"Buffalo Gals" | ||||
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Single by Malcolm McLaren and the World's Famous Supreme Team | ||||
from the album Duck Rock | ||||
Released | 19 November 1982 [1] | |||
Genre | Hip hop, new wave, dance-rock | |||
Length | 3:40 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Malcolm McLaren singles chronology | ||||
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"Buffalo Gals" is a 1982 hip hop single released by Malcolm McLaren and the World's Famous Supreme Team, which was later included on McLaren's 1983 album Duck Rock . The song is composed of extensive scratching with calls from square dancing. The music video prominently features the Rock Steady Crew.
While in New York City looking for a support act for Bow Wow Wow, McLaren got the idea for the song when he went to an outdoor concert (known as a "Block Party") by Afrika Bambaataa and Universal Zulu Nation. This is where he was exposed to hip-hop for the first time and discovered the scratching technique he would use on this song. Most of the scratching and the beat of the song were composed by Trevor Horn.
Charisma Records were not initially keen on releasing the song, but relented after a strong positive response to the first broadcast of the track by DJ Kid Jensen.
In the liner notes for Duck Rock, McLaren wrote that this track was "recorded with the World's Famous Supreme Team and Zulu singers backing them up with the words 'she's looking like a hobo.' The performance by the Supreme Team may require some explaining, but suffice to say they are DJs from New York City who have developed a technique using record players like instruments, replacing the power chord of the guitar with the needle of a gramophone, moving it manually backwards and forwards across the surface of a record. We call it scratching." [2]
Trevor Horn recalled the recording: "By the time Malcolm McLaren arrived, I'd got a Fairlight ... By the time I did McLaren I'd bought an Oberheim sequencer and drum machine, a DMX and a DSX. I told the World's Famous Supreme Team to tell me their favourite drum beat. It took a couple of hours for them to actually communicate it to me, but once I'd got it, that was 'Buffalo Girls': 'du du — cha — du du — cha'. That was done on this DMX and DSX and they just scratched on top of that." [3]
McLaren and the World's Famous Supreme Team released a record based on the song that includes several remixes, released on September 25, 1998 by Virgin Records, entitled "Buffalo Gals Back to Skool". The record features artists such as KRS-One, Rakim, Henri Scars Struck and Stephen Hague, among others. [4]
Chart (1982–1983) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [5] | 19 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [6] | 19 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [7] | 16 |
Germany (GfK) [8] | 20 |
Ireland (IRMA) [9] | 16 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [10] | 3 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [11] | 13 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [12] | 9 |
UK Singles (OCC) [13] | 9 |
US Hot Dance Club Play [14] | 33 |
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow, and was an early commercial architect of the punk subculture.
"Rockit" is a composition recorded by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and produced by Bill Laswell and Michael Beinhorn. Hancock released it as a single from his studio album Future Shock (1983). The selection was composed by Hancock, Laswell, and Beinhorn.
Duck Rock is an album released by British impresario Malcolm McLaren. It was originally issued in 1983 by Charisma Records, Virgin Records, and Chrysalis Records, and later re-released on CD in 1987. The album mixes up styles from South Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the United States, including hip hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip hop to a wider audience in the United Kingdom. Two of the singles from the album, "Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch", became major chart hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Duck Rock was dedicated to Harry McClintock, better known as Haywire Mac. The album artwork was designed by Dondi White and Nick Egan, with the illustration by Keith Haring.
"Powerless (Say What You Want)" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado from her second studio album, Folklore (2003). The song was written and produced by Furtado, Gerald Eaton, and Brian West. It contains a sample of Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals", which was written by Trevor Horn, Anne Dudley, and McLaren. The song was released as the album's lead single in October 2003.
Let's Get It Started is the second studio album, and first major-label debut, by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released via Capitol Records and EMI Records on September 28, 1988. The album was produced by Hammer and Felton Pilate.
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"Double Dutch" is a 1983 single by Malcolm McLaren. It is taken from his debut album Duck Rock. "Double Dutch" is the follow-up to his successful debut single, "Buffalo Gals", and reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, making it his highest-charting single release. The album version is a slight re-edit of the single, with part of the original middle eight moved to the end of the track. The song concerns the skipping game of the same name, with McLaren's narration mentioning several New York double Dutch troupes by name, notably the Ebonettes, whose name is also used as a chant in the chorus. The music video for the song features McLaren and troupes from the American Double Dutch League performing in a school gymnasium.
Buffalo Gals Back to Skool is a CD by Malcolm McLaren that was released on September 25, 1998. It is based on McLaren's 1982 single "Buffalo Gals".
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"Hey! DJ" is a song by The World's Famous Supreme Team. Writing is credited to Larry Price, Ronald Larkins Jr., and Malcolm McLaren and it was produced by Stephen Hague. Released on 12" in 1984 on Island Records, there were three mixes included. The song refers to McLaren's previous hit "Buffalo Gals", which the group featured on. "Hey DJ" peaked at number fifteen on the US soul chart.
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