The Mentors
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The Mentors is a heavy metal band, who formed in 1978 in Seattle, then moved to Los Angeles in 1979. They billed themselves as the inventors of "rape rock", essentially early 1970s style heavy metal with extremely sexist lyrics. They were a popular live act in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but the chronic, acute alcoholism of singer/drummer Eldon Hoke, better known as El Duce caused them to slow down in the 1990s and eventually cease activity.
The Mentors were known outside of West Coast heavy metal and underground rock circles chiefly for their lyrics being cited by Tipper Gore during the Parents Music Resource Center hearings in Congress, and then being used by Frank Zappa on his "Mothers of Prevention" album. El Duce later appeared in Nick Broomfield's documentary about the death of Kurt Cobain, "Kurt and Courtney".
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The Mentors were notorious for their songs that celebrated depraved sex acts and drug use. While their obscene lyrics insured that their music would never be played on commercial radio, they gained a cult following due their raunchy, over-the-top live performances in Los Angeles nightclubs such as Gazzari's and the Whiskey-A-Go-Go.
Mentors discography included "The Trash Bag EP", which featured the Mentors' most requested songs, "Going Through Your Purse" and "Woman From Sodom". Other Mentors albums included "You Axed For It", "Up The Dose", and "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll". However, the Mentors' cult appeal never translated to a large following, and their band soon found themselves without a record company to release their music. Undeterred, the Mentors began releasing their albums on their own label and distributing them at their club shows and through their fan club. Their self-produced releases included "Rock Bible" and "To The Max", as well as the El Duce solo projects, "The Man, The Myth, The Legend", "Booze and Broads" and the "Karaoke King" series which featured Hoke singing Karaoke and substituting dirty lyrics to classic songs such as "Little Surfer Girl" and "New York, New York".
Group Members
- Eldon Hoke, drums, lead ("El Duce")
- Steven Broy, bass ("Dr. Heathen Scum")
- Eric Carlson, guitar ("Sickie Wifebeater")
- Jeff Dahl, bass (prior to Broy)
Disography
- Get Up and Die (1981)
- Live at the Wiskey/Cathey de Grande (1983)
- You Axed for It (1985)
- Up the Dose (1987)
- Sex Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll (1989)
- Rock Bible (1990)
- To the Max (1991)