1000 Homo DJs

1000 Homo DJs
Origin Chicago, Illinois, USA
Genres Industrial rock
Years active 1988, 1990
Labels WaxTrax!
Associated acts Ministry
Past members
Buck Satan
Officer Agro
Ike Krull
Wee Willie Reefer
Viva Nova
Count Ringworm

1000 Homo DJs was a side project of industrial music band Ministry. It is best known for its cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut." The project was released through industrial label Wax Trax! Records.

1000 Homo DJs began as a side project to release outtakes from Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey.[1]

Contents

Members

The members of 1000 Homo DJs are identified by pseudonyms in the CD liner notes. However, the identities of most members are fairly certain.

Trent Reznor's possible contribution to "Supernaut" (see below) is uncredited.

Origin of name

In a 2004 interview,[5] Jourgensen explained that when he played demos (presumably those which became Apathy) for Wax Trax! co-owner Jim Nash, Nash replied, "No one's gonna buy this. It'll take one thousand homo DJs to play this for one person to buy it."

However, according to the Wax Trax! box set Blackbox released in 1994, Jourgensen and Nash were in the label's office listening to an unauthorized remix of the Revolting Cocks' single "We Shall Cleanse the World". Nash comforted Jourgensen's disapproval of the remix's existence by assuring him that it would only ever be heard by "a thousand homo DJ's."[6]

Trent Reznor's involvement

The nature of Trent Reznor's contribution to 1000 Homo DJs' records has been debated. What is certain is that Reznor recorded the original vocals for "Supernaut." This performance was not officially used because Reznor's label TVT Records refused to allow his appearance on the release.[7] Reznor's version would ultimately be released as "Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)" by TVT four years later on the retrospective Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years after TVT's purchase of Wax Trax!.

Jourgensen's immediate response to TVT's ultimatum is uncertain. An oft-repeated story tells that instead of recording new vocals, Jourgensen merely ran Reznor's performance through a distortion effect to mask its identity.[8][9] According to this story, every WaxTrax! recording of "Supernaut" contains Reznor's vocals. However, a dissenting group claims this is an urban legend, and that Jourgensen did record new vocals for the EP—albeit in a similar style to Reznor's initial performance.

Statements made by both Reznor and Jourgensen seem to confirm the latter view. In a 1992 Prodigy post regarding "Supernaut," Reznor said,

[I] finally told Al to redo it without me. The version that Wax Trax put out is Al, the version on the NIN [bootleg] single is me.[10]

Reznor refers to the two-track Suck bootleg, which contains the recording of "Supernaut" that later appeared on Black Box. Jourgensen made a similar statement in a 2003 interview. When asked whose vocals appear on "Supernaut," Jourgensen replied,

That would be me on the original, on WaxTrax! The later version released on TVT was Trent Reznor... then the remixed version had my vocals on it.[11]

referring to the WaxTrax! EP, Black Box, and Greatest Fits versions, respectively. This corroborates that only the Trent Reznor Vocal Version contains Reznor's performance, and Jourgensen in fact sings on most versions of the song.

Discography

Releases

Supernaut
EP by 1000 Homo DJs
Released 1990
Genre Industrial rock
Length 24:07
Label TVT

Compilation appearances


References

  1. ^ Greene, Jo-Ann (1993-04-02). "Ministry". Goldmine. http://prongs.org/minfiles/tour/Interview-Goldmine-4-2-93-pg3.jpg. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  2. ^ a b "1000 Homo DJs". http://prongs.org/ministry/homo. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  3. ^ a b "1000 Homo DJs: The Players". http://www.nodevotion.com/ohdjs/players.html. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  4. ^ "Myspace.com - Vivanovachicago". http://www.myspace.com/vivanovachicago. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  5. ^ "Concert Review: Ministry". Orlando CityBeat reprinted in Pollstar. 1993-04-02. http://www.pollstar.com/reviews/reviews.cgi?Page=Detail&Artist=MINIST&Post=464&Sort=PerformanceDate. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  6. ^ (1994) Album notes for Blackbox - WaxTrax! Records: The First 13 Years by WaxTrax! Records, p. 37 [CD Booklet]. Chicago, Il.: TVT Records.
  7. ^ Bains, Jon. "Nine Inch Nails". Convulsion. http://www.obsolete.com/convulsion/interviews/convulse/1.5.html. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  8. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Biography". music.yahoo.com. http://music.yahoo.com/ar-259781-bio--Nine-Inch-Nails. Retrieved 2007-10-22. "TVT ordered Reznor's vocals removed from ["Supernaut"], but Jourgensen actually just altered them slightly and said he'd re-recorded it." 
  9. ^ "Ministry FAQ: 1000 Homo DJs". http://www.prongs.org/minfiles/faq/faq.html#1000. Retrieved 2007-10-22. "No matter what you hear, Trent sings on all the versions of Supernaut out there. … Al went back into the studios and just distorted Trent's vocals to confuse the lawyers, label and so on..." 
  10. ^ "Trent Reznor's Posts on Prodigy". The Nine Inch Nails Article Archive. http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=327. Retrieved 2007-11-07. 
  11. ^ Warren, James (2003-05-21). "Ministry Interview: 20 Questions with Al Jourgensen". ministrymusic.org (official Ministry website) via Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20070313071503/http://www.ministrymusic.org/interviews/james.php4. Retrieved 2007-08-13.