RIP Mark St. John - KISS Guitarist

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by DavidF, Apr 6, 2007.

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  1. DavidF

    DavidF Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    While looking at recent deaths at Wikipedia, I was surprised to see that ex-KISS guitarist Mark St. John died yesterday:

    Mark St. John (born Mark Norton February 7, 1956 in Hollywood, California – April 5, 2007) was a guitarist best known for his short stint with the rock band KISS.

    St. John replaced Vinnie Vincent as lead guitarist for KISS in April 1984, following Vincent's falling-out with the band (St. John was suggested to Bruce Kulick was featured on the song, "Lonely Is The Hunter"). During work for the album, St. John clashed with the other members of the band, and eventually developed arthritis (Reiter's Syndrome), which caused his hands and arms to swell. He was all but unable to perform live as a member of KISS, and only played three (one in full) shows during the "Animalize" tour, with Kulick filling in for the rest. He was officially replaced by Kulick in December 8, 1984.

    St. John's only video appearance with KISS is in the video for "Heaven's On Fire".

    After leaving KISS, St. John formed his new group White Tiger with one-time Black Sabbath vocalist David Donato and released one LP in 1986. St. John teamed up with Jeff Scott Soto in 1988 to make a demo. St. John made another demo in 1990 with fellow former KISS member Peter Criss.

    After limited success with White Tiger, St. John did not release any material for many years. He was in a short lived band with Peter Criss called the Mark St. John Project that released a limited edition EP. He later released an all instrumental CD in 2001 called "Magic Bullet Theory."

    In later years, St. John did not make many public appearances. However, he was rumored to have returned to his pre-KISS gig as a guitar instructor in the Los Angeles area.

    St. John died on the morning of April 5, 2007 of as yet undetermined causes.
     
  2. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Met him at a KISS convention. Seemed like a nice guy to me. RIP, Mark.
     
  3. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    It's been rumored for several years that Mark was a meth addict, living with his parents and riding a bicycle because he couldn't afford a car.

    He made some convention appearances and looked pretty rough. I met him, he was a nice guy. It's pretty sad to hear of this.
     
  4. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    From KISSONLINE.COM:

    KISSONLINE.com

    Sad to report that Mark Norton aka Mark St. John, KISS' lead guitarist on Animalize, passed away this morning of a cerebral hemorrhage. Mark was 51 years old.

    KISS remembers Mark for his contributions and sends their condolences and deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    BTW, they are saying it was a brain hemmorage. :(

    Edit: Whoops, you beat me to it...
     
  6. punkrok78

    punkrok78 Forum Resident

    ahhh the pope we never heard hahaha ! kiss fans will get it
     
  7. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    Oh man. This is sad.
    I could never get why Mark didn't have more success in the 80's after Kiss. He had the chops.
     
  8. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
  9. ACK!

    ACK! Senior Member

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Same here. This was very shocking and sad. I played the hell out of Animalize back in the day.
     
  10. dnewhous

    dnewhous New Member

    Location:
    Melbourne, FL
    He was extraordinarily talented. Another rocker to screw up his life with substance abuse.
     
  11. Maybe they could release Baltimore Nov 27 84 officially and donate the proceeds to his family.
     
  12. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley New Member

    Location:
    The Netherlands
  13. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    i love 'I've Had Enough (Into the Fire)'. that's a killer jam.
     
  14. ACK!

    ACK! Senior Member

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Gene and Paul did nothing of the sort for Eric Carr, who they professed to really care about and was with the band significantly longer. In fact, it's been rumored in fan circles and on message boards that they tried to fire Eric Carr on his deathbed and cut off his health insurance.

    At the KISS convention I attended, Mark said that they just called him one day from the Animalize tour, said "see ya" and that was it.

    And besides, Gene donates nothing to no one....unless it's his banker.:eek: ;)
     
  15. hotrats2

    hotrats2 New Member

    Location:
    vancouver, wa
    Thats a shame, this guy was like magic on the fretboard, a real technical player, I know that simmons had talked smack about him because he was too good, that just means he was a musician who actually still practiced after all that time. Maybee he's jammin with baloff now, what a shame, deathamphetamine wins again.
     
  16. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Of course. There was a pope...

    Huh, Paul??? :D
     
  17. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    BALOFF! bless ya... :righton: :angel:
     
  18. dnewhous

    dnewhous New Member

    Location:
    Melbourne, FL
    I saw on a message board that they attempted the song live in 2002 or so with Tommy Thayer. Same person said he butchered it.
     
  19. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    NO WAY! <incredulous> i have a hard time believing KISS would go *that* obscure, '80s obscure. great riff, great changes, wild solo and rad ending. one of KISS's best '80s moments, IMHO. if only the production were better. it's midrange hell. funny enough, i was at Sam Ash on Sunset about a month ago picking up some gear for an act i was working for and Mitch Weissman was my salesman. i saw his name tag, sussed out his Queens accent and asked him if he worked with KISS in the '80s. he was all surprised and happy that i recognized him. nicest guy. we talked for, like, ten minutes or something. i asked him about Animalize and he said he was the guy who Paul called to find a replacement for St. John when he came down with his ailment during recording. Mitch told me he went through the phone book and found Bruce Kulick's number and called him, that it was his idea to have Kulick jump on board. so, Kulick actually tracked some of the stuff on Animalize, according to Weissman. i found that interesting. i also asked him why the album sounds so bad and midrangey. among other things, he told me they recorded all the solos into a Tom Scholz Rockman. anyway, just a little nugget of KISStory for ya. i am a dork, yes! :laugh:
     
  20. Curiosity

    Curiosity Just A Boy

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Sorry to hear of the news, folks. His joining only seems like yesterday to me and I'm sure his contributions to Animalize won't be forgotten. RIP. Mark.
     
  21. dnewhous

    dnewhous New Member

    Location:
    Melbourne, FL
    What does anyone think of the White Tiger material? I remember seeing a music video from them on MTV many years ago (I'm sure I wasn't getting them confused with White Lion) and at the time (different tastes back then) I didn't care for the song but I do remember thinking that the guitar was really cool. I remember it being an H-S-H configuration.
     
  22. His hands felt like two balloons...
     
  23. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Thanks for that story - very cool!!
     
  24. ACK!

    ACK! Senior Member

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Bruce Kulick played on "Lonely Is The Hunter" and "Murder In High Heels" on Animalize. Heard this from Mark St. John himself at the KISS convention in 1999.
     
  25. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    I rolled video on his Convention appearance... and I'm sure I still have it, but haven't watched it since that day. Going to look for it...
     
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