Founding members Eldon Hoke ("El Duce"), Eric Carlson ("Sickie Wifebeater") and Steve Broy ("Dr. Heathen Scum") attended Roosevelt High School together in Seattle,[2] and began experimenting together with crude punk and primitive heavy metal.
Upon formation, the Mentors began to tour the Northwest, playing shows with their trademark executioner hoods (it was the idea of El Duce, who adored a horror movie called Mark of the Devil) and bawdy lyrics.
[4] Other bassists from this era include Jeff Dahl, Chris Jacobsen (Jack Shit), and Mike Dewey (Heathen Scum Wezda).
In 1985, they signed to Death Records, a subsidiary of Metal Blade, and released their debut studio LP, You Axed for It!, with Broy returning on the bass.
[2] The Mentors did not achieve true notoriety until the 1985 Congressional hearings orchestrated by Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC).
Broy was briefly replaced by bassists Wayne Daddio ("Ripper"), Ed Danky ("Poppa Sneaky Spermshooter"), Lucinda Rezabek ("Scum Bitch") and Keith McAdam ("Zippy"), but later returned to the group.
[10] Carlson, Broy and Savage continued the band and were joined by guitarist Jeff Solberg ("Sickie J") and vocalist Jake Huber ("El Rapo"), releasing Over the Top in 2005.