Yahoo Movies Relativity Records Vet Jim ‘Koz’ Kozlowski Dies at 71
Music industry veteran Jim “Koz” Kozlowski died in New York City on Sunday, May 2, after suffering a stroke. He was 71.
Kozlowski was born and raised in East Hartford, Connecticut, the only child of John J. and Adele T. Kozlowski. He attended East Catholic High School, where he was a distance runner and played saxophone. He earned an MBA from Boston University, and it was in Boston that he began a 30-year career in the music industry, first as store manager at the legendary Music City, then as producer of the syndicated radio program “Rock Around the World.”
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After moving to New York City in 1979, he worked at a series of indie rock labels, most notably Relativity Records, where as product manager, in a particularly proud moment, he convinced Marvel Comics to allow the use of its character the Silver Surfer as the original cover art for Joe Satriani’s platinum-selling 1987 album “Surfing with the Alien.” In a late-career change, he handled web content for Standard & Poor’s (S&P) before retiring in 2014.
He is survived by his wife of 26 years, MSG Networks audio technician Lula Shepard (pictured with him, above); his mother-in-law Juanita Shepard; and extended family.
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