Mark St. John Is Dead

[ace diamond]

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.

[Mr. Vengeance]

Sucks ass.....I thought he was a decent guitarist.

[Hardrock69]

Damn...too many rock musicians leaving us too early these days....

That sucks....

[FORD]

I don't get into revolving door-era Kiss at all, but 51 is too young to go. Especially from that kind of thing which doesn't always have any warnings.

[Tiki-Tom]

Thats to bad. He was a great player. Wish he could have done more with Kiss. RIP

[Mr Badguy]

Well...

I`m sorry that the guys dead but he was the worst guitarist Kiss ever had.

I`ve no idea why he ever got the job.

"Animalize" has no memorable lead licks that I can think of, the one song everyone remembers ("Heavens on fire") has no solo in it.

After Kiss he disappeared up his own arse.

I don`t want to sound harsh but that`s the way it is.

RIP

[Steve Savicki]

R.I.P.

[Diamondjimi]

Originally posted by Mr Badguy
Well...

I`m sorry that the guys dead but he was the worst guitarist Kiss ever had.

I`ve no idea why he ever got the job.

"Animalize" has no memorable lead licks that I can think of, the one song everyone remembers ("Heavens on fire") has no solo in it.

After Kiss he disappeared up his own arse.

I don`t want to sound harsh but that`s the way it is.

RIP

Agreed.

He got his 15 minutes of fame.

Most never do...

R.I.P.

[BrownSound1]

Didn't he have some type of disease that caused him to quit Kiss?

[Mr Badguy]

Originally posted by BrownSound1
Didn't he have some type of disease that caused him to quit Kiss?

Officially, yes.

He had some kind of syndrome that made his hands swell up.

However, when he got better the band found that he had trouble playing in rhythm with the band and wouldn`t play solos note-for-note, he was much more into improvisation, and that wasn`t what they wanted.

You won`t read that part in the official "kisstory".

He was fired after three gigs and his stand in Bruce Kulick got the job and kept it for ten years.

[Rikk]

His playing sucked.

I could give a fuck that this happened.

I mean, yeah, it's sad.

[SparkieD]

Not at all impressive guitarist but still too bad. RIP

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Mr Badguy
Well...

I`m sorry that the guys dead but he was the worst guitarist Kiss ever had.

I`ve no idea why he ever got the job.

"Animalize" has no memorable lead licks that I can think of, the one song everyone remembers ("Heavens on fire") has no solo in it.

After Kiss he disappeared up his own arse.

I don`t want to sound harsh but that`s the way it is.

RIP

You're out of your mind...

He was a very good, borderline great guitarist...

He could no longer play because his hand was basically arthritic (I forget the exact disease he had), which is why he was replaced on tour.

He subsequently became an alcoholic and music store salesman after all that.


If you think Bruce Kulick was a better axeman, dude, all I can say is clean out your fucking ears...

[Rikk]

Bruce Kulick is actually the least interesting guitarist KISS had...

[Mr Badguy]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
You're out of your mind...

He was a very good, borderline great guitarist...

He could no longer play because his hand was basically arthritic (I forget the exact disease he had), which is why he was replaced on tour.

He subsequently became an alcoholic and music store salesman after all that.


If you think Bruce Kulick was a better axeman, dude, all I can say is clean out your fucking ears...

Could he play?

Yes.

Was he as good as Ace or Vinnie?

Hell no.

He never auditioned for Kiss and was hired on the recommendation of Grover Jackson, which was a stupid decision by Kiss who were under pressure from Polygram to get a record out.

Do I think Kulick was better than St John?

Yes, because he played the way he was required to and was never in danger of stealing the spotlight from Gene and Paul who had enough of that from Ace and Vinnie.