Gennaro Castaldo Watch: The dead sell on their own

Hey - that Amy Winehouse album is merely being released as a tribute, yes, and the fact it's been rushed out to hit the Christmas market is just a coincidence.

The Evening Standard reports that it's already number one:

Amy Winehouse topped the charts today with a posthumous album.

Eh? But it's Monday. How has she topped the charts "today"?

Four months after she was found dead in her Camden flat, her new album, called Lioness: Hidden Treasures, has topped the iTunes chart within hours of its release.

Wow. That really is number one in some sort of chart.

But who can give a view on this? Who can tell us if it's alright, like giving a dead man's shoes to a charity shop for someone else to get value from them; or terrible, like digging up Benny Hill to steal his silver? iTunes don't have a spokesperson for these occasions, so the Standard turns instead to Gennaro Castaldo:

Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said: "There could be an emotional reflex among the public, who may feel compelled to buy by way of paying tribute to Amy."

Yes, don't say a silent word of prayer or play the record you already own. That isn't paying tribute. If you're not forking over a credit card, you're some sort of beast. An uncaring, evil, beast.

Talking of which, there's an unnamed HMV spokesperson wheeled into position in the Guardian to talk out their face about Jeremy Clarkson. Could it be a shy Gennaro?

An HMV spokesman said: "We've found in the past that controversy involving artists, with all the media coverage this generates, can often boost sales of their products.

"Clarkson is one of those 'Marmite' personalities that you probably either love or hate, and the chances are that many of the public he upset weren't likely to be among his fans in the first place, while people who do appreciate his sense of humour and follow him on TV may have felt prompted to go out and buy his Powered Up DVD over the weekend."

Or perhaps it's people deciding his career is over, feeling compelled to buy his DVD by way of paying tribute. Who can say, eh?