Gennaro Castaldo watch: The That came back

Perhaps wisely choosing not to dwell on the miscalling of the Oasis-U2 chart battle, Gennaro Castaldo concentrates on Take That's return to number one:

HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said: 'Take That appear to have much wider and more credible appeal second time around.

'You get the feeling many have warmed to them now they are no longer a teen band. Take That are a bit Cliff-like, in danger of becoming a national treasure.'

We're not sure we can follow what he means here - are they a crumbly, Cliff-like national treasure (which suggests not much in the way of credibility) or are they "more credible"? They can't be both, surely?

It's perhaps unfair to rib Castaldo over his suggestion that U2 and Oasis was the only game in town last week, as - by Thursday - sales figures showing that people were behaving differently. Indeed, he even tried to tell the Belfast Telegraph as much:

HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said Westlife were still fighting for the number one spot, but that he thought indie rockers Oasis had the edge over the record-breaking Irish boy band.

"People might have thought that the race for the number one album this week would be between Oasis and The Beatles and perhaps even U2, but Westlife are proving their enduring appeal and they can certainly hold their own when it comes to chart success.

"HMV still believes that Oasis will have the fan base and broad appeal to sell more copies of their album over the course of the week to land the number one, but it's clearly going to be a lot tighter than everyone imagined.

"It's not impossible that Westlife could upset the odds, while The Beatles aren't out of the reckoning either, but we think Oasis will emerge on top."

You'll note he was by then suggesting that everyone had thought Oasis would run away with it up until the middle of the week - but if that was the case, why had he been talking up a U2-Oasis battle? Still, nice to see that with over half the week's sales done, he still managed to back the wrong horse.

What is questionable, though, is the claim that Oasis have "broad appeal" - they might have a large fan base, but that isn't quite the same thing, is it?

He also popped up in a Sun campaign designed to try and stop Westlife taking the number one spot. Notably less successful than their campaign to stop Kinnock, that one.

music gennaro castaldo westlife oasis