lately,’ for Van Morrison (1989-UK Number 74.) Fiachra Trench has also scored and composed music for films, including ‘Pearl Harbor,’ (2001) ‘The Boxer,’ (1997) ‘The Tailor of Panama,’ (2001) and ‘The Ring’ (2006.)

‘All the gold that’s in Fort Knox couldn’t buy this happiness. With your love I don’t need money, I don’t need success. I became a victim of a sudden love attack, It happened in a blink of an eye and there’s no holding back.’