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Buffalo Stance

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"Buffalo Stance"
Single by Neneh Cherry
from the album Raw Like Sushi
B-side"Give Me a Muthuf***ing Breakbeat" (Sukka mix)
Released28 November 1988 (1988-11-28)
StudioHot Nights (London, England)
Genre
Length
  • 5:42 (album version)
  • 4:07 (7-inch edit)
  • 3:38 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Neneh Cherry singles chronology
"Buffalo Stance"
(1988) 		"Manchild"
(1989)
Music video
"Buffalo Stance" on YouTube

"Buffalo Stance" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry, released in November 1988 by Circa and Virgin as the first single from the singer's debut album, Raw Like Sushi (1989). The song peaked at No. 3 on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, and it reached No. 1 in the Netherlands and in Cherry's native Sweden. An early version of the song appeared as the B-side on the 1986 Stock, Aitken, and Waterman-produced single "Looking Good Diving" by duo Morgan-McVey, which was made up of Jamie Morgan and Cherry's future husband Cameron McVey.[1] The song, titled "Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch", was sung by Cherry.[2]

Morgan says the B-side was written using elements from the single's A-side, most notably Phil Ramacon's distinctive ascending keyboard hook, with Cherry writing the rap, while he supplied lyrics for the sung chorus.[1] He says that no one working on the track recognised its hit potential, which was only reconsidered after his chance encounter at The Wag nightclub with DJ Tim Simenon, who expressed interest in reworking the song.[1]

The song title refers to "Buffalo", a group of photographers, models, musicians, hair and makeup artists, etc. formed by fashion stylist Ray Petri, of which group Cherry, Morgan, and McVey were all members.[3] A buffalo stance is, Cherry told The New York Times, "an attitude you have to have in order to get by. It's not about fashion but about survival in inner cities and elsewhere."[4] The song's title is also a reference to the Malcolm McLaren song "Buffalo Gals" (1982), which "Buffalo Stance" samples.[5] Other samples came from Rock Steady Crew's "Hey You", and the saxophone break is from the band Miami's song "Chicken Yellow" (1974).[6]

Cherry performed the song live on Top of the Pops whilst seven months pregnant.[6] When asked by a reporter if it was safe for her to go on stage and perform, Cherry answered: "Yes, of course! It's not an illness."[6]

Chart performance

[edit]

"Buffalo Stance" was very successful, becoming a worldwide hit for Cherry. In Europe, the song peaked at number one in the singer's native Sweden as well as in the Netherlands. It entered the top 10 also in Austria (7), Belgium (4), Denmark (9), Finland (5), West Germany (2), Greece (2), Ireland (7), Norway (3), Switzerland (2) and the UK. In the latter, "Buffalo Stance" peaked at number three in its sixth week on the UK Singles Chart on 8 January 1989. It spent two weeks at that position before dropping to number eight and then leaving the UK Top 10 the following week. On the Eurochart Hot 100, the single reached number three in February 1989.[7] Outside Europe, "Buffalo Stance" charted on five different Billboard charts in the US; number three on the Hot 100, number one on both the Hot Dance Club Play chart and the Dance Singles Sales chart, number 16 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and number 30 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In Canada, the single reached number one on the RPM Dance/Urban chart, while reaching number three on the RPM Top Singles chart. In Australia and New Zealand, "Buffalo Stance" charted at number 21 and 14, respectively.

The single earned Cherry a gold record in Canada (50,000), Sweden (25,000) and the United States (500,000), and a silver record in the UK (250,000).

Critical reception

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Robert Hilburn from Los Angeles Times complimented "Buffalo Stance" as "a sly and sassy, yet also disarmingly tender slice of street-wise admonition to stand up for your rights rather than let insecurities or peer pressure lead you to mistakes in judgment."[8] Another Los Angeles Times editor, Chris Willman, commented, "No money-man can win my love / It's sweetness that I'm dreaming of, sings Cherry, turning down a "gigolo" who may or may not be a garden-variety pimp. Nothing new there, but the pleasure of this tale is in the telling, and Britain's ripe-and-ready Cherry is an irresistible storyteller, rapping the verses with cocky defiance and singing the choruses with equally unruly loveliness."[9]

Mark Lepage from Montreal Gazette stated, "The lovely Neneh has the best song on radio now, with the possible exception of Womack and Womack's "Teardrops". "Buffalo Stance" is a sexy, saucy and feisty rap/dance summer hit, the kind of thing for which car radios were created."[10] People Magazine remarked that the singer half-sings, half-raps, "mock-tough lyrics" over a prominent drum-machine beat and minimal synthesized accompaniment. The reviewer added that "when she sticks to that formula, singing about infatuation and seduction on the city's mean sidewalks" as on "Buffalo Stance", "she's fresh and inviting."[11] Miranda Sawyer from Smash Hits felt it's "the best dance record in yonks. A brilliant melody plus a rap which knocks the "spots" off Salt 'n' Pepa makes this utterly ace and runner-up Single of the Fortnight."[12]

Retrospective response

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Andy Kellman from AllMusic described the song as "at once a personal manifesto and celebration and critique of city-street peacocking".[13] Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club called it an "unstoppable, electro-hip-hop hybrid". She stated, "With smart samples and swaggering production from Bomb the Bass—not to mention fiercely feminist lyrics that demand respect and assert independence—“Buffalo Stance” remains one of the best singles of the ’80s."[14] Angus Taylor, for the BBC, noted "its undulating synths, You go girl! sentiments and killer hooks is every bit the floor-filler it was ten years ago."[15] Kieran Yates from The Guardian called it a "punchy manifesto".[16] Stephen Holden from The New York Times felt "the musically multilayered dance hit "Buffalo Stance" defines a late-80's street attitude."[17] In a 2014 retrospective reviewe, Pop Rescue commented that "it’s (OMG!) got a female rapper, record scratching, and a fast beat, and this was a fresh sound. Only Salt-N-Pepa could have got close."[18]

Lesley Chow from The Quietus said that on the song, "Cherry already comes across as a fully formed artist: powerful and casually multicultural, as we might expect from an African-Swedish singer raised in Yorkshire and Long Island." She added that it is "a song of many moods, as Cherry goes on to alternate between anger and softness, anti-materialism and a high fashion attitude. A rising synth figure bubbles us up to a heavenly chorus ("No money man can win my love/ It's sweetness that I'm thinking of") which shows a rare tenderness in the narrator. Even though the track has been unrelenting up to that point, the bubbling finale and the melody expose an underlying effervescence."[19]

Impact and legacy

[edit]

German rock and pop culture magazine Spex included "Buffalo Stance" in their "The Best Singles of the Century" list in 1999.[20] Q Magazine ranked it No. 606 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever" in 2003.[21] The Daily Telegraph ranked it No. 37 in their "Top 50 Dance Songs" list in 2015.[22] The Guardian ranked it No. 8 in their list of "The greatest ever female rap tracks – ranked!" in 2018,[16] while Time Out ranked the song No. 13 in their "The 50 best '80s songs" list same year.[23] Rolling Stone ranked "Buffalo Stance" No. 412 in their list of "500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2021[24] and No. 71 in their "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in 2022.[25] In October 2023, Billboard magazine ranked it number 238 in their "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".[26]

Personnel

[edit]

Credits sourced from Sound on Sound[27]

Track listings

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Charts

[edit]

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[72] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[73] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[74] Silver 250,000^
United States (RIAA)[75] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Europe 28 November 1988
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • mini-CD
[51]
Japan 21 August 1989 Mini-CD
  • Circa
  • Virgin Japan
 [76]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 19: Looking Good Diving to I Just Can't Wait on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  2. ^ Elan, Priya (11 April 2012). "The Greatest Pop Songs In History – No 12: Neneh Cherry, 'Buffalo Stance'". NME. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. ^ Flett, Kathryn (17 September 2000). "Style: Ray Petri". The Observer. London. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  4. ^ Holden, Stephen (28 June 1989). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Neneh Cherry's 'Buffalo Stance' – Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Hitlåtens historia, "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance", Sveriges Television, 3 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 8. 25 February 1989. p. 18. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  8. ^ Hilburn, Robert (1 July 1989). "Henley, Cherry Lead the Pack for Midyear Picks". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ^ Willman, Chris. (7 May 1989). "Face the Video and Dance Nenah Cherry, Inner City get into the groove". Los Angeles Times. p. 66.
  10. ^ Lepage, Mark (22 June 1989). "McCartney tunes less sunny under influence of Costello". Montreal Gazette. p. C3.
  11. ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Raw Like Sushi". People. 17 July 1989. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. ^ Sawyer, Miranda (16 November 1988). "Singles". Smash Hits. p. 77. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  13. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Neneh Cherry – Raw Like Sushi". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ^ Zaleski, Annie (12 October 2018). "Fembots, dancing queens, and love fools: 60 minutes of Swedish pop". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  15. ^ Taylor, Angus (2009). "Neneh Cherry Raw Like Sushi Review". BBC. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  16. ^ a b Yates, Kieran (5 April 2018). "The greatest ever female rap tracks – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  17. ^ Holden, Stephen (24 December 1994). "The Year's Best; On Pop Records". The New York Times.
  18. ^ "Review: "Raw Like Sushi" by Neneh Cherry (CD, 1989)". Pop Rescue. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  19. ^ Chow, Lesley (12 May 2014). "Disorientating Eclecticism: Neneh Cherry's Raw Like Sushi Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Die besten Singles aller Zeiten at home.rhein-zeitung.de". Archived from the original on 6 July 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Q – 1001 best songs ever (2003)".
  22. ^ "Top 50 dance songs". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  23. ^ "The 50 best '80s songs". Time Out. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  24. ^ "500 Best Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  25. ^ Dolan, Jon; Lopez, Julyssa; Matos, Michaelangelo; Shaffer, Claire (22 July 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  26. ^ "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  27. ^ Doyle, Tom (April 2017). "Classic Tracks: Neneh Cherry 'Buffalo Stance'". Sound On Sound.
  28. ^ Buffalo Stance (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Neneh Cherry. Circa Records. 1988. YR 21.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. ^ Buffalo Stance (US cassette single). Neneh Cherry. Virgin Records. 1989. 4-99231.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  30. ^ Buffalo Stance (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Neneh Cherry. Circa Records. 1988. YRT 21.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  31. ^ Buffalo Stance (European CD single liner notes). Neneh Cherry. Circa Records, Virgin Records. 1988. YRCDT 21, 661 923.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  32. ^ Buffalo Stance (UK mini-CD single liner notes). Neneh Cherry. Circa Records. 1988. YRCD 21.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  33. ^ Buffalo Stance (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). Neneh Cherry. Virgin Records. 1989. 0-96573.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  34. ^ Buffalo Stance (Canadian 12-inch vinyl disc). Neneh Cherry. Circa Records, Virgin Records. 1989. VSX 1477.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  35. ^ Buffalo Stance (Australian cassette single sleeve). Neneh Cherry. Circa Records. 1989. YRC 21.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  36. ^ Buffalo Stance (Japanese mini-CD single liner notes). Neneh Cherry. Virgin Japan, Circa Records. 1989. VJD-10216.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  37. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  38. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  39. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  40. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6377." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  41. ^ "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 6837." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  42. ^ Danish Singles Chart. 2 June 1989.
  43. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  44. ^ "Top 3 Greece" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 9. 4 March 1989. p. 26. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  45. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Buffalo Stance". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  46. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 1 June 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Neneh Cherry".
  47. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 8, 1989" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  48. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  49. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". Top 40 Singles.
  50. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". VG-lista.
  51. ^ a b "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". Singles Top 100.
  52. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". Swiss Singles Chart.
  53. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  54. ^ "Neneh Cherry Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  55. ^ "Neneh Cherry Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  56. ^ "Neneh Cherry Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  57. ^ "Neneh Cherry Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  58. ^ "Neneh Cherry Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  59. ^ "Dance Tracks". Radio & Records. 19 May 1989. p. 43. ProQuest 1017223552.
  60. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  61. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 56.
  62. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1989" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  63. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles of '89". RPM. Retrieved 29 August 2019 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  64. ^ "Top 25 Dance Singles of '89". RPM. Retrieved 29 August 2019 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  65. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 – 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 51. 23 December 1989. p. 6. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  66. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1989". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  67. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1989" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  68. ^ "End of Year Charts 1989". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  69. ^ "Year End Singles". Record Mirror. 27 January 1990. p. 44.
  70. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1989". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  71. ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1989" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  72. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". Music Canada.
  73. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.
  74. ^ "British single certifications – Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". British Phonographic Industry.
  75. ^ "American single certifications – Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance". Recording Industry Association of America.
  76. ^ "バッファロー・スタンス | ネナ・チェリー" [Buffalo Stance | Neneh Cherry] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
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