Don’t You Get Fresh With Me
I saw fog over Twin Peaks over the weekend, which is the universal sign of summer in San Francisco. Therefore, I’m going to write about another summer song!
I would classify this as a “non-traditional summer song,” as opposed to the J Balvin song I posted last week. What I mean by that is: the lyrical content has nothing to do with summer. But you can play this song in any beach bar or dance club and people will party to it! It also happens to be one of my all-time favorite songs. It is so great, for several reasons.
First, the music video is simply incredible. It’s everything that you could ever want in 1988, and several more current artists could and should take notes. And she made it while seven months pregnant! I’m embedding the music video via YouTube below, along with all the other links to the song on various streaming platforms.
Second, this song is the essence of cool. Neneh Cherry in 1988 was the epitome of cool. Edgy, smart, beautiful, fashionable, with the best cultural references, futuristic sounds, and a perfect-for-her musical production team. Her introduction to music was when she was 15 and her stepfather was touring with The Slits, another of the all-time coolest bands, and copied her singing voice off Poly Styrene’s from X-Ray Spex, yet another divinely-cool band.
Third, the synth transition between the pre-chorus and the chorus, and again at the end of the chorus, is absolutely legendary. I can listen just to that synth transition on repeat (and have).
Fourth, the song is a tribute to the fashion house Buffalo, of which Neneh Cherry and co-writer-and-future-husband Cameron McVey were both members. Its founder, Ray Petri, died from AIDS the year following the song’s release, in 1989. It also samples the also-cool “Buffalo Gals” by Malcolm McLaren from 1982.
Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance” remains one of the most fun, most interesting, most danceable, most memorable songs of the 1980s. It’s like a little window into an epic historical moment.
I fully support hip hop and rap artists expressing their anger through music, but, admittedly, I don’t love listening to angry hip hop most of the time. In the 1980s, however, in the era before gangster rap, hip hop was lighter and a lot more fun. This is such an excellent example.
“Buffalo Stance” has left quite a legacy. Neneh Cherry never had another hit at this level, but her family has been extremely prolific, before, during, and since. Her stepfather, Don Cherry, was a well-known jazz musician. Her younger brother is singer-songwriter Eagle-Eye Cherry, best known for his 1998 song “Save Tonight.” Her half-sister is award-winning Swedish singer Titiyo. And her daughter is mononymously known as Mabel, who has had a string of hits in Europe.
She also produced a remake of “Buffalo Stance” in 2022, with the singing split between Robyn and drastically-underrated rapper Mapei. It’s slowed down from the original version, but no less impactful. It is easier to learn the surprisingly meaningful lyrics from the Robyn/Mapei version simply because it’s slower. And the video for this one is great, too!
Enjoy the trip back to November 1988. It’s a good one.