He helped shape the sound of Boyzone, The Wanted, The Lighthouse Family and Take That; all artists not exactly averse to a bit of sentimental schmaltz when the moment calls for it.

So when Colin Barlow candidly tells Music Week he's "starting to feel a bit romantic" in our company, we half expect mushy vocal harmonies to strike up from the speakers in his Sony office.

Yet it's neither an emotive chord sequence nor the crisp crooning of namesake Gary ...