Donita Sparks
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Donita Sparks (born April 8, 1963, Chicago, Illinois) is a vocalist, guitarist and song-writer in Los Angeles, California. In addition to performing with her most recent band Donita Sparks and The Stellar Moments, she is also the co-founder, along with Suzi Gardner, of punk rock band L7. The band has released six studio albums, one live CD and a greatest hits record.
Working with producer Ethan Allen (50 Foot Wave, The 88, Gram Rabbit), Sparks recently released her debut solo record "Transmiticate" in February, 2008. The first single off her new album is titled "Infancy of a Disaster". The video for the song can be seen on YouTube.
Sparks’ original scores can be heard in the recent feature film The Life Of Reilly, starring Charles Nelson Reilly. Her work has also been featured in Natural Born Killers, John Waters’ Serial Mom, the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and The New Yorker’s "Out Loud" series CD for the film Brokeback Mountain.[1]
She currently writes a weekly music column, titled "The Spin I’m In", for the blog Firedoglake.
Sparks and L7 formed Rock for Choice with the Feminist Majority Foundation in 1991, staging numerous concerts featuring some of the biggest bands in the industry benefiting pro-choice organizations.
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[edit] Credits
Sparks's song-writing credits include:
[edit] L7 (1987)
- "Metal Stampede", "Cool Out" (herself)
- "Let's Rock Tonight", "Runnin' from the Law" (with Gardner)
- "Uncle Bob", "I Drink", "Ms. 45" (L7)
[edit] Smell the Magic (1991)
- "Shove", "Fast and Frightening", "'Till the Wheels Fall Off" (with Gardner)
- "Deathwish" (with Plakas and Finch)
- "Broomstick" (with Gardner and Finch)
[edit] Bricks Are Heavy (1992)
- "Wargasm", "Pretend We're Dead", "Diet Pill", "Mr. Integrity", "Shitlist" (herself)
- "Scrap" (with Gurewitz)
- "Slide" (with Gardner)
One of the songs Sparks wrote, "Pretend We're Dead", was the most successful song in L7's history. It was later included on the soundtrack to the best-selling video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and was also used in radio and television advertisements for the popular comedy-horror movie, Shaun of the Dead.
[edit] Hungry for Stink (1994)
- "Can I Run", "Riding With a Movie Star", "Talk Box" (herself)
- "Andres", "Baggage", "Stuck Here Again", "Freak Magnet" (with Gardner)
- "The Bomb", "Questioning My Sanity", "She Has Eyes" (with Finch)
- "Fuel My Fire" (with Cosmic Psychos)
[edit] The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum (1997)
- "Off the Wagon", "Non-Existent Patricia", "Lorenza, Giada, Allesandra" (herself)
- "Drama", "I Need", "Moonshine", "The Masses Are Asses", "Bad Things", "Must Have More" (with Gardner)
[edit] Slap Happy (1999)
- "Crackpot Baby", "Lackey", "Little One", "Freezer Burn" (herself) "On My Rockin' Machine", "Human",
"Livin' Large", "Freeway", "Stick to the Plan", "Long Green", "Mantra Down" (with Gardner)
[edit] Transmiticate (2008)
- "Fly Feather Fly", "Dare Dare", "Infancy of a Disaster", "Headcheck", "My Skin's Too Thin", "Curtains For Cathy", "Creampuff", "He's Got the Honey", "Need To Numb", "Take A Few Steps", "Into the Hi Fi"
[edit] Quotes
- "One of the doctors was playing our song ("I Need") in the operating room and her assisting doctor – it drove him over the edge and he jumped off the roof of the hospital. We were just giddy over that. Apparently, the doctor who attempted suicide referred to us (the band) as "gurgling transvestites." " - on having one of their songs used in an episode of the television show Chicago Hope
- "That's a badge of honor. We're shouting it from the mountaintops." - on L7 being banned from the Christian Coalition
- "It's a brutal business. At times, it's very masochistic." - on the music industry
