El Duce

Eldon "El Duce" 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. History 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. Hoke and the Mentors gained international notoriety in 1985 as a result of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's hearings led by the Parents Music Resource Center's Tipper Gore, the wife of then-Senator Albert Gore, Jr. (D-Tennessee) into the proliferation of "obscene" lyrics in popular music. During the hearings, 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 will be my toilet paper" elicited howls of laughter at the Congressional hearing and prompted Zappa and others to denounce the hearings as a farce. The hearings, however, ultimately led the music industry to adopt voluntary labeling of records containing objectionable lyrics - the widely recognized "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" label (jokingly referred to as a "Tipper sticker"). In addition to his musical career, Hoke also worked as an extra in many television, movie, and music video productions. Hoke even 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 $50,000 to kill Cobain.[1] Hoke vigorously 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 Jerry Springer inspired 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. Death According to the book Who Killed Kurt Cobain? by Max Wallace and Ian Halperin, El Duce 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", meaning he was in fear for his life. The author claims that Hoke secretly informed Gallagher of who he was told had "killed Kurt Cobain". Hoke's final musical performance was given on Friday, April 18, 1997 at Al's Bar in downtown Los Angeles. He died on April 19, 1997 in Riverside, California after being hit by a train.