Eldon Hoke
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Eldon Hoke | |
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Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |
Died | April 19, 1997 Riverside, California, U.S. | (aged 39)
Genres | Heavy metal, punk rock, shock rock |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, drums |
Years active | 1974–1997 |
Labels | Ever Rat, Mentor, Metal Blade, Mystic |
Eldon Wayne Hoke (March 23, 1958 – April 19, 1997), nicknamed El Duce, was an American musician best known as the drummer and lead singer of the shock rock band the Mentors, as well as other acts, including Chinas Comidas and the Screamers.
Apart from his musical career, Eldon was also an actor who appeared in several films as an extra, and discussed his hugely-controversial band and lifestyle on the notorious Jerry Springer and Wally George TV talk-shows.
Today El Duce is remembered as a cultural pioneer who, using his dark sense of humor, destroyed taboos in rock music regarding onstage speech and behavior, and who set a precedent for today's most outrageous and extreme musical acts.
The Mentors' songs were covered by artists including Black Label Society, GWAR and Koffin Kats, and quoted by Guns N' Roses, Anthrax and Dr. Know (in "Cornshucker", "I'm The Man" and "Fist F*ck", respectively).
Early life
Hoke was born in Seattle, Washington to mother Doris Hope and father Walter Hoke.
Career
The Mentors
Hoke and the Mentors worked to gain attention through
During the 1985
Kurt Cobain death claim
After the body of
Other appearances
In addition to his musical career, Hoke also worked as an
In 1998 Backstage Sluts (lately shortened and re-edited as Backstage Pass: Uncensored), directed by Matt Zane, was released — a movie wherein famous rockers (including members of Motörhead, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Sugar Ray and Insane Clown Posse) recount their wildest sexual moments, while actual porn stars acted them out. The film contains a penultimate interview with El Duce from 1997, in which he drunkenly declares his taste in the opposite sex: "I like nasty women. I like... homeless women."
Death
On April 19, 1997, one day after his final performance and talking to Brent Alden, and eight days after filming his interview with Nick Broomfield for the Kurt & Courtney documentary, Hoke was found dead on the railroad tracks in Riverside, California. He was "decapitated in the accident — he was hit full on by a freight train doing 60 MPH", according to Steve Broy, the Mentors' bass player. Subsequent tests indicated a high blood alcohol content and thus Hoke's official cause of death was given by the coroner's office as "misadventure".[4] Al Jourgensen (of the industrial metal band Ministry) wrote in his autobiography that El Duce was killed by the train when some fans on the other side of the railroad tracks called his name and, as he attempted to cross to meet them, his toes became stuck in the track.[5] Another story is that he gave a Nazi salute in front of the train as it mowed him down. Due to the timing of his death (eight days after the Kurt and Courtney interview), conspiracy theorists have speculated that his death was related to the statements he made that Courtney Love offered him $50,000 to "whack" Cobain, and that someone named "Allen" took the offer.[4]
According to the self-published book Truth Is Funnier Than Fiction by Mentors bass player Steve Broy, the whole story was concocted by Mentors associate Rev. Bud Green in order to sell to supermarket tabloids.
Discography
With the MentorsStudio albums
Singles
Live albums
Compilations
Demo Tapes
Featured on
|
Solo releases
As featured artist
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Videography
- 1981 – Get Up & Die
- 1987 – Fuck Movie
- 1990 – A Piece of Sinema
- 1990 – The Wretched World of The Mentors
- 1991 – Hollywood Head Bash
- 1991 – Tour De Max '91
- 1993 – El Duce: The Man. The Myth. The Video
- 2007 – El Duce Vita
- 2010 – Perverted Movie
- 2017 – The Kings of Sleaze (documentary)
- 2019 – The El Duce Tapes (documentary)
Appearances:
- 1986 - Quiet Riot - The Wild and the Young (promo video)
- 1997 - Nine Inch Nails - Closure (documentary)
- 2011 - Ministry - Fix (documentary)
References
- ^ @broysteve. "Instagram post from August 8, 2016". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ "The el Duce Tapes".
- ISBN 9780749016104.
- ^ ISBN 978-1613744789.
- ISBN 978-0306824630.
Broy, Steve (2015). Truth Is Funnier Than Fiction: My Life With Eldon Hoke and the Mentors Self Published, Second Edition p. 263-264.