El Duce redirects here. The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was known as "Il Duce."
| Eldon Hoke | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Eldon Wayne Hoke |
| Also known as | El Duce |
| Born | March 23, 1958 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | April 19, 1997 (aged 39) Riverside, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal, punk rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, Drummer |
| Associated acts | The Mentors, Gardy Loo!, Coven, The Screamers, Chinas Comadas |
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 The Screamers before that.
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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.
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.
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.[2] 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.
His most regular entertainment gig was on the talk show Hot Seat, where he and his band called their music "rape rock", stated that he could tell women want 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 another interview, the journalist asks Hoke to "tell me about some chicks you fucked on the road". Hoke replies, "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!'"[3] He then sticks his thumbs in his ears, wiggles his fingers and makes silly noises.
Hoke's final musical performance was given on Friday, April 18, 1997 at Al's Bar in downtown Los Angeles.
According to Max Wallace and Ian Halperin, Hoke showed up at his friend Drew Gallagher's home on April 17, 1997, asking where he could go to get a fake driver's license. Hoke was incredibly paranoid and nervous at this time. When Gallagher asked what he meant, Hoke responded, "People get buried in cornfields, people get lost in swamps". Hoke informed Gallagher of who he was and told him that he had "killed Kurt Cobain."[4]
While Hoke didn't actually claim to have killed Kurt Cobain, he did say that Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, attempted to hire him to kill Cobain. Hoke passed a polygraph test saying that Love offered him 50 thousand dollars to kill her husband and make it look like a suicide. Hoke passed on the offer and claimed that his friend Allen took her offer to kill Kurt Cobain. Approximately a week after this incident, Hoke's body was found near a railroad; it was determined he had stumbled in front of a train and was hit.[5]
There is much speculation on the death of Eldon Hoke. He was found near a railroad in Riverside and supposedly stumbled onto the tracks. Many people say he was pushed because of the speculation around his involvement in the death of Kurt Cobain, but police reports say it was an accident. This incident was never investigated.
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