1000 Homo DJs explained
1000 Homo DJs |
Origin: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genre: | Industrial rock |
Years Active: | 1988, 1990 |
Label: | Wax Trax! |
Past Members: | Buck Satan (Al Jourgensen) Officer Agro Ike Krull Wee Willie Reefer (Bill Rieflin) Viva Nova Count Ringworm Trent Reznor (uncredited) |
1000 Homo DJs was a side project of American industrial rock band Ministry. The project released two singles, one of which featured a cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut".[1]
1000 Homo DJs began as a side project to release outtakes from Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey. The credits read "Another Luxa/Pan Production", which was the production pseudonym for Ministry members Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker.[2]
Origin of name
In a 2004 interview,[3] Jourgensen explained that when he played demos (presumably those which became Apathy) for Wax Trax! co-owner Jim Nash, the latter replied, "No one's gonna buy this. It'll take one thousand homo DJs to play this for one person to buy it."
However, according to the Wax Trax! box set Black Box released in 1994, Jourgensen and Nash were in the label's office listening to an unauthorized remix of the Revolting Cocks' (Jourgensen's former band) single "We Shall Cleanse the World". Nash comforted Jourgensen, who disapproved of the remix's existence, by assuring him that it would only ever be heard by "a thousand homo DJs".[4]
Members
The members of 1000 Homo DJs were identified by pseudonyms in the CD liner notes. However, most of their identities are fairly certain.
Trent Reznor's involvement
The nature of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor's contribution to 1000 Homo DJs' records has been debated. What is certain is that Reznor recorded the original vocals for "Supernaut". This performance was not officially used because Reznor's label, TVT Records, refused to allow his appearance on the release.[8] Reznor's version would ultimately be released as "Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)" by TVT four years later on the retrospective , following TVT's purchase of Wax Trax!.
Jourgensen's immediate response to TVT's ultimatum is uncertain. An oft-repeated story tells that instead of recording new vocals, Jourgensen merely ran Reznor's performance through a distortion effect to mask its identity.[9] [10] According to this story, every WaxTrax! recording of "Supernaut" contains Reznor's vocals. However, a dissenting group claims this is an urban legend, and that Jourgensen did record new vocals for the EP—albeit in a similar style to Reznor's initial performance. Statements made by both Reznor and Jourgensen seem to confirm the latter view. In a 1992 Prodigy post regarding "Supernaut", Reznor said,
[I] finally told Al to redo it without me. The version that Wax Trax put out is Al, the version on the NIN single is me.[11]
Reznor referred to the two-track
Suck bootleg, which contained the recording of "Supernaut" that later appeared on
Black Box. Jourgensen made a similar statement in a 2003 interview. When asked whose vocals appear on "Supernaut", Jourgensen replied, referring to the WaxTrax! EP,
Black Box, and
Greatest Fits versions, respectively (and corroborating that only the "Trent Reznor Vocal Version" contained Reznor's performance, and that Jourgensen in fact sang on most versions of the song):
That would be me on the original, on WaxTrax! The later version released on TVT was Trent Reznor... then the remixed version had my vocals on it.[12]
Discography
Singles
- "Apathy" 12" single (1988, Wax Trax! Records)
- "Supernaut" 12" single/CD single (1990, Wax Trax! Records)
Compilation appearances
- "Supernaut" on Pure Devotion (1992, Devotion)
- "Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)" on (1994, Wax Trax! Records)
- "Supernaut" on Nativity in Black: Tribute to Black Sabbath (1994, Columbia Records)
- "Supernaut" on Moshpit Madness (1994, SPG Music Productions Ltd.)
- "Supernaut" on The Black Bible (1998, Cleopatra Records)
- "Supernaut" (remixed) on Ministry's Greatest Fits (2001, Warner Bros. Records)
- "Supernaut" on Hardest Hits - Modern Rock of the 80s (2003, SPG Music Productions Ltd.)
- "Apathy", "Supernaut", "Better Ways" and "Hey Asshole" on Ministry's Side Trax (2004, Rykodisc)
- "Supernaut" (remixed) on Ministry & Co-Conspirators' Cover Up (2008, 13th Planet Records)
- "Apathy", "Supernaut", "Better Ways", "Hey Asshole", "Supernaut (Trent Vocal)" and "Supernaut (Dub Mix)" on Ministry's Trax! Box (2014, Cleopatra Records)
- "Supernaut (Die Krupps Remix)" on Occult Box (2015, Cleopatra Records)
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Wax Trax! Records' Julia Nash Ranks Her Ten Favorite Releases. 2011-04-19. 2021-08-16. Noisy. Terry. Josh. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108000834/https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3xwpk/rank-your-records-wax-trax-records-julia-nash . November 8, 2020 .
- Greene . Jo-Ann . April 2, 1993 . Ministry . . 19 . 7 (331). 32, 38. 1055-2685. Prongs.org archive.
- News: Concert Review: Ministry. Orlando CityBeat. Pollstar. April 2, 1993. February 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20050315214245/http://www.pollstar.com/reviews/reviews.cgi?Page=Detail&Artist=MINIST&Post=464&Sort=PerformanceDate#bottom. March 15, 2005. dead.
- Blackbox - WaxTrax! Records: The First 13 Years. Wax Trax! Records. 1994. 37. CD booklet. TVT Records. Chicago, Il..
- Masuo. Sandy. January–February 1996. Ministry: It's Not Easy Being Mean. Option: Music Culture. 66. 66–73. 0882-178X.
- Web site: 1000 Homo DJs. August 13, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070808090808/http://www.prongs.org/ministry/homo. August 8, 2007.
- Web site: 1000 Homo DJs: The Players. August 13, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070928093204/http://www.nodevotion.com/ohdjs/players.html. September 28, 2007.
- News: Bains. Jon. Nine Inch Nails. Convulsion. August 13, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927045622/http://www.obsolete.com/convulsion/interviews/convulse/1.5.html. September 27, 2007 .
- Web site: Nine Inch Nails Biography . . October 22, 2007 . TVT ordered Reznor's vocals removed from ["Supernaut"], but Jourgensen actually just altered them slightly and said he'd re-recorded it.. https://web.archive.org/web/20071009083603/http://music.yahoo.com/ar-259781-bio--Nine-Inch-Nails. October 9, 2007 .
- Web site: Ministry FAQ: 1000 Homo DJs . October 22, 2007 . No matter what you hear, Trent sings on all the versions of Supernaut out there. ... Al went back into the studios and just distorted Trent's vocals to confuse the lawyers, label and so on... .
- Web site: Trent Reznor's Posts on Prodigy . November 8, 1991 . The Nine Inch Nails Article Archive . 2007-11-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20071113143803/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=327. 13 November 2007 .
- News: Warren . James . Ministry Interview: 20 Questions with Al Jourgensen . . 2003-05-21 . 2007-08-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070313071503/http://www.ministrymusic.org/interviews/james.php4 . 2007-03-13.