Fresh faces at Capital ?

There's plenty of speculation today (started by The Daily Mail) that the saviour of Radio 1, Chris Moyles, could be heading back to Capital Radio, in time for its launch as a national station in the New Year. Ashley Tabor is the CEO of Global Radio, owners of Capital. He and Chris shared a flat in London in 1996, when Chris hosted The Late Bit on Friday and Saturday nights - until he fell out with Dr Fox and turned up with The Early Bit on Radio 1 in 1997.  Chris was probably 22 and Ashley 19.

There's no record of who owned the flat, but I wouldn't mind betting it was paid for by Ashley's dad,  Michael. Michael, born in East London, made his first big money with two betting shops in High Wycombe, then built up a 114-strong chain of bookies under the label, Prince Arthur. In 1995 he sold them to Coral, so there was some money in the family account. Along the way, Michael raced horses, but fell foul of the Jockey Club in 1970, getting "warned off" for life for allegedly making payments to two jockeys for tips; he appealed and the ban was reduced to three years. He began developing a stable in 1994 - which went well pretty quickly, with Thunder Gulch winning the 1995 Kentucky Derby. He owns horses in partnership as well - some with John Magnier's wife Sue, and others with J P McManus - and now lives in Monte Carlo.   When son Ashley wanted to buy GCap media and Chrysalis Radio in 2008 for a combined sum of £545m, there are a few people he could have turned to for investment.

Does Ashley want Chris back at Capital ?  Let's look at the evidence.  Ashley's been proud to reveal that, as a schoolboy, he would phone Capital DJ Pat Sharp every hour or so, "just to talk".  At 16, Ashley left school and started filing records in the Capital music library in Euston Tower by day, and playing out records for DJ's as a technical operator on Chiltern FM in Dunstable overnight.  Like Moyles, he left Capital in 1997, and eventually joined 19 Entertainment.  (19 was formed by Simon "Spice Girls & Pop Idol" Fuller, on the proceeds of Paul Hardcastle's 1985 smash "19".)  

Then Ashley moved on to his first "Global" brand - setting up "Global Talent".   Can he spot talent ?  On the plus side, he's had publishing rights to songs by Corinne Bailey Rae, Alphabeat, Ellie Goulding, and Shux (co-writer of Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind). On the other hand he's represented Shayne Ward, Chico, G4 and Jedward.  And done deals for boybands Northern Line and Avenue.  Some of the Avenue, disqualified from X Factor, have re-appeared in The Wanted, which scored a Number 1 record earlier this year, after extensive play on Heart and Capital stations, and hardly any on Radio 1.     

On dj's salaries, Ashley has said you don't have to pay big money to get big talent, again citing Pat Sharp.  Chris is on £494k from the Beeb, but also makes royalties from "composing" his Radio 1 jingles and backing music - estimated at around £70k a year.  In talent and business terms, Ashley and Chris are a match made in heaven. No-one should stand in their way.