In our first Into The Vaults #itchysilk looks at the hit from Neneh Cherry Buffalo Stance (1988).
Neneh Mariann Karlsson is the Swedish rapper, singer and songwriter who was influential in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Cherry in fact was and is an important name within that heyday of musicality. Credits and collaborations are numerous-she was the arranger for Bristol royalty-Massive Attack on their album Blue Lines (1991) which featured hits like Unfinished Sympathy (1991) and she featured and helped compose the beautiful 7 Seconds (1994) where she sang with Youssou N’Dour.
Cherry’s hit in question came from her debut album Raw Like Sushi (1989) which featured other hits like the single Man Child.
In this juncture, we hail Buffalo Stance for its old school hip-hop energy, good vibes and Cherry’s swagger. Unbelievable the track was a rework of a pop track called Looking Good Diving (1986) by a duo called Morgan-McVey. Production on their single came from the kings at the time of pop, Stock Aitken Waterman who were renowned for sanitised, commercially viable hits for acts like Kylie Minogue. Cherry sang on the original Morgan and McVey cut but clearly, she must have seen the potential for this track to be given a new lease of life and subsequently created the classic that we know today. Ironically McVey who sang on the original version of the track was the main producer working under the name Booga Bear on her subsequent debut album and indeed the two went onto to become man and wife.
Since those hits, Cherry has generally been noticeable by her tendency to disappear for prolonged periods before re-awakening and dropping further musical gems. Her longest break being 16 years from her third album to her most recent album Blank Project (2014). Right now, it seems Cherry is in one of her periods of hibernation (as it were) but Cherry has managed to reach a point where she can have gaps without fear that she will lose her fan base-we salute you.