From: Jeff Guerra
The New England KISS convention was held in Swansea, Mass on the 26th and it turned out OK. Andre Augustine was there as well as "Angel," KISS Tribute "Dressed to Kill," and special guest Mark St. John. I'm sorry to say I did not stay for the KISS tribute or for Angel, and I wish I could've missed Augustine. My main purpose there was to meet Mark St. John, the man with the shortest tenure of any KISS guitarist. I wanted him to sign my KISSTORY book and that's all I was hoping for. Man, did he surprise me.

When Mark was introduced, the crowd cheered and he almost seemed taken a back, like he thought he didn't deserve such applause. He was shy, almost muttering his answeres. It was this laid back Californian, who surprised a lot of us by not seeming the least bit bitter about his whole KISS experience. He said he got along best with Eric Carr, who he said was a great guy because they were the 2 newest members. He said Eric was unhappy in his role in KISS. He had wanted to do more. He said he was very sad hearing of Eric's death. Mark said it was mostly him in the studio while making Animalize. Gene was off making a movie, Paul was off in the Bahamas banging Lisa Hartman and Eric was in Florida trying to bang everything. It was just him and the enigineers recording stuff and when Gene or Paul would come back, finally, they would always hate what they heard. Gene would say, "this doesn't sound like a KISS record!" and Mark said "well, yeah, it's me. If the other members of KISS were here, it would sound more like a KISS record!" The crowd liked that.

Mark said he really is still not sure how he developed the Reiter's Syndrome and that he was not bitter about it, but as soon as he was out of the band, it was gone and has never returned. He figures it was just meant to be. He even checked himself out of the hospital so he could do the "Heaven's on Fire" video. A lot of people in the crowd were nodding, saying they could tell he was not 100%. He said the video was a lot of fun and there were lots of women! OH YEAH!

While KISS took Bruce overseas, he said they would call every day to ask how he was and if he was ready to come out with them. They genuinly wanted him in the band. Mark said the show and a half he did do in America were murder on him, as he never had a chance to really practice with the band. He was jumping in front of Gene and doing his guitar thing and Gene did not like that. Mark figures Gene thought he was trying to show him up. Gene took him aside and said to "Never do that shit again." Mark says it was just him being him, playing that flashy 80's style guitar. He said the "termination" was just a phone call. They were getting comfortable with Bruce and they were recording the "Animalize" video in 2 days, so they figured the best thing to do was to have Bruce be the guy. That was it. Mark had signed a 4-year contract, but did not mention any type of severance.

He had also mentioned some stuff about how he hooked up with Peter Criss to do some writing. Peter was getting divorced from Debbie and he stayed at Mark's for a bit. They wrote some stuff and started getting the band together, but it was taking too long and no money was coming in, so he had to bag out. He says he still plays a lot, and his new disc is him, playing the over the top style his fans seem to like.

After the Q&A, which only lasted about 20 minutes, ( heck Andre was pissed because the promoter only gave him 30 minutes to speak. There's one guy who loves to hear himself talk. anyways...) he went to a table and started to sign stuff. He was gracious and respectful to everyone, signing everything and anything. He didn't even bring any photo's of himself to sell or anything.

He has a new CD with 5 songs he wrote with Peter Criss and he did not even bring that. He was just thakful to be there and thanked every person who was in line for coming. He said if it wasn't for his fans, he wouldn't even be there. He was goofing with everyone, taking pictures, telling more little sories to everyone. He was really warming up and getting into it.

I brought my White Tiger album ( which he was psyched about) saying the only 2 copies he sold of it were here today at the convention. He signed my KISSTORY book, my Animalize album, and personalized 2 autographes for me for some friends back home. When he flipped over the Animalize cd, he told me this story. He said Paul's arm's are not his but were digitally put in. He said the fire,the pole, HIS head, and the earing in Paul's ear, were all also digitally put in. It was taken at a rock quarry in New Jersey. He then took the CD cover, flipped it over, circled his head and signed it" This is not my real head!" Mark St. John." He was great.

We took a couple of pictures, one of him doing bunny fingers behind my head and one with me doing it to him. It made me feel bad that his hands got so messed up. I think he would have done Gene and Paul proud and given Eric a run for his money in the practical joke department. Nonetheless, he is a small chapter of KISSTORY and I am glad I was able to meet him.

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