They say you always remember where you were when you heard life-changing news.

I remember coming down to breakfast one morning to find my mother in tears, having just heard on the radio that John Lennon had been shot dead.

When news unfolded of the World Trade Center attacks I was interviewing Enid Blyton’s daughter over afternoon tea.

And I was in a swimming-pool in Majorca when I spotted the front page of someone’s newspaper, with the screaming headline ‘Robbie leaves Take That’. I swam over to my friend to share the earth-shattering news.

Irish boy band Westlife were no doubt hoping that last week’s announcement of their split would be one of those “where were you?” moments, but startling images of Gaddafi’s demise the same day rather stole their thunder.

After a decade of sitting on stools in white suits crooning other artists’ hits, Westlife have called it a day. Expect a press conference announcing the reunion tour in about 2013.

These days it seems no band’s career plan is complete without a shock split, followed by an emotional – and highly-lucrative – reunion a few years down the line.

The Stone Roses are the latest act to announce they’re getting back together, despite falling out for years and insisting that a resurrection was out of the question.

Cheesy popsters Steps didn’t quite have the same impact on the music scene first time around, unless you regard line-dancing floor-filler 5 6 7 8 as a defining track of the 1990s, but they too have reformed, despite fall-outs leaving them barely able to be in the same room together. The move appears to have paid off, with a Number 1 greatest hits album, a fast selling-out arena tour, and talk of a TV reality show.

The unstoppable reunion trend is largely down to the extraordinary success of Take That’s rebirth. In an industry driven by ego and money, everyone wants a slice of the action.

Most bands I grew up listening to, with the notable exception of The Smiths, have swallowed their pride and re-formed. In turn, I’ve swallowed my pride and gone to some of their reunion concerts.

While there’s undeniably a nostalgic appeal, there’s also something a bit soulless about these gigs. You’re never going to feel the way you did as a teenager when you saw your favourite bands live.

Some things are best left in the past. Having said that, if Abba ever reform, (not likely, since they’ve reportedly turned down a billion pound offer to do so), I’ll be on that ticket hotline faster than you can say Voulez Vous...