It would be too stupid but pretty ironic to point out that the person brought in to take over the re-shaped EMI comes from a company whose major brand is Vanish! But he does. This morning it was announced that Elio Leni-Sceti will leave Reckitt Beckiser and take over at EMI, a week after the company parted company with more UK staff and US supremo Lee Trink while the Stones announced that they were out of contract.

EMI's UK website includes an act roster which has already seen The Thrills and various labelmates erased and, as of today, there's not a mention of Graham Coxon, Roisin Murphy or Hercules And Love Affair on there. Have they gone too? Undoubtedly, there's likely to be more high profile departures. Indeed, it will be interesting to see if any of Phoenix, Magic Numbers, Supergrass or even the mighty Athlete make it through the week. It's depressing times.

Whatever happened to the simple plan of making great music? EMI is a label that brought the world Garnet Mimms, The Casualeers, Blur, The Human Beinz, David Axelrod, The Steve Miller Band, The Morning Dew, Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds and thousands more. Each and every one capable of delivering three minutes of magic on seven inches of vinyl and in Floyd's case much more over a double album.

Without EMI we would never have had the excitement of the Sex Pistols, the majestic austerity of The Human League, the grunting earthiness of The Edgar Broughton Band or the ethereal bliss of Kate Bush. Can someone just whisk us back to a time of innocence, when it was the music that mattered, when the beauty of a song made it worth getting out of bed to face another tedious day? Hey, and where would we be without Kraftwerk?