Singer Tom Waits upset over car commercial // canavarlar

NEW YORK - Rough-voiced singer Tom Waits says a European car maker
has stolen his unique vocal style for one of its commercials.

With albums like Bone Machine and Swordfishtrombones on his
discography, Waits is instantly recognizable by his gruff, husky vocals.

Tom Waits, seen here in 2002. (AP file photo)
He says Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors, is currently
airing a television ad throughout Scandinavia that features a voice much
like his own.

Waits, who has gone to court to stop similar infractions in the past,
released a statement to emphasize his displeasure.

Commercials are an unnatural use of my work," he said. "It's like having a
cow's udder sewn to the side of my face. Painful and humiliating."

Waits has never sold his recordings to advertisers and says he
has "lawyers over there investigating my options."

For its part, Opel denies that it intended to copy the singer's sound.

It says the commercial contains a German vocalist performing the English
equivalent of the Wiegenlied lullaby by Brahms.

The company did say that one famous singer was approached to do the
campaign – Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

"We actually are surprised about the fact that Tom Waits considers the
music ... a potential misuse of his voice and style of singing," Opel
responded in a statement of its own.

"We have been assured by our agency partners that Tom Waits has not
been approached at any time within this project."

Waits successfully sued snack-food maker Frito-Lay in 1992 for using a
sound-alike singer in a Doritos advertisement, winning $2.5 million US in
damages.

At about the same time, he also sued his former label, Third Story Music,
for allowing the use of two of his songs in foreign commercials, thus
breaching his contract.

www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/04/22/Arts/waits050422.html