Norma Cecilia Tanega (January 30, 1939 – December 29, 2019)[2] 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 later decades, Tanega worked mostly as a percussionist, playing various styles of music in the bands Baboonz, hybridVigor, and Ceramic Ensemble.

By age 16, she was exhibiting her paintings at both Long Beach's Public Library and its Municipal Art Center, playing Beethoven and Bartók at piano recitals, and writing poetry.

[5][6] Tanega spent a summer backpacking in Europe and moved to New York City to pursue her artistic career.

Since they were unable to follow Tanega's more idiosyncratic music, the Outsiders were later replaced by session musicians accompanying her onstage.

A month after Tanega's single entered the charts, Barry McGuire cut a version on the heels of his number one hit "Eve of Destruction".

Madagascar yé-yé group Les Surfs translated it as "Mon Chat Qui S'Appelle Médor" for the French-speaking and African markets,[22] Belgium's Lize Marke released it as "Wanneer Komt Het Geluk Voor Mij" ("When Comes This Happiness For Me") in Dutch,[23] and Jytte Elga Olga interpreted it as "Min Kat – Herr Hund" ("My Cat, Mister Dog") on a Danish 45.

Her tour included a performance on the ITV program Ready Steady Go!, where she met British pop singer Dusty Springfield.

Tanega also penned the English language lyrics for Springfield's version of "Morning", a cover of the song "Bom Dia" by Gilberto Gil and Nana Caymmi.

[5] She returned to painting and exhibiting her artwork —[30] with frequent support from the Claremont Museum of Art[31] — and sometimes combined with her musical performances.

In 2022, Anthology Editions published Tanega's paintings for the first time, including journal entries and a range of other ephemera titled Try to Tell a Fish About Water.

[40] Her one chart hit, "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog", has continued the rounds in other musicians' repertoires: Dr. Hook included it in a 1996 three-disc collection;[41] Yo La Tengo performed it in 2010;[42] and They Might Be Giants recorded it in 2013 for release on their 2015 children's album Why?

[43] In 2014, Tanega's song "You're Dead" from her first album, which was written as a sarcastic statement about her struggles in New York's competitive music scene,[44] was used in the opening credits of the New Zealand vampire comedy film What We Do in the Shadows and was remixed to become a running theme for its characters.

In 2015, Sienna Sebek portrayed Tanega in a London stage production based on the life of Dusty Springfield.