Michael Sadler in Cologne 2nd April, 1997

"I met Michael on the 2nd of April this year in Cologne, when he was doing a promo-tour for the "Pleasure & The Pain"-album through Germany. We sat on the terrace of the Hyatt Hotel, with a gorgeous view on the river Rhine and the "Kölner Dom " (the famous cologne cathedral). The following text is an excerpt of the interview with Michael I did for a German newspaper that day."

Frank Rolle: 20 Years of SAGA - is "Pleasure & The Pain "- a typical anniversary album?

Michael Sadler: We got old sounds, we got new sounds. For me the new record is a combination of everything we've done for so long. We went to the studio and said: "OK - fun. We gonna have fun. If anyone stops smiling at one particular moment we go to the next song. It's not a job."

Frank Rolle: How did you work on the new album?

Michael Sadler: For "Pleasure & The Pain" we had only four weeks. I arrived on the 15th November and wanted to get back to Germany before Christmas. No material. It was just: "Start playing. I'm doing the lyrics. Play that part again. Yeah, that's great" or "Forget that song".

Frank Rolle: Why did you record the new album without Steve Negus on drums?

Michael Sadler: We wanted to get the record out in time for the 20th anniversary and he was not available to do the record when we had to do it. He was in the Bahamas getting married to his German girl-friend.

Frank Rolle: What's your favourite song on the new album?

Michael Sadler: Musically it's "Fantastically Wrong". That's SAGA with perfect drumming and Ian playing great. Vocally it's "How Do You Feel?".

Frank Rolle: How did you come to record the Beatles' song "Taxman"?

Michael Sadler: That was so weird. We were working on a song and came back to the control-room to listen to it. The chorus came up. I was sitting there and, I don't know why, I started going "Cause I'm a Taxman" over the chorus that we had just recorded. And Jim came up: "What are you singing?". We had been in a band a long long time ago doing cover stuff and Beatles songs. "Do it again" - "Cause I'm a Taxman"- "It works". And here it is. We had to get the original copy to take a look at the lyrics. In the original George Harrison wrote "Ha Ha, Mister Willson, Ha Ha, Mister Heath". l changed it to "Ha Ha, Mister Clinton, Ha Ha Mister Kohl".

Frank Rolle: You also did a new version of " You're Not Alone ".

Michael Sadler: We wanted to do a version of an old song. We had to keep the chorus, where everyone sings "You're Not Alone". We had to keep the instrumental part in the middle - you wait for that. But we changed the verse, changed the lyrics.

Frank Rolle: Is that new song a kind of tribute to the old days?

Michael Sadler: Yes and no. Mostly, it's fun, going: "We love the song, you love the song. But it's 97."

Frank Rolle: SAGA's style has changed a lot. Some fans miss the keyboard-sounds of the older songs.

Michael Sadler: These days you can go to any music-store. For a few hundred Deutsch-Marks you can buy a keyboard that has 85,000 sounds, with built-in this and built-in that. It goes "beooooow" and "beeeeeeep". We were doing this in 1977. In the meantime it's like: "OK, let's go back to basics". We don't have to spend so much time looking for incredible sounds, we just write really good songs. If it needs really cool keyboard-sounds we use that in one section, if not...

Frank Rolle: In the beginning, would you ever have thought that SAGA turns out to be such a hard, guitar-oriented band as it presents itself on the new album?

Michael Sadler: I never predicted anything. Jim Crichton and I met in February 1977 and said: "OK, let's make a band. " First of all, I had no idea it would last this long - 20 years, I mean... puuuh. I never predicted how we could do the next record, and the next record. It was just the moment: "We're in that kind of mood, we're doing that kind of record now".

Frank Rolle: After all those years, do you still enjoy your work?

Michael Sadler: I believe it's almost illegal: You get paid for something you like to do. I've been with this band 20 years and another 10 years before that. I mean, I have a nice house, a couple of nice cars. Not over the top. But if someone asked: "What would you really like to be doing if you couldn't do this?" Well - this. This is my hobby. I always loved to sing. And also I'm getting paid for it. I'm able to maintain a lifestyle. And I'm living my fantasies. People like what I'm doing.

Frank Rolle: For some time, SAGA also played soundtracks. Are you still interested in that field?

Michael Sadler: I was trying to work on songs for a TV-show called "Cobra". The theme-music was stolen from myself: it's "Catwalk". The concept was that it would be like "Miami Vice". Every week there would be a featured song played over the exciting moments. We were sent the script. Then we would send our ideas to the music-guys of the TV-section. But they were never really satisfied. So we worked on another idea. And so on. After doing this for three or four weeks we stopped. We tried to develop the songs we had written specifically for the TV-show and turn them somehow into SAGA-songs. That was how "Steel Umbrellas" was produced.

Frank Rolle: Nevertheless, "Generation 13", too, sounds like a soundtrack in some parts.

Michael Sadler: Yes, true. I can see a 45-minutes film about little Jeremy growing up.

Frank Rolle: What about your solo-album?

Michael Sadler: I'm 75 percent finished.

Frank Rolle: That's what you said one year ago.

Michael Sadler: Quite seriously, now that the deal is done and money is covered for the real production it will be released in early 98. I didn't want to step on the release of the new SAGA-record.

Frank Rolle: In which musical direction do you want go with your solo-album?

Michael Sadler: Naturally, it will sound a little bit like SAGA for two reasons: I've been the primary song-writer for SAGA for so many years - and it's my voice. The difference is that there's no primaries, there's no rules. When I come up with a song that feels good it doesn't matter if it fits in with the style of a SAGA-record.

Frank Rolle: Will the 20th anniversary tour be the end of Saga?

Michael Sadler: Neee, I don't feel like: "OK, 20 years - close the book". I'm not about to lay down and die. I'm 43 years old but I don't feel like retiring.

Text: Frank Rolle