Jonah Koslen is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 best known for his work with the Michael Stanley Band

Michael Stanley

Michael Stanley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and disc jockey. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band, his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Michael Stanley Gee graduated from Rocky...

 and Breathless in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

After attending Beachwood High School

Beachwood High School

Beachwood High School is a four-year college preparatory public high school located in Beachwood, Ohio, an eastside suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It is part of the Beachwood City School District.Beachwood has earned three U.S...

 Jonah Koslen joined the Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 band Snake Eyes with former Eli Radish Band

Eli Radish Band

----The Eli Radish Band were pioneers of "outlaw country" and "alt.country" music. Deana Adams said in her 2003 rock history book Rock 'n' roll and the Cleveland connection:...

 bassist Danny Sheridan

Danny Sheridan

----Danny Sheridan is a musician, songwriter, producer, , and entertainment manager. In 2006 he also became a radio personality on 97.1 KLSX Free FM . He is credited as an influential electric bass player, and as the founder of the , pioneers of the so-called “outlaw country” music genre...

. In 1974, he joined with Michael Stanley

Michael Stanley

Michael Stanley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and disc jockey. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band, his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Michael Stanley Gee graduated from Rocky...

, Daniel Pecchio, formerly of Glass Harp

Glass Harp

Glass Harp is a Youngstown, Ohio based power trio consisting of guitarist Phil Keaggy, drummer John Sferra and bassist Daniel Pecchio.-Early years:...

, and Tommy Dobeck to form The Michael Stanley Band. During his tenure with the band they released three albums for Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

 and became highly popular in Northeast Ohio. Sharing songwriting duties with Stanley, Koslen contributed two of the group's classic songs: "Strike up the Band" and "Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind".

Koslen left the Michael Stanley Band in 1977 and formed the band Breathless the following year. Breathless consisted of Koslen, bassist Bob Benjamin, drummer Kevin Valentine

Kevin Valentine

Kevin Valentine is an American rock drummer who is best known for being a member of Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. Valentine played drums on all of the band's early albums during the 1980s....

, percussionist Rodney Psyka, guitarist Alan Greene and keyboardist Mark Avsec

Mark Avsec

Mark Avsec is an American rock keyboardist / songwriter / producer, and most recently copyright lawyer who is best known for being a member of Donnie Iris & the Cruisers since 1979...

, formerly with Wild Cherry

Wild Cherry (band)

Wild Cherry was a funk/rock band best known for their funk song "Play That Funky Music".-History:Rob Parissi was raised in the steel mill town of Mingo Junction, Ohio. Parissi graduated from Mingo High School in 1968. Rob formed the band Wild Cherry in 1970 in Steubenville, Ohio, one mile north of...

. Signed to EMI America Records

EMI America Records

EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which later became known simply as EMI in 1990, then part of EMI...

, the group released their debut album Breathless, produced by Don Gehman

Don Gehman

Don Gehman is an American record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s with John Mellencamp.Gehman grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and played bass in a local rock band...

, in July 1979. Following the album's release, Breathless toured as an opening act, including a dozen shows opening for Kiss

KISS (band)

Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

. The single "Takin' It Back" scratched the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 at #92 but the album didn't chart. With support from Cleveland radio station WMMS

WMMS

WMMS — branded 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, widely recognized as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout much of the history of FM broadcasting...

, Breathless became a popular act locally, headlining Blossom Music Center

Blossom Music Center

Blossom Music Center is an amphitheatre located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The pavilion seats 5,700 people, with space for about 13,500 more on the lawn. It is the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, which performs its annual Blossom Festival there. The venue is also host to a full summer...

 in June 1980. The band released its second album, Nobody Leaves This Song Alive in October 1980. Again, the album received airplay in Northeast Ohio but failed to catch on nationally. Breathless disbanded in 1981, with Avsec and Valentine joining Donnie Iris

Donnie Iris

Donnie Iris is an American rock musician known for his work with The Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo albums during the 1980s...

' band "The Cruisers".

Koslen formed another band, Jonah Koslen and the Heroes, that released the album Aces in 1983 but they soon broke up. After that Koslen moved to California and worked on various music projects. He briefly reunited with Michael Stanley in 1993 for the album The Ghost Poets.

Albums

Michael Stanley Band

• 1975: You Break It...You Bought It!
• 1976: Ladies' Choice
• 1977: Stagepass
• 1992: Right Back at Ya (1971–1983)
• 1997: Misery Loves Company: More of the Best 1975–1983

Solo

• 1978: Back Tracks

Breathless

• 1979: Breathless
• 1980: Nobody Leaves This Song Alive
• 1993: Picture This...The Best of Breathless

Jonah Koslen and the Heroes

• 1983: Aces

The Ghost Poets

• 1993: The Ghost Poets