1000 Homo DJs was a side project of industrial music band Ministry. It is best known for its cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut." The project was released through industrial label Wax Trax! Records.
1000 Homo DJs began as a side project to release outtakes from Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey.
The members of 1000 Homo DJs are identified by pseudonyms in the CD liner notes. However, the identities of most members are fairly certain.
Buck Satan: Al Jourgensen
Officer Agro: speculated to be Jeff Ward, but possibly Paul Barker or Martin Atkins
Ike Krull: Mike Scaccia
The Temple of Drool Choir: Mike O'Connell, Wes Kidd, Brian St. Clair, Herb Rosen, Joe Kelly, Jerry Rodgers
Wee Willie Reefer: William Rieflin
Viva Nova: likely Pamela Manning (stage name Viva Nova), but often claimed as Patty Jourgensen
Count Ringworm: Jello Biafra
Trent Reznor's possible contribution to "Supernaut" (see below) is uncredited.
In a 2004 interview, Jourgensen explained that when he played demos (presumably those which became Apathy) for Wax Trax! co-owner Jim Nash, Nash 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 Blackbox released in 1994, Jourgensen and Nash were in the label's office listening to an unauthorized remix of the Revolting Cocks' single "We Shall Cleanse the World". Nash comforted Jourgensen's disapproval of the remix's existence by assuring him that it would only ever be heard by "a thousand homo DJ's.
The nature of 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. Reznor's version would ultimately be released as "Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)" by TVT four years later on the retrospective Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years after 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. 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, 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.
Reznor refers to the two-track Suck bootleg, which contains 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, "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", referring to the WaxTrax! EP, Black Box, and Greatest Fits versions, respectively. This corroborates that only the Trent Reznor Vocal Version contains Reznor's performance, and Jourgensen in fact sings on most versions of the song.
Discography:
Releases:
Apathy (1988, 12" single)
Supernaut (1990, 12" single, CD EP). CDEP includes the Apathy single.
Compilation appearances
V/A - Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years (1994).
Contains "Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)."
V/A - Nativity in Black: Tribute to Black Sabbath (1994)."
Ministry - Greatest Fits (2001).
Contains remix of "Supernaut."
Ministry - Side Trax (2004).
Ministry & Co-Conspirators Cover Up (2008)
Contains remix of "Supernaut."
