# How Neneh Cherry Reinvented a Finished Song To Score an Iconic 80s Hit

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/how-neneh-cherry-reinvented-a-finished-song-to-score-an-iconic-80s-hit/
- Published: 2026-07-27T15:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-27T15:14:08+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/how-neneh-cherry-reinvented-a-finished-song-to-score-an-iconic-80s-hit/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Neneh Cherry reworked an old B-side rap into "Buffalo Stance"
- Producers Tim Simenon and Mark Saunders helped transform the track
- The 1988 single reached No. 3 and became a feminist pop classic

## Summary

Neneh Cherry's 1989 hit "Buffalo Stance" began life as a rap she improvised for a 1987 B-side, "Driving With The Wild Bunch," before she and producers Tim Simenon and Mark Saunders reworked it into one of the decade's most distinctive pop singles. The story illustrates how a seemingly finished piece of music can be salvaged and transformed with fresh production into something far more culturally significant, turning a minor side project into a defining hit of the era.

Cherry, raised in Sweden with musical roots through her Sierra Leonean father and stepfather Don Cherry, had recorded her original rap for a B-side released by her future husband Cameron McVey and Jamie Morgan. A year later, with a solo deal secured, she rebuilt the track with Simenon and Saunders, who added scratching, samples, guitar and a signature synth hook. The reworked song, "Buffalo Stance," reached number three on the pop charts in 1988, became the centrepiece of her debut album Raw Like Sushi, and its lyrics—dismissing a flashy "gigolo" in favour of genuine affection—cemented its status as a feminist pop anthem.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.