The Mentors Hoke and the Mentors worked to gain attention through
farcical demonstrations of
political incorrectness. The band's guitarist, Eric Carlson, renamed himself "Sickie Wifebeater", and the group often appeared in public wearing black
executioner hoods. During the 1985
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's hearings into the proliferation of "
obscene"
lyrics in popular music, the Reverend 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.
Kurt Cobain death claim After the body of
Nirvana frontman
Kurt Cobain was discovered in the greenhouse of Cobain's Lake Washington home on April 8, 1994, Hoke began making the claim that Cobain's wife,
Courtney Love, had offered to pay him to kill Cobain. 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. In 1996, Hoke passed a lie detector test when claiming that Love had offered him $50,000 to kill Kurt Cobain. In his interview in the
Kurt and Courtney film, recorded on April 11, 1997, El Duce again claimed that Love had offered him $50,000 to "whack" Kurt Cobain, and further claimed that he knew who did kill Cobain (giving the name "Allen", some say from the band Kill Allen Wrench), but said he would "let the FBI catch him".
Other appearances In addition to his musical career, Hoke also worked as an
extra in television (such talk shows like
Hot Seat with Wally George and
The Jerry Springer Show, and
Tales From The Crypt episode), movies (including the science fiction musical
Population: 1, starring his bandmate Tomata Du Plenty;
Two Idiots in Hollywood, directed by
Stephen Tobolowsky; and
Du-beat-e-o, starring
Joan Jett), and in music video productions. 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==