Whitneypedia / G:TB Artist of the... Time Period

From time to time we at Gheorghe: The Blog and Music Authority receive inquiries asking, "What's that song . . . ?" Occasionally you aren't just singing Replacements lyrics, you're actually posing a question. More and more these days, you want to know what song is the backdrop to television commercials, because, frankly, there's more and more cash money being dished out by companies to acquire good songs for their ads.

The argument as to whether this practice is "selling out" by musicians is a rather circular and pointless one, and that's not what we're here today to discuss. Instead, we choose to focus on one artist who is currently defying all conventional wisdom and maintaining her cool street cred while ostensibly being just this side of Wayne Newton in terms of commercializing herself.

Her name is Cat Power. Actually, that's not true, her given name is Charlyn Marshall, and she's known to friends and family as Chan Marshall, but her stage name is Cat Power. Fairly uncommon are the rabid fans of both major league baseball and indie rock, but those of you straddling both categories have undoubtedly thought of Cat Power just about every time Cubs pitcher (and former VCU standout) Sean Marshall was mentioned during a telecast. (Alas, that's not happening much these days with the Cubbies bowing out gracelessly.) Oh, and I recently read that Sean Marshall's nickname in some circles is "Coolcat." Coincidence? . . . Yep.

But I digress. I've been a fan of Ms. Marshall's for a handful of years, mostly because her sultry voice matches her slender physique in fetching sexiness. I caught her at the 9:30 Club a few years ago, and though her stage act wasn't quite as sonically sharp as her studio work, she's well worth watching. If you want a quick sampler of her work, try the songs "He War," "The Greatest," "Love & Communication," "Cross Bones Style," or "I Don't Blame You." (And most of her work is available via eMusic, for those who utilize that.)

Cat Power has also become the queen of the covers. She released a covers record in 2000 called . . . well, The Covers Record. (Check out "Sea of Love" or "Satisfaction.") In January of this year she did another one entitled Jukebox. ("New York" is a nice rendition.) A third -- an EP, actually -- is coming out in December; it's reported she covers The Pogues, which can't be a bad thing. Clearly putting her own spin on old tunes is becoming her thing.

Now, much has been written (by me) already about cover songs and how they can either be executed deftly or bungled. For the most part, Chan Marshall's work in this area is inventive and new, and for that, she's commended and the tunes are recommended. Still, leaning too much on other people's work is risky business: you could be the next Elvis, or you could be the next latter-day UB40. (To sample UB40 when they were a brilliant young reggae act with something to say and not a tired cover band, try "Food for Thought" or "Tyler".)

Even more dangerous, Ms. Marshall has begun covering parts of songs for :30 spots on TV. Have a listen to her work for

DeBeers (covering Cat Stevens):

Cingular (covering Blondie's cover of The Nerves):

Lincoln (covering Bowie):

Throughout it all, I'd say Cat Power acquits herself fairly well in each instance. In fact, I wouldn't mind getting ahold of the full tracks in each case . . . except that they don't exist. She only bothered to record the thirtysecond snippet. Damn her efficiency.

At any rate, now you know the woman behind the voice behind those commercials. And the next time one comes on the tube, you'll tell a friend, yeah, that's Cat Power. And they'll say, "What, like the diesel engines?"