There were "penises everywhere" when L7 met Motley Crue

L7
(Image credit: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images)

Donita Sparks of L7 has revealed what happened when the punk renegades met Mötley Crüe

While L7 were working in the same studio complex as Mötley Crüe, Tommy Lee invited them to hang out, and they were met with the sight of a room plastered with centrefolds. 

When L7 returned the invitation to the Crüe, they made sure that their own base was covered wall to wall with male pornography. “There were just penises everywhere!” Donita laughs. 

In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Donita also remembers the early days of L7 and the rise of grunge. 

“There were bands that dug us and were waiting for chicks to come out there and hit them over the head with a frying pan, you know?” Donita says. “I think one of grunge’s greatest legacies is the temporary slaying of misogyny in rock.”

In the same interview, Donita also looks back on that tampon incident at Reading Festival 1992. The band were suffering technical difficulties onstage, and the audience were getting impatient – so they started pelting L7 with mud. Donita responded by throwing a used tampon into the audience. 

"It was just not fun, and it was like a slow-motion gig," Donita revealed to Classic Rock. Referring to the tampon incident she said: "So I went performance art, with a little bit of humour. And a little bit of politics, I suppose.”

You can read more from L7 in the new issue of Classic Rock magazine, which is available now. 

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