The Unexpected Beat: When a Seventies Idol Embraced the Eurobeat Thunder
For many of us, the name David Essex immediately brings to mind the dramatic, reflective rock of the mid-70s: the leather jacket of Jim Maclaine, the smoky pathos of “Rock On,” or the sheer theatrical spectacle of his stage musicals. He was the quintessential British heartthrob whose music told stories, often rooted in the nostalgic romance of post-war youth. Now, let’s pivot our memory to a place few fans expected him to tread: the pulsating dance floors of early 1990s Italy. This is where we find “Sin Of Love,” a track so stylistically removed from the singer’s classic repertoire that it serves as one of the most intriguing, and perhaps least understood, chapters of his career.
The track “Sin Of Love” was released in 1993, a complete departure from his familiar sound. It wasn’t marketed under his full, established name, but rather the pseudonym D.Essex—a subtle nod to his identity while embracing a genre and market entirely different from the UK charts he once commanded. This song was not a mainstream UK hit; in fact, it made its home primarily in the niche but fiercely energetic world of Eurobeat, particularly the Italian dance scene, released on the iconic A.Beat-C. label. This was the sound of the Maharaja Night compilations, the driving soundtrack for the Japanese market’s love affair with hyper-speed dance music, and for arcade racing games. The chart position we seek is not found on the BBC’s Top of the Pops but deep within specialist dance charts across Europe and Asia.
The very story behind “Sin Of Love” is one of unexpected collaboration and musical curiosity. In the early 90s, the Eurobeat genre, a high-energy form of Italo Disco, was booming. It was a production-driven style, often featuring session vocalists rather than established stars. The involvement of a figure as recognizable as David Essex, even under a slightly masked name, was highly unusual. This venture into the world of D.Essex and tracks like “Sin Of Love” and its companion piece “Victim of Love” highlights the singer’s adventurous spirit, his willingness to step entirely outside his comfort zone to experiment with a purely electronic, synthesized sound that defined the era’s dance culture. It’s a sonic leap from the acoustic piano of “A Winter’s Tale” to the hard-driving kick drums and staccato synths of a dance floor filler.
The meaning of “Sin Of Love” is, at face value, a straightforward exploration of illicit passion, delivered with the intense, almost frantic energy characteristic of Eurobeat. The lyrics, often secondary to the driving rhythm in this genre, speak of a love that is forbidden, powerful, and utterly consuming—a theme of drama and fatalistic romance that, surprisingly, ties back into the theatrical roles Essex often played, from Evita to Mutiny! However, here the drama is delivered not with a ballad’s sweep, but with a relentless, breathless pace. The “sin” is the overwhelming, uncontrollable nature of the desire itself, a concept perfectly matched by the track’s manic energy. For fans who first discovered this song, it wasn’t a nostalgic trip; it was a pure, adrenaline-fuelled present moment, a testament to music’s power to surprise and transport an artist to an entirely new universe. It remains a fascinating, vibrant footnote in the long and diverse history of one of Britain’s most enduring performers.