White Tiger (band)

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White Tiger
OriginNew York  United States
GenresHard rock
heavy metal
Glam Metal
Rock
Glam rock
Years active1985–1988
LabelsECM Records
Associated actsKiss
Nitro
Slaughter
Vinnie Vincent Invasion
AC/DC
Members
Brian James Fox
Past membersMark St. John
David Donato

White Tiger was a glam metal band from United States, founded by former Kiss band member Mark St. John, together with David Donato, along with bassist Michael Norton and drummer Brian James Fox, they only recorded 2 albums, Donato played in Black Sabbath in 1985, while St. John had been in Kiss in 1984. The rest of the band was formed by bassist Michael Norton (brother of St. John) and Fox. The band broke up because of problems with the discography due to failed contracts and the new wave of music but if they had a respectable success with the two albums, Mark died some time later at the age of 51.

Biography[]

The origins[]

St. John (Mark Norton), worked as a guitar teacher before being contacted by Kiss in 1984, after being recommended by the well-known guitar builder Grover Jackson, to replace Vinnie Vincent, who had just been fired from the band. From this period, Norton became known to the public under the name Mark St. John. With Kiss, St. John participated in the recordings of the album Animalize (the best-selling Kiss album of the 1980s), but in December of the same year, after having participated in three dates of the world tour, he was replaced by Bruce Kulick for health reasons (he had contracted a rare form of arthritis).

Donato, instead, joined Black Sabbath in 1984 to replace Ian Gillan, and was fired in 1985, after only six months, for reasons that are not fully understood. Prior to this experience Donato, who had previously worked as a model, had been a member of the British Armageddon (but based in Los Angeles) in the mid-1970s, with whom he recorded an eponymous debut in 1975, before the death of its founder Keith Relf (former vocalist of The Yardbirds). After these, he joined the band Hero founded by Neil Citron (recently as guitarist of Quiet Riot).

White Tiger[]

White Tiger was formed in early 1986 by St. John, his brother Michael Norton, Donato and drummer Brian James Fox. These bore some similarity in appearance and sound to 1980s-era Kiss hair metal. A few months later, after signing with EMC Records, they released the eponymous debut White Tiger, which while receiving praise related to songwriting, was nevertheless criticized for its poor production. In any case, it was not a significant success and went unnoticed, also because it was produced by a small label. The label, which did not see a promising future for the quartet, rejected the band for lack of success. Demos were recorded for a possible second album, which should have been titled On the Prowl, but were never released due to a lost record deal.

Success[]

The band achieved respectable success with the release of their first album in 1986. It was not until 1999 that another album was released, on which older or unreleased songs can be found.

End[]

The project, seeing no outlets, was discontinued in 1989. St. John founded the band Keep consisting of St. John, singer Michael McDonald (the pseudonym under which Michael Donato introduced himself), guitarist Kevin Russell, bassist and on drums none other than Peter Criss, a well-known former member of Kiss. After briefly switching bassists with Jim Barnes, St. John reintroduced his brother Michael in January 1990. This incarnation of Keep, which included almost all the members of White Tiger, recorded some demos and attended a few gigs in California. However, the label began to distance itself from the newly born band, also because of the irruption of the grunge movement. That radically changed the musical trends of the time. Subsequently, the band disbanded in 1991 when Peter Criss founded his solo project called "Criss".

Subsequent years[]

Reunion[]

St. John later worked with Stevie Wonder and David Hasselhoff. Brother Michael Norton joined the band Laidlaw releasing the albums Sample This (1998) and First Big Picnic (1999). Later, Fox joined Silent Rage, ironically, signing with the label owned by Gene Simmons, a well-known Kiss bassist. With them, the drummer released the album Still Alive in 2002. In 1998, St. John signed to a small label to release the album White Tiger Raw which was released in 1999. After playing a few dates in Los Angeles, the band finally broke up. In the same 1999, White Tiger's debut was reissued with the addition of a bonus track. St. John would then undertake his solo project called "Mark St. John Project" recording first the eponymous EP in 1999 in which he participated in the composition of some songs by Peter Criss, and then in 2003 the second Magic Magic Bullet Theory.[1] St. John reportedly died on April 5, 2007, of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 51 years old.

Curiosities[]

  • The band would later supposedly be called Keep, with the same members as White Tiger, except that Donato switched bands.
  • They only released two albums, one in 1986 and the other in 1999, they had respectable successes going platinum.
  • The songs were written by Donato and Mark for the first album, the second album was written by Mark.
  • Mark died in 2007 from a stroke and the band broke up for good.
  • David Donato died in 2021 from throat complications and died of asthma.
  • Michael Norton is Mark's younger brother.
  • Brian Fox was a former member of Silen Rage as a drummer.
  • They were a glam and heavy band, popular genres of the 1980s.

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

  • 1986 -
  • 1999 -

Compilations[]

  • Rock Warriors
  • Live to Rock

Live[]

  • 1987 -

Track list[]

White Tiger[]

  1. "Rock Warriors" - 5:28
  2. "Love/Hate" - 5:51
  3. "Bad Time Coming" - 6:01
  4. "Runaway" - 5:00
  5. "Still Standing Strong" - 5:26
  6. "Live To Rock" - 4:09
  7. "Northern Wind" - 5:13
  8. "Stand And Deliver" - 4:38
  9. "White Hot Desire" - 4:36

Raw[]

  1. Do You Want Me
  2. You're the One
  3. Small Dose of Lovin'
  4. What Ya Doin'
  5. Day of the Dog
  6. Lord of the Fire
  7. Love Me or Leave Me
  8. She's the Kind of Girl
  9. Razor Rock
  10. Brother the Devil
  11. I'm a Lover
  12. Pull It Tight
  13. Love Me or Leave Me [keyboard version]
  14. Baby (Somethin' About You)
  15. Out Rockin'
  16. Makin' Love
  17. Fallin' in Love
  18. You're Breakin' My Heart
  19. Interlude/Little Pussy [instrumental]
  20. Big Cat Strut [instrumental]

Members[]

References[]

  1. ^ Prato, Greg (2007-04-08). "Ex-Kiss guitarist Mark St. John dies". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
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