native records                 

 

Tony K

 

Tony K
Native records are very sad to announce the death of their director 'Tony K'. Tony Kostrzewa died in May after a long struggle with cancer. He was a great friend and colleague and will be sadly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Tony K 1949-2008

 

Tony rang me one day and asked if he could buy some of my records. I was 16 and my band had just released our own indie single. Tony asked me if I could bring the singles through to York and he would pay for the singles and my train fare. I got on a train that afternoon. He met me at the station and took me to Red Rhino Records, his shop, near the castle wall. I spent the afternoon browsing through the stock, talking to the staff and Tony. Later we went to his favourite pub with his wife Gerri. It was 1980.

Tony and I became firm friends and five years later he convinced me to leave RCA records and start my own label and a retail promotion company. He lent me £1000 without blinking an eye and just said do it.

He lived for music. Music of all kinds. And he gave unhesitating support to hundreds of musicians. He changed the face of the UK music scene by organizing the indies almost single handedly. He had a global impact. Without Tony, the major labels would still dictate the types of music that we listen to.
To say I will miss Tony is far to simple. He was my friend, an inspiration and my colleague.

He's probably telling Elvis, Hendrix and Moon to form a band right now!
Kevin Donoghue

link: the independent

link: The times