RIP Mark St. John
Mark St. John was the guitarist who, in the spring of 1984, replaced Vinnie Vincent, who had replaced Ace Frehley in late 1982. His tenure with the band was very brief; he was featured on only one album, Animalize, from 1984, which featured the hit "Heaven's On Fire". This was done during the band's makeup-less days, and at a time when the band's popularity not only declined because of the decision to remove their makeup, but because the band had headed into a more generic pop-oriented commercial direction, becoming nearly identical with the countless L.A. "hair" metal bands glutting the scene at that time.
St. John was forced to quit the band while on tour when he suffered from Reiter's Syndrome which affected his hands and caused his playing ability to suffer. He was replaced by Bruce Kulick, who would stay with the band for years. St. John would recover and form a band called White Tiger, featuring David Donato, a former vocalist for Black Sabbath who briefly participated during their "revolving door singer" years.
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