THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

839-Neneh Cherry-Buffalo Stance.

1988-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 2.35. Neneh Cherry received a lot of criticism when she performed the song live on ‘Top of the Pops,’ as she was somewhere between seven and eight months pregnant. When asked by a reporter if it was safe to go up on stage and perform, Cherry answered,’Yes, of course! It’s not an illness.’

Neneh Cherry was born Neneh Mariann Karlsson, on March 10th, 1964, in Stockholm, Sweden, her parents separated when she was very young, and her mother then married the American Jazz musician Don Cherry, (1936-1995) and she took her step fathers surname. From her mothers side, Cherry has a half brother, ‘Eagle-Eye Cherry, and from her biological father Ahmadu Jah’s marriage to Maylen Bergstrom, Cherry is the half-sister of the Swedish ‘R&B’ singer Titiyo, and the music producer Cherno Jah. Neneh Cherry is also the mother of the singers Tyson McVey, who is also known as ‘Lolita Moon,’ and Mabel McVey, who has recorded two solo studio Albums, in 2019, and 2022, and has appeared on 13 top 40 UK hit singles.

The discography of Neneh Cherry includes six studio Albums released between 1989-2022, and 16 singles as the lead artist, issued between 1988-2018, she has also appeared on a further 17 singles between 1987-2020 as a featured artist. In her native Sweden on the ‘Sverigetopplistan’ music chart she has had six top 40 hits, with ‘Buffalo Stance’ reaching Number 1, while in the UK, as either the lead or featured artist, she has charted within the top 40 on 12 occasions, with ‘Love Can Build a Bridge,’ with Cher, Chrissie Hynde, & Eric Clapton, reaching Number 1 in 1995. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, she has had two hits, with ‘Buffalo Stance’ peaking the highest at Number 3.

‘Buffalo Stance’ was co-written by Neneh Cherry, Cameron McVey, Jamie Morgan, and Phillip Ramacon, with the songs production being by Tim Simenon, and Mark Saunders. ‘Buffalo Stance’ was the first of five singles released from ‘Raw Like Sushi,’ the debut studio Album by Neneh Cherry, from June 1989. An early version of ‘Buffalo Stance’ appeared as the ‘B’ side on the 1986 ‘Stock, Aitken, and Waterman’ (see also best songs 627) produced single ‘Looking Good Diving,’ by the duo of ‘Morgan-McVey,’ which was made up of Jamie Morgan, and Neneh Cherry’s future husband Cameron McVey. The original version which was titled ‘Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch,’ was sung by Neneh Cherry, but failed to have any commercial impact, with Cameron McVey later saying that he was embarrassed by the song, although he did compliment ‘Stock, Aitken and Waterman for their production work.

Jamie Morgan has said that after the ‘Morgan-McVey’ recording of the song had flopped, that no one who had worked on the track recognised it’s hit potential, but it was a chance meeting by Morgan with Tim Simenon that changed everything, when Simenon expressed interest in reworking the song. Simenon who retired from the music industry in 2013, is an English ‘Electronic’ music producer, who worked under the stage name of ‘Bomb the Bass,’ and he is best remembered for his experimentation with ‘samples,’ scratching,’ and ‘loops,’ in the mid to late 1980’s. As ‘Bomb the Bass,’ Simenon released six studio Albums between 1988-2013, and 14 singles between 1988-2008, of which six made the UK top 40, with ‘Beat Dis,” from 1988, charting the highest at Number 2.

The songs title ‘Buffalo’ refers to the group of photographers, models, musicians, hair, and makeup artists, etc, that were working for the ‘fashion house,’ ‘Buffalo,’ which had been created by the Scottish fashion stylist Ray Petri, (1948-1989) of which both Neneh Cherry, and her future husband Cameron McVey both were contracted models. McVey, and Cherry had first met in 1987 at Heathrow Airport while they were en route to Japan as fashion models, as part of Ray Petri’s ‘Buffalo Posse,’ they married in 1990. The ‘Stance,’ in the songs title, would be what you would do when posing for a photo shoot. Neneh Cherry has said about the song,’It’s not a feminist record, none of my songs are. But it’s about female strength, female power, female attitude.’

‘They were makin’ noise, manhandlin’ toys. There’s the girls on the block with the nasty curls, wearin’ padded bras, suckin’ beers through straws. Droppin’ down their drawers, where did you get yours?’