I remember the first time I heard about the death of the Mentors' El Duce; it was over the internet. The story went that he got hit by a train. I assumed at first that it was just another of the many rumors that had been going around about the passing of Duce. Of course, had the story been about anyone else, it would have been too ridiculous to even consider for more than a minute. But with El, it definitely seemed like it could be a possibility. Those who saw his drinking habits at his final Cleveland appearance with the Mentors know what I mean. Unfortunately, the story turned out to be true, as confirmed by Mentors' bassist Dr. Heathen Scum.
Duce's death, while making an impression on long-time Mentors fans and the Hollywood scene he frequented for years, seemed to go somewhat unnoticed in the punk rock and metal scenes. At least when compared to another recent tragic death, GG Allin. Some people seemed not to care simply because of Duce's lack of political correctness and tendency to make lots of derogatory comments about females. Others, who wouldn't seem to be offended by this, seemed not to care simply because the Mentors music wasn't "punk rock" enough for them. Which is a damn shame, because anyone with a sense of humor and a sense of history can easily see the tragedy of this hilarious and talented performer's death.
The Mentors actually were around back in 1976 playing around the Northwest US, and in fact were one of the premier punk rock bands of that area. After moving to Hollywood in the early 80s, they released several records on Doug Moody's Mystic Records as well as appearing on a ton of Mystic comps. Later, they managed to get a deal with Metal Blade Records which got them national attention with the PMRC due to the controversy over the lyrics to the "You Axed For It" LP (the song "Golden Showers" in particular). Sure, their music always had a metal sound to it, I hear quite a bit of Motorhead influence in it. But listening to especially the earliest records, it is quite obvious why they also appealed to a punk rock crowd - the production was not nearly slick enough to appeal to the average metalhead, and Duce's drunken not-giving-a-fuck humor truly fit into the early 80s punk scene. It is also impossible for any musician to not notice Sickie Wifebeater's amazing guitar playing and also noticing that besides being hilarious, Duce was actually a pretty damn good drummer.
The 90s were not as kind for the Mentors, they lost their lucrative deal with Metal Blade (due to a drunken run-in with the Metal Blade president by El and the band's manager at the time). No new material was heard from 1986 until the band self-released the Rock Bible cassette. The first couple years of this comeback went well, they got a large tour with the Revolting Cocks (which hit Cleveland's Empire and saw Duce grabbing the mic from Trent Reznor during the RevCo set) and released another great CD entitled "To The Max" again on their own label. After that, however, Duce's booze habit really started to take its toll. He was always known to be a hell of a drinker and this never affected his live shows. However, now he completely plastered before even arriving to the gigs and could hardly make it on stage. He was no longer able to play the drums, since he was usually too drunk to sing and drum live anymore. The tour after that, even a back-up singer had to be brought in to help out El with the vocals, as he tended to forget a lot of them. The last Cleveland show at the Red Eye Rock Club saw Duce passed on stage for a good majority of the set.
However, fans of El Duce and the Mentors could be seen every year at Mentors shows regardless of the declining state of Duce. Why? Well, the music still rocked - the rest of the band still had it in them to keep going despite Duce's severe booze habit. But more importantly, even when Duce was completely plastered, he was a damn cool guy to hang out with. El, despite his legendary status, was never one to hide from his fans. Before the show, he would be at the bar with them, usually pounding beers bought for him in one huge gulp. He was always telling jokes or some ridiculous story that had occurred on the road and was always ready to try to pick up some girls with the fans. When I think of that last Cleveland show, I don't think about the fact that the live show was only a fraction of what it was from years back. What I remember, is sitting in the Red Eye bathroom with Duce smoking a shitload of weed and drinking some beer. He freely admitted that he was too fucked up to do a good show that night and the rest of the band was gonna be pissed (they hadn't made it to the show yet). Hanging out with Duce was far more entertaining that what today's so-called punk rock bands bring to the stage.
The Mentors (minus Duce) did an appearance in Cleveland this past Halloween. I actually set up the show at Running Riot (formerly Riot 101). Riot was always a rowdy place to see a show especially due to the fact that it's BYOB. I booked a couple local punk bands, my band (a mix of punk-metal) and a metal band to open up for them. The crowd was noticeably small which is understandable due to the fact that there was so much going on this past Halloween. What was truly shocking and lame however, was the way the punks in the crowd reacted to the Mentors. Before they even went on, people were telling them off and starting shit with Sickie Wifebeater. Most of the punks there didn't seem to think the Mentors were important enough to stick around for seeing as most of them left before they even went on. It seemed that the Mentors and my band (with lyrics in the same vein as the Mentors) offended them. I'm not talking about these new emo kids either who cannot take ANYTHING as a joke. The people in this crowd were dressed "punk" as fuck and a majority of them had mohawks. It was their loss, as the Mentors totally rocked out the old songs for the few true fans that remained. Some people I know criticized the band for carrying on - but I don't think Duce would want it any other way. With the Mentors still carrying on, his songs will be heard forever the way they should be - live.
That really doesn't matter. I really doubt the Mentors could care that some punk rock kids just don't think they're cool enough for them. All the people who know what's up will never forget El Duce's wit and contributions to the music scene. All the people who don't will continue to worship Sid Vicious (whose contribution to music consisted of playing in bass on one album in a band that was a fraud in the first place, then ODing) and whatever 77' punk rehash is hot this month. It's just a shame that they cannot see that El Duce was more punk than every new 90s punk rock band put together. Luckily, the music is still available for those who have a clue but were born too late and each release offers a glimpse of unique personality that was El Duce. LONG LIVE DUCE AND THE MENTORS!
Russ/Femsickliver - 12/97