Biography
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Born
30 January 1939
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Born In
Vallejo, Solano County, California, United States
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Died
29 December 2019 (aged 80)
Norma Tanega (born Norma Cecilia Tanega on 30 January 1939 in Vallejo, CA; died 29 December 2019) was an American folk and pop singer-songwriter, painter, and experimental musician. In the 1960s she had a hit with the single "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog" and wrote songs for Dusty Springfield and other prominent musicians. In the decades before her death, Tanega worked mostly as a percussionist, playing various styles of music in the bands Baboonz, hybridVigor, and Ceramic Ensemble.
Tanega was a camp counselor in the Catskills when she signed to New Voice Records in 1966. Her debut single, "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog", reached #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but she never came close to charting there again. The tune was a novelty song and was quickly forgotten, but Tanega continued recording folk and folk pop material, including an album for RCA Records after moving to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. When she returned to the U.S., she got her MFA in painting and began teaching art in Claremont, California. She also began working with ceramic percussion instruments, and recorded with Brian and Amanda Ransom. She was also a member of world music ensemble Hybrid Vigor.
During the late 1960s/early 1970s Tanega had a romantic relationship with British singer Dusty Springfield. Tanega wrote the lyrics to various songs, that Springfield recorded during this time ("No Stranger Am I", "Earthbound Gypsy", "Midnight Sounds", "The Colour of Your Eyes", "Morning (Bom Dia)", "Go My Love") and they remained friends until Springfield's death in 1999.
In the decades before her death, Tanega worked mostly as a percussionist, playing various styles of music in the bands Baboonz, hybridVigor, and Ceramic Ensemble.
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