Late/Former KISS Guitarist Mark St. John On Time With The Band - "It Was The Worst Time In My Life"
April 21, 2007, 17 years ago
The following commentary is courtesy of Michael Christopher from Zwire.com:
A former member of KISS died this month, but chances are you’ve never heard of him. Mark St. John, whose tenure with the rock band lasted just eight months, was just another guitarist swept under the rug by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, co-founders of the band desperate to preserve some sort of image which has slowly withered to mean nothing.
Credited as playing on only one record, 1984’s Animalize, St. John’s contribution was actually both more and less than surface appearance. Less, because in reality, he only played on a handful of tracks; and more, because his blazing fretwork was in style at the time, and one of the few things that kept a fast sinking Kiss ship afloat.
Mere months after the album was released, St. John was diagnosed with a form of arthritis which caused his joints to swell up to nearly twice the normal size, making it difficult to play guitar. The "official" story says that it left him unable to continue in the band, and a replacement had to be brought in. The reality, according to interviews with St. John, was that Gene and Paul used the arthritis as a cover up, and that the real reasons were more personal.
"It was the worst time in my life," he has been quoted as saying.
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