I would love to hear how my fellow Roxy watchers analyse BF's ambivalence about the band. Here you are, boss of one of the top groups of all time, with sold out venues and your co-composers gagging to make one last album. Yet no. Was it concern that the tracks weren't up to scratch, that the memory would be sullied. Was it simple contrariness? Or is the answer that when you are in Roxy mode there are challenging voices, but when you are in Ferry mode, everyone is just on the payroll?

Does Bryan dislike Roxy?

J.O'B.

I haven't seen any evidence that Bryan dislikes Roxy Music - surely most of it is just supposition? He can't dislike the band much, otherwise they wouldn't tour and record together, surely? I got the impression that a new Roxy Music album hasn't materialised because they're all perfectionists, and wouldn't want to release any new material under the Roxy banner unless it was as good as their early stuff.

Exactly my point, one take on the lack of a 9th Roxy album could be that Bryan is so proud of what he has done with Roxy Music and will not release anything under that name if it is not good enough.

Bryan has said on interviews that conflict and friction is one of the advantages of being in a group and that helps make creative and interesting music.

J.O'B.

I don't think he really "dislikes" Roxy. I'm sure he's very proud of the work and loves many of the songs.

It was just an inflammatory headline to stir up interest in the silly season.

Personally I think the recent tours have been excellent (and I can't wait for the DVD).

And he's really struggling to write anything these days. Mamouna was the only self written stuff he came up with in the 90s. Frantic was all he came up with in the 00s and Olympia came out last year. So , I make that 2 albums in 16 years ! And a load of songs on Frantic and Olympia weren't even written by him ! At that pace, even if Roxy reformed, we may get one album now and they would be in their 80s before the follow-up came out ! In a band,situation, the pressure on the major songwriter to come up with new stuff is immense, but solo, he came take his time. And he does ! The whole Roxy comeback thing has gone stale now. The 2001 reunion generated loads f interest from everyone and the time to do something was then. I doubt if anyone apart from the die-hards could care less now.

Since Bete Noire, he's only actually released 3 self penned albums in 24 years, so don't expect any new originals for about another eight years !

Only 2 songs on Olympia were written by Bryan on his own. One was co-written with Manzanera. 2 were straight cover versions and 5 of the songs were co-written with guys outside of Roxy. So, having said all that, could it have been a Roxy album ? Could we call non-Roxy member co-writes and cover versions a Roxy album ? Could we call it Roxy Music when most of the musicians aren't in Roxy Music ? Could we accept cover versions, instrumentals, loads of different drummers, guitarists, 2 sax players , bass players, backing vocalists, and a song recorded in 1978, released as a B side in 1981 and then ending up on an album in 1982 and almost everyone playing on it are not even in Roxy Music !! Or have we already had all that ?

I think you may find that very little of Olympia began as a potential Roxy song.

Roxy were in the studio around 2006-2007

1 You Can Dance (began in the mid 90s completed for Olympia)
2 Alphaville (began in the mid 90s completed for Olympia)
3 Heartache By Numbers (co-written with Scissor Sisters)
4 Me Oh My (No Roxy member play on this)
5 Shameless (Co-write with Groove Armada)
6 Song To The Siren (Cover, began before the Roxy project)
7 No Face, No Name, No Number (Cover)
8 BF Bass (Manznaera co-write and also Eno on this track)
9 Reason Or Rhyme (Has Manzanera on guitar)
10 Tender Is The Night (Working title was 'Frantic' began pre 2002 and unfinished at the time of the 'Frantic' album
11 Whatever Gets You Through The Night (cover that began in mid 90's
12 One Night (leftover demo from Taxi that was then completed for Olympia)

The question is: What constitutes what would have been a 9th Roxy Music album song? For me it would be material that began for this album as a fresh idea and not something half written/sketched taken off Bryan, Phil or Andy's shelf dusted down and worked into a Roxy song. I would also say that covers are out even though RM did record 3 in their career.

From what I observed track by track above, the closest we can derive from the limited information we have is that 'BF Bass' and 'Reason Or Rhyme' may have began during the Roxy sessions. Having said this please note that Paul Thompson was on the Roxy sessions and is completely absent on this album so the Olympia is 'Roxy Music IX' argument is wearing thinner.

In my opinion, I think that if you were played Olympia for the first time with no sleeve notes or other information and were told one of the 8 original songs is a Ferry/Manzanera co-write I think BF Bass doesn't jump out as that very song.

To quote Andy Mackay from the Metaphords website in referance to some of the material being used on the Roxy album: <<"However I could not feel the commitment and passion that would get me through what would undoubtedly be be a long and difficult road to a finished album on tracks that I had not been involved with from the start>>"

I would deduce from this that there may be some of Olympia (and also any potential new Manzanera solo material) that was worked on during the Roxy IX sessions but was eventually returned to where it was originally intended, solo work.

J.O'B.