Talk:Cat Power/Archive 1

professional Hippies
"Chan's father, Charlie, was a blues musician and itinerant pianist. Her mother was a hippie."

So... was Chan's mother anything other than a professional hippie? It sounds kind of goofy as written. --Misterwindupbird 09:59, 10 August 2005 (UTC)


 * As far as I know both of her parents were "professional" hippies ;)...--BarbD 13:08, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

Cat Power a.k.a. Chan?
I feel like the "Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power" should be switched around. Any thoughts?-Keremm


 * Well, she's better known under her stage name, but still fairly well known as Chan (about 200k results in a Google search). The music press generaly uses Chan to refer to her, so I'd be inclined to let it stand.  Or possibly clarify it by saying something like "Cat Power is the stage name of musician and songwriter Charlyn "Chan" Marshall..." -Mr Wind-Up Bird ✈ 16:51, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

But then again, many people and the press still think that Cat Power is a band name rather than a musician name... LOctopus


 * The Manual of Style says: For people who are best known by a pseudonym, the birth name should usually appear first in the article, followed closely by the pseudonym. Follow this practice even if the article itself is titled with the pseudonym. Jogers (talk) 16:06, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Searching for Wrong-Eyed Jesus
The Cat Power song in "Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus" is Cross Bones Style.Clair Seulement 00:43, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

recording in mexico?
this little fact is uncited, not to mention chan is still on tour. quas 23:29, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

this article is clearly biased
just look at the quote from pitchfork, taken completely out of the context to make it look better. i dont feel like going through and looking for all of the other things but the article blatantly biased —Preceding unsigned comment added by sean1058 (talk • contribs)
 * I've removed the 'reviews' section. I hope this removes this issue. mg e kelly 02:52, 23 September 2006 (UTC)


 * The trouble with Wikipedia's pop culture bios is that they become subjects of hagiography, because (a) mostly it's fans that care (b) the rabid ones tend to remove criticism. So we end up with crappy bios. - David Gerard 12:18, 8 October 2006 (UTC)


 * This line smacks a bit awk/unencyclopedic:
 * She is somewhat shy and a loner though recent interviews seem to show her coming out of her shell a little bit. She has described herself as an "introverted person.
 * Should probably be removed. MKV 05:06, 11 October 2006 (UTC)


 * "In 2006 she recieved a grammy for most awesome musician in the world"... shouldn't this just be changed to "Cat Power is the best person ever"? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.210.204.115 (talk) 08:41, 25 December 2006 (UTC).

Richard Avedon shot
No mention or picture of that famous Richard Avedon shot of Chan? Seems like a relevant, meaningful detail -- especially considering how it obviously foreshadowed her mental breakdown. Pariah23 15:18, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

YouTube Diamond Commercial link
The commercial has been removed from YouTube (Possibly because of the Google buy, so I'm thinking it won't be back). So, I removed the link. Millancad 16:40, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Cat Power The Greatest.jpg
Image:Cat Power The Greatest.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Another image
Found this in Special:Unusedimages. Would it be helpful in the article? ~ Bigr  Tex  02:59, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Format of Article
Okay, I really think the discography section needs to be put into charts and whatnot. It looks terrible as it is and makes the article length WAY too long... 12.155.52.20 Chris 16:56, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I don't understand why there's such a huge list of her discography in the main article when there's a link there to the discography article. It's redundant.

Genre
would seem to be best described as indie folk, not sure why it's not used when it's used for other similar singer song writers.--68.229.245.110 21:44, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Diamonds Commercial
There is a commercial of a man putting a diamond pendant on a necklace onto his sleeping wifes chest. The music & vocals sounds very familiar to Catpower and was wondering if it is indeed Chan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.120.93.246 (talk) 13:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

"Descent"
"Marshall is of Cherokee, Irish, Dutch, and Jewish descent." How do we know? And who´ll provide the blood test? This information is nothing else than useless and racist. (what´s next? a picture of her chromosomes?) 9 April 2007


 * Agreed. Judaism is a religion, not a racial characteristic. I thought Chan Marshall was an American. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.30.202.18 (talk) 00:58, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Better Images
Now, this is according to everyones taste, but it's pretty commonly accepted that Chan is a very attractive woman. I think that the pictures we currently have really don't do her any justice. Also, we should have pictures of her from the different era's - the WWTCT era, You are Free era, and currently, because that's what other wiki articles that are biographies have, and her appearance has changed quite a bit in 15 years. 64.132.32.126 (talk) 01:12, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Song in the movie Powder Blue (2009) - Werewolf?
Just heard Cat Power's song "Werewolf" and remembered hearing it in the movie Powder Blue (2009) by director Timothy Linh Bui. It was Jessica Biel's pole dancing scene if I remember correctly.

Not sure how to correctly add this to the main article, so I'm adding it here for others that are wondering... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thebenefactor (talk • contribs) 08:07, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Nothing about her not authorized biography.
Hey, I've been looking here but I can't found any information about the book that Elizabeth Goodman wrote, "Cat Power: A Good Woman", that Chan didn't authorize. And I don't think this is libelous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.166.108.136 (talk) 22:08, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Collaborations and contributions section cleanup - Nov 2010
Propose removing many of the minor entries in this section. The appearance of CP songs in television, ads, and movies is not really notable. Perhaps one sentence could highlight that her sounds are frequently licensed, but a random collection of these really louse up the article. This section should cover actual collaborations and contributions of original material to other projects. Any thoughts/concerns before I proceed? The Interior (Talk) 09:24, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I haven't actually looked over the pertinent section, but I'd say that unless the collaborations/contributions are sourced, they're at best dubious and should be tagged for needing sourcing, and at worst should be flat-out deleted as non-notable and unsourced. Doniago (talk) 16:21, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I have also removed the unsourced in popular culture entries for the same reasons - no sources (this is a BLP) and poor notability. The Interior (Talk) 16:57, 16 November 2010 (UTC)


 * It all appears to be referenced and by reverting you would be negating many valid and sourced contributions. Entries specific to licensing of music is perfectly acceptable. I would say keep as is or clean up. Snoop God (talk) 00:16, 17 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Clean up is what I'm trying to do!. Ok, firstly, the ad mentions.  A specific campaign might be notable, in which case it would have a third-party ref.  Like the DeBeers campaign mention in the "Other Work" section of this article.  Listing songs used in ad campaigns without good refs is not part of GA/FA music articles, check the heavily-licensed Wilco.  The same goes for incidental use of her songs in TV/Film.  They aren't really notable unless they are central to the work, and even then they may not make (In The Doors, the appearanceThe End in Apocalypse Now is not mentioned).  A good ref on their impact would be required.  The "In popular culture" section I think deserves little disscusion, the mentions there would not stand up to any sort of notability scrutiny.  The Interior (Talk) 01:44, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

Sober
She's sober now ... so what was she on before? The article isn't very clear about this. --Mesolimbo 16:59, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Alcohol. If someone wants a decent reference here is a BBC interview. http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/interviews/catpower.shtml
 * --Fsamuels 22:03, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Ah ... thanks! I forget in this day and age that people still like to do themselves in the old fashioned way. I half expect everyone to be a recovering meth addict. --Mesolimbo 04:16, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

She used to enjoy the alcohol, now she limits herself to half a glass of wine once a month.

FWIW, Chan was also taking cocaine and anti-depressants. She says she's completely off coke now and severely reduced the amount of anti-depressants. Pariah23 15:16, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, in about 2007 she was performing in Minneapolis, talked about marijuana as a "gateway drug" to harder drugs. I thought she mentioned heroin, but I'm not sure. So drugs have definitely been an issue, if some one wants to do the research, and find a citation some where, and integrate that into the main article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.30.255.243 (talk) 15:54, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Personal Life
There seems to be a slight problem with how the article is ordered. The big section titled "Music Career" includes her personal life history, e.g. her child. There should be either two separate sections, "Music Career" and "Personal Life", or have a chronologucal biography, e.g. by decade. -The Gnome (talk) 08:18, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Will try and do something about this Kaleeyed (talk) 18:39, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

People would be advised to look at the guidelines for layout of articles on living musicians, although you don't have to strictly order it like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians/Article_guidelines Kaleeyed (talk) 18:41, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Reference to Charlie Marshall playing in a piano bar
I removed this reference because the website is dead. I didn't think it was particularly strong reference anyway, the fact Cat Power's father is a blues musician is well established through interviews with her, it doesn't really need to be proved by a link to the restaurant he plays in. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaleeyed (talk • contribs) 18:44, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

"...She is known for her minimalist style, sparse guitar and piano playing, and breathy vocals..."
Is that the best line we can have in the introduction? I can just about cope with "minimalist", but I question "breathy vocals". Can't we find something stronger and NPOV to say about her musical style, not to mention the critical acclaim which she's had (entirely deserved). Maybe if a few ideas come forward from editors as to a better introduction - referenced as much as possible - we could piece something together between us. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:50, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

"soulful" could work, it's fairly NPOV and she's from the South, and has cover quite a few blues songs. Just a though, put it in if you like it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.186.93.165 (talk) 12:46, 3 August 2009 (UTC)


 * "Breathy" is descriptive. There's nothing non-NPOV about it. MrBook (talk) 17:15, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

tired of her own material?
i've never read anything in her interviews that says she made the covers record because she was "tired of her own material". in fact what i have read seems to contradict this. i was wondering where you are getting this from? -Keremm May 14 2006


 * Chan said, during an interview on a french local radio station, that she did this album because during her last tour in Australia for Moon Pix she needed to play more agressively 'cause she was boring to play always the same things. After this she did The Covers Record to play something new and to stay in good mood. And "playing songs from someone else is easier because it's not my sensations that I'm singing, it's a psychologic protection."
 * Zane


 * It wasn't that she was "tired of her own material," more that she was emotionally exhausted from playing songs that meant so much to her and were often psychologically traumatic. 82.41.56.219 13:11, 26 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Why not just say something like "she was finding it emotionally draining playing her own songs." rather than, she is tired of touring her own material -  which is ambiguous - tired in what sense? Jonpatterns (talk) 20:51, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

She just does what she wants and stop worrying about it. She was just waiting for the right back-up band, and now she's found it. Teenie Hodges is the man! And the back-up singers are even more amazing. The Cat Power page may need significant editing.

Bill Callahan (musician)
The Bill Callahan (musician) page mentions him having had a personal relationship with her and was hoping to find details about this in the Personal Life section. Which one of these articles is factual and which one should be corrected? Thanks.Rusl (talk) 23:20, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Date of birth
As per WP:DOB (a section of the WP:BLP policy) I have removed the uncited exact date of birth from the article. It should not be restored unless it is not only cited, but cited to a source which makes it clear that the date has been widely published, or else published with the subject's approval. The day and month of birth of a living person are of little encyclopedic value, while making them public can contribute to identity theft and other problems. The year suffices to place the subject in chronological context. DES (talk) 04:35, 1 July 2015 (UTC)
 * The date of birth has been widely published in her biography (p.27), this respected encyclopedia, Allmusic, her record company bio (albeit apparently sourced from WP), etc. There seems no good reason to hide the information unless she has asked to have it hidden, for which there is no evidence.   It seems vanishingly unlikely that any source would "make.. it clear that the date has been 'widely' published"  - that seems to be a wholly unrealistic criterion.    Ghmyrtle (talk) 07:16, 1 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes I think that does constitute wide publication, but I would think at least one of those should be cited in the article. I will self-revert. DES (talk) 12:48, 1 July 2015 (UTC)
 * No problem - thanks. Ghmyrtle (talk) 12:49, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

"In Popular Culture" section - cleanup/removal Nov 2010
In preparation for nominating this article for a Good Article review, I am removing some unsourced and non-notable content. The IPC section, contents listed below, contains no sources and consists of entries that are not notable. I propose removal of these seven entries, and the corresponding dedicated section. See WP:IPC for an essay on these sections. If you feel one or all of these entries deserves a place in the article, please provide refs. Note: Primary sources are not considered sufficient in this situation. The refs must show notability. The Interior (Talk) 21:09, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

Proposed Content To Be Removed


 * Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers included a song entitled "Cat Power" on his debut solo release Killers and Stars.


 * The name Chan Marshall was featured as a title in a book of poems published in 2005 by Costa Rican poet Luis Chaves. The book, which won the III Fray Luis de León Poetry Prize in Spain, includes a two-sectioned poem entitled "Traducción Libre de un Tema Inédito de Chan Marshall" ("Free Translation of an Unreleased Track by Chan Marshall").


 * Philadelphia hardcore punk band Blacklisted makes mention of Chan Marshall in the song, "Wish", from their 2008 release Heavier than Heaven, Lonelier than God.


 * Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip refer to Cat Power in the song "Coffee Girl" on their 2009 album, We Are the Same.


 * British writer Clare Wigfall claimed that Cat Power's album Moon Pix influenced the writing of her short story collection "The Loudest Sound and Nothing", published by Faber and Faber in 2007 and winner of the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.


 * In the episode 'Two Bodies In The Lab' in season 1 of Bones Cat Power is mentioned as being among Dr. Brennan's CD collection.

The Interior (Talk) 21:09, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
 * In the American television series Damages. Her song cover of New York was featured in the episode 'Your Secrets Are Safe' the first episode of the third season.
 * I have removed these entries. If there is consensus for their inclusion, they are available in the the revision history.  The Interior (Talk) 20:00, 26 November 2010 (UTC)


 * I tried to get into the article the fact that "Cat Power" is a widely distributed slogan used by the Caterpillar Tractor company but someone disagreed, even though it's true. Ortolan88 (talk) 22:59, 2 July 2015 (UTC)
 * It is mentioned in the article text, and is sourced from at least one of her interviews - but I'm not sure it should be included in the opening paragraph as you suggested. Ghmyrtle (talk) 23:09, 2 July 2015 (UTC)

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DeBeers ad
Does anyone know when or where or with whom her cover of Cat Stevens How Can I Tell You was recorded? Her version was used in DeBeers 2006 Christmas commercial and apparently people were clamoring for Matador to release it but they said she only recorded 30 seconds worth and that what's in the commercial is all there is.

I hate to make an entry that just says her cover was used in a DeBeers commercial without knowing for sure when it was recorded. Jlhollin (talk)


 * Just say it was used in a 2006 commercial (with a source). And please sign your posts using four of these: ~ .  Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:31, 15 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Sorry, spaced on the signature... Jlhollin (talk) 20:17, 6 March 2019 (UTC)

"Discovered by..."
How was she discovered opening for Liz Phair- wouldn't that mean Liz Phair had already discovered her? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnh123 (talk • contribs) 03:59, 29 October 2019 (UTC)
 * The text makes clear what happened. I've modified the wording in the lead.  Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:10, 29 October 2019 (UTC)