Eldon Hoke

El Duce redirects here. The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was known as "Il Duce."
Eldon Hoke
Background information
Birth name Eldon Wayne Hoke
Also known as El Duce
Born (1958-03-23)March 23, 1958
Seattle, Washington, USA
Died April 19, 1997(1997-04-19) (aged 39)
Riverside, California, USA
Genres Heavy metal, punk rock. Shock rock
Instruments Vocals, drummer
Years active 1974–1997
Labels Ever Rat Records, Mentor Records, Metal Blade, Mystic
Associated acts The Mentors, Gardy Loo!, Coven, The Screamers, Chinas Comidas

Eldon Wayne Hoke (March 23, 1958 – April 19, 1997) was an American musician. Nicknamed El Duce, he was best known as the drummer and lead singer of the self-described "rape rock" band The Mentors. He was part of other acts, including Chinas Comidas and The Screamers before that.

History

The Mentors

Main article: Mentors (band)

Hoke and the Mentors worked to gain attention through farcical demonstrations of political incorrectness. Their guitarist renamed himself "Sickie Wifebeater", and the group often appeared in public wearing black executioner hoods. One reviewer suggested that "their lyrics, which consisted mostly of songs about hitting women, stealing from women, and having anal sex with women, made their anonymity necessary."[1]

During the 1985 U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's hearings into the proliferation of "obscene" lyrics in popular music, the Rev. Jeff Ling recited the lyrics to the Mentors song, "Golden Shower" to musician Frank Zappa, who opposed the hearings. The lyrics, which included the line, "Bend up and smell my anal vapor/Your face is my toilet paper" prompted Zappa and others to denounce the hearings as a farce.

Other appearances

In addition to his musical career, Hoke also worked as an extra in television, movie, and music video productions. Hoke had a supporting role, credited as "El Duce" in the science fiction musical Population: 1.

Controversy

Hoke regularly appeared on the talk show Hot Seat, where he and his band called their music "rape rock". He stated that he could tell if women wanted to be raped "by the look in their eyes", and in general played a wrestling-style villain for the audience. Hoke's many appearances often culminated in being "forcibly" removed from host Wally George's soundstage by security personnel.

In the mid-nineties, after the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, Hoke began making the claim that Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, had offered to pay Hoke to kill Cobain. Hoke promoted his story in such media outlets as TV's Jerry Springer Show, The National Enquirer weekly tabloid, and in Nick Broomfield's documentary film, Kurt & Courtney. El Duce claimed in the film, Kurt & Courtney, that he knew who killed Cobain (giving the name "Allen"), but said he would "let the FBI catch him".

When asked during an interview to tell something "about some chicks [he] fucked on the road", Hoke replied, "Well, we pick 'em up...and drop 'em off at Jack in the Box. Truck stops are the goods... you get an airhead at a truck stop and you say 'bitch, you gotta get down on the dick! Cunt!'"[2] He then sticks his thumbs in his ears, wiggles his fingers and makes silly noises.

Death

One day after his final performance (at Al's Bar in downtown Los Angeles), and two days after filming the interview for the Kurt & Courtney documentary, Hoke was found dead on the railroad tracks in Riverside, California on Saturday, April 19, 1997 after being struck by a train. The coroner's office gave the official cause of death as "misadventure".

In popular culture

"El Duce" was mentioned in the underground hit Fist Fuck by Dr. Know in 1986. He was also mentioned in the Anthrax song "I'm the Man". Hoke briefly appears in a backstage segment of the Self Destruct Tour portion of the Nine Inch Nails video compilation Closure.

Discography

Videography

References

  1. ↑ "Unspeakably Stupid Story #23". unspeakablystupid.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ The Mentors – El Duce Interview 1990s – AOL Video Archived March 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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