Wall-To-Wall Winehouse

The ongoing media fascination with the minutiae of Amy Winehouse’s drug-troubled life gathered pace during an August 28th BBC Radio 5 phone-in that had her father and father-in-law at odds over the best way to help her.

Giles Fielder-Civil said fans should stop buying Amy’s records and the industry should stop giving her awards because she and his son Blake were in "abject denial" of their drug problems.

He also said record companies are more interested in sales than the welfare of their acts, a comment that brought a sharp response from Amy’s dad.

Mitch Winehouse said Fielder-Civil was "clutching at straws" and the record company’s treatment of his daughter demonstrated its "true love, affection and care" for her.

A statement from Island Records said, "She has our full support – professionally, emotionally and financially. We’ve advised her to take complete rest during this difficult period and have put all her promotional commitments on hold."

The station’s listeners seemed equally divided between those who felt the wayward diva was another example of the artist as a tragic victim of commerce and those who felt she should sort herself out because they are fed up with hearing and reading about her.

Speaking with his wife Georgette, Fielder-Civil called for Winehouse not to be given any awards at next month’s Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) ceremony, in which she’s nominated in four categories.

She’s also up for the Mercury Music Prize and has already taken a gong at Mojo magazine’s annual awards bash.

"We would urge Amy’s fans to send a message to Amy that her addiction and her behaviour are not acceptable," Fielder-Civil told the mid-morning phone-in program.

"Perhaps it’s time to stop buying her records because, by doing that, it affects the record company and then the record company may take notice."

He also said he believes the couple, which has been married since May, is taking cocaine, crack cocaine and possibly heroin.

Earlier this month the 23-year-old singer announced she was postponing a tour to Canada and United States to deal with "health issues."

In the last couple of weeks the U.K. tabloids have detailed her increasingly public lifestyle, with paparazzi photographers chasing her through London’s Camden Town to get shots of how frail she’s begun to look.

Her Back To Black album topped the U.K. charts and has had very strong worldwide sales, going platinum in the U.S.