GENNARO CASTALDO WATCH

Frankly, we'd been worried - it had been getting on for weeks since we last heard from Gennaro Castaldo, the quote-happy head of press at HMV. At first we thought that perhaps the London bombings had forced him out the papers as everyone's minds focussed on more serious matters. Then we thought that maybe he was on holiday, walking through the Provence countryside muttering "Seventeen per cent increase in sales, so far from forgotten" to himself. But then more days passed, and still nothing.

So thank god, we can report he's returned, thanks to Eminem pulling his tour:

Gennaro Castaldo, head of press at HMV, said: "It's fair to say Eminem's profile is not quite at the same peak as The Marshall Mathers LP, although he arguably remains the number one male recording artist in the world. This may be partly due to Eminem devoting more time to other aspects of his career."

Hmm. He doesn't have quite the same confidence as he had before, does he? "Arguably... may be..." - where's the Gennaro Castaldo of the past?

music eminem