THE OTHER KATRINA

Last month, as Hurricane Katrina made its way through the Gulf of Mexico en route to a disastrous rendezvous with New Orleans, we made a crack about Katrina & The Waves, the one-hit band from the 1980s ("Walking On Sunshine").

Now, imagine you're Katrina Leskanich, the lead singer from that long-ago band.

The timing stars aren't with Leskanich; the singer is scheduled to release a solo album in October, and as she notes on her site:

The hits on this website went crazy recently, owing to the unfortunate coincidence of Hurricane Katrina. I cannot begin to tell you how much I wish the person who named that hurricane had chosen another name - as I have friends and family close to the affected areas, and have no desire to hear my name linked with such devastation and human misery.

Leskanich thought about delaying her album but realized the name Katrina will be, for our lifetimes, associated with a terrible storm. So the CD comes out Oct. 17, with a single ("They Don't Know") dropping Oct. 3. Even if it's good, will anyone play it?