Gary Barlow closes label so his money can spend more time with his family

Who even remembered that Gary Barlow had set up a record label?

He doesn't any more, as he's folded it.

He told The Sun it was just a time thing:

"It's been a very difficult decision but it came down to time. I've had a lot going on recently and I want to spend more time with my family."

It seems the four million quid he'd lost on the adventure had slipped his mind as easily as it had seeped out of Future's balance sheets.

It's hard to believe that a label featuring such delights as Aggro Santos and Emma's Imagination - winner of Sky's Must Be The Music, of course - could grind to a halt.

Let's just cast our mind back to how it was in the early days, when Gordon Smart predicted great things:

SIMON COWELL had better look out – a talented, younger and more popular music mogul is shaping up to steal his crown.

Industry insiders at the bash revealed GARY BARLOW has been given his own record label by his Universal bosses so he can snap up hot new acts.

He has already started work signing his first artist – a young male singer – and the lucky lad is now working with Gary and songwriting pal CATHY DENNIS.

The lucrative agreement is Gary’s reward from Universal’s head honcho LUCIAN GRAINGE for the amazing success of TAKE THAT’s comeback.

An industry source said last night: “It’s a masterstroke. With Gary’s incredible writing ability and contacts, the acts will be in the best possible hands.”

Oh, Lucian. How you must be wishing you'd just got him a really nice vase as a reward instead.

The Winehouse family line up to testify

With mother taking care of GMTV, it falls to Amy Winehouse's brother Alex to tell The Times about Amy's recovery:

She’s back among us. This time we hope it’s for real
A weekend to remember ended in triumph for the singer. Now Amy Winehouse's brother hopes that his sister has conquered her demons

Alex, to be fair, doesn't pretend that she wasn't in a bad place, and you can't blame him for wanting to stay positive, but this family insistence that "well, that's all behind us now" reads less like good news, more like hostages to fortune.

Interestingly, there's a footnote to the piece which greatly reduces the importance of The Sun's crack video in persuading Winehouse to rehab, making it just another pinprick in a wrestling match with hedgehogs:

Lucian Grainge, head of Universal Music Europe, is credited with forcing Amy Winehouse into rehab by presenting her with cuttings documenting her downfall.

A source at Universal said: “Lucian got every piece of press from around the world. He then laid everything out and summoned Amy. He told her to have a good look, then tell him she hadn’t got a drugs problem. It did the trick.”

This confirms rehab was a career move rather than a decision entered into willingly; you wonder if it can really hold when it's something you're doing to please your boss rather than because you've had enough yourself.