THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO DO IT
A CONVERSATION WITH PRODUCER DANNY SABER
INXSβs legendary frontman, Michael Hutchence, passed tragically in 1997. Two of his formerly unreleased singles, βOne Wayβ and βSave My Lifeβ, were released last August on a 10β picture disc by producer Danny Saber, who knew Hutchence both personally and professionally.
βThe timing is right to tell the story with the music,β claims Saber, who was responsible for the recording and production of the INXS vocalistβs solo recordings. βThis is a process that has been going on for 20 years.
Why release it now? βI met Michael in 1995, heβd reached out to me because he a big fan of the Black Grape record.β They were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1993, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their style fused funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples. Saber was their producer as well as a one-time member.
βThey [INXS] had just come out with Elegantly Wasted and it was doing pretty well and Michael himself was really trying to find his identity and establish himself outside of the band,β says Saber. βNot because heβd wanted to leave the band, but because he was really creative and compelled to create and go to places outside the confines of being in a band as big as INXS was,β he continued.Β βItβs no knock on the band. Itβs normal that when a band becomes that big, it sometimes becomes more about maintaining what you have than it is about taking creative risks,β he finished.
SPILL NEW MUSIC: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE’S “ONE-WAY” b/w “SAVE MY LIFE” SET FOR RELEASE AS 10″ PICTURE DISC ON AUGUST 9
Saber and Hutchence collaborated and worked closely together for approximately two years, becoming close friends prior to his untimely death in 1997.Β βAround 2008ish, a lot of recorded material that Michael himself had financed surfaced,β said Saber.Β βAnybody who was anywhere near him knew that one of the bright spots right before he died was the stuff we were doing, he was really into it, he loved it, it was going in a really amazing direction, so it naturally came back to me and it was like βall right, letβs see whatβs there.β
Cut to a bunch of material on two-inch tape in a vault that Saber started to go through and determine if it was anything even worth producing and pursuing.Β βBack to 2023, it finally got to the point where some other things had happened behind the scenes andβ¦the fans knew the material was thereβ¦Iβve been getting emails, notes, and messages since The Last Rockstarβ [1997 documentary] asking βwhenβs the music coming out?β so I found myself in a position to do it but I wanted to do something special, hence the picture disc. Itβs been working pretty well, and the most important thing is that the musicβs been received really, really well and ultimately, I think what would have made Michael happy is Iβm talking to people like you, the more underground, sort of alternative world has embraced this music and that was where he really wanted to go with it. He didnβt want this sort of big mainstream success; he was just sort of flexing those muscles and it was about what wasnβt getting fulfilled within the band.β
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Photo Credits: Chris Cuffaro
