Career
She 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 United States. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but she never came close to charting there again. In Canada it reached #3 in the RPM Magazine charts and in the United Kingdom it peaked at #22 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart.
Not overtly comedic, the title lyric ensured success as a novelty song, which was quickly forgotten as a one-hit wonder, but Tanega continued recording folk and folk popular material, including an album for Radio Corporation of America Records after moving to the United Kingdom in the 1970s.
When she returned to the United States., she got her Master of Fine Arts in painting and began teaching art in Claremont, California. She also began working with ceramic percussion instruments, and recorded with Brian and Amanda Ransom.
During the late 1960s Tanega had a romantic relationship with singer Dusty Springfield.Tanega wrote lyrics to a number of songs Springfield recorded during this period: "Number Stranger Am I", "Earthbound Gypsy", "Midnight Sounds", "The Colour of Your Eyes", "Morning (Bom Dia)" and "Go My Love". They remained friends until Springfield"s death in 1999.
She co-wrote "Dusty Springfield" with Blossom Dearie.
In 2014, Tanega"s song "You"re Dead" was used in the opening credits of the New Zealand film What We Do In The Shadows.