Introduction
Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss (born May 8, 1935) is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert.
After graduating with a degree in English from Brooklyn College and a stint in the Army, Moss began his music career by promoting "16 Candles", a hit for the Crests on Coed Records. In 1960 he moved to California where he teamed up with Alpert, forming Carnival Records in 1962 and running the company from an office in Alpert's garage. Discovering that the name was already taken, they dubbed their new-found company A&M Records.
After the A&M label was purchased by PolyGram, the two men went on to form Almo Sounds in 1994, a new record label which continues to operate.
Moss and Herb Alpert were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as nonperformers.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Jerry Moss and his wife, Ann, are also longtime horse breedersand owners who received the largest ever first-place purse from the Kentucky Derby in 2005 after the victory of the first horse he had ever entered in that race, Giacomo.
In 2004, Moss was appointed to the California Horse Racing Board, replacing longtime television producer Alan Landsburg.
Giacomo was named by Jerry and Ann Moss in honor of a friend of theirs, rock musician Sting, who has a son by the same name. The colt's dam was named Set Them Free, a reference to Sting's song "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free".
Like Giacomo, the Mosses have named another runner after a connection to The Police. Zenyatta, a half-sister to the multiple grade I winner Balance, was purchased as a $60,000 yearling at the Keeneland Sales in September 2005. The Mosses named her after The Police's third album Zenyatta Mondatta. Zenyatta retired with only one loss and a record 20-19-1-0. Zenyatta is the only female horse ever to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. In 2010 she was American Horse of the Year.