Music with a Cherry on Top
November, 2000, London
Neneh, the most famous of the Cherry clan, gave up stardom to raise a family. Now she is back, helping out her brother Eagle-Eye. Neil McCormick reports
WHEN the Spice Girls recently found themselves in the same television studio as Eagle-Eye Cherry and his band, the world-beating girl group made no attempt to disguise their excitement. "They were like, 'Aargh, You're the greatest!' 1" recalls Eagle-Eye. "For a moment there I thought they were gonna start asking for autographs."
Proud sibling: for his new album, Eagle-Eye has invited his big sister Neneh to sing along. 'It's about time!' was her delighted response.
It should be pointed out that Eagle-Eye himself was not the object of this superstar adulation. The 31-year-old singer-songwriter may be a multi-million-selling global pop star in his own right, but the Spice Girls' attention was reserved for his guest vocalist (and big sister), Neneh.
"It's only now that I'm beginning to understand what a major breakthrough Neneh made," says Eagle-Eye proudly. "In the family, we knew how talented she was, so it was no surprise when the world caught on. But Neneh actually changed things! She had such an impact on fashion, on music, and just on the idea of what women could be in this business."
Sitting next to her sibling throughout this euology, Neneh looks bashful. "Careful what you say," she gently chides her brother. "You're going to make us sound like the Waltons."
Actually, another classic American television family spring to mind when one considers the Cherry's musical dynasty. "We were definitely not the Partridge family!" Eagle-Eye protests. "Music was a big part of our life, but it was not so much singing and playing together; more listening to records and having a musical dialogue. Our dad was careful not to push it too hard because sometimes that can push you away."
Dad was celebrated jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. At least, he was Eagle Eye's dad. Neneh (who is four years older) is actually Don's step-daughter, who aquired the name from the American musician's second (and long-lasting) marriage to Neneh's Swedish mother. Before we delve further into family matters, I should warn you that relationships have been so complicated by divorces and remarriages that even Neneh and Eagle-Eye have difficulty agreeing on how many half-brothers and step-sisters they have.
Whatever the exact number, they are evidently a talented brood. Don's children from his first marriage, Jan and David Cherry, are jazz musicians and composers (playing violin and piano, respectively). Titiyo, one of Neneh's sisters on her father's side, is a pop star in Sweden. "I always say we should get together and do a Christmas album," jokes Eagle-Eye. "A Very Cherry Christmas."
On the question of nature versus nurture, Neneh believes that her step-father's influence was felt throughout their extended family. "He tried to inspire people to have confidence in their own thing. It was about finding your own flavour. He was like that with everybody. He could work with the greatest musicians like Ornette Coleman, but he could also work with someone who had never played an instrument. He took so much joy in sharing music."
So much, in fact, that family ranks would often be swelled by some new prodigy whom Don had taken under his wing. "We didn't have a perfect childhood," says Eagle-Eye. "But there was a lot of love, and they made us feel like you can do whatever you want."
In Neneh's case, this meant decamping to London in 1981 at the age of 16, where she joined Rip, Rig and Panic, the post-punk, avant-jazz band. She spent most of the Eighties operating in the experimental margins of the British dance scene before embarking on a solo career in 1989. Blending the cutting-edge rhythms of American hip hop with the catchy melodies and glossy production of British synth-pop, her sensational debut single, Buffalo Stance (which reached number two in the US charts), and groundbreaking album, Raw Like Sushi, made Neneh an international sensation.
As the Spice Girls would testify, Neneh's appeal was more than musical. It was personal. It was something about her swaggeringly self-confident posture, the uncompromising gaze she levelled at cameras, the fearless femininity and sheer individuality of her thrift-shop, sci-fi dress sense.
Her iconic status was cemented when she appeared on Top of the Pops heavily pregnant, singing a tender ballad about the weaker sex entitled Manchild. For a brief, glorious pop moment, Neneh was the epicentre of pop culture. She was Madonna with musical credibility. Tank Girl with tunes. The original All Spice. She was the future. But it turned out that Neneh herself wanted no part in it.
"It is a business where everything is temporary, things are chewed up and spat out. You have to protect yourself," she says of her decision to return to Sweden and concentrate on her family (she has three children, whose ages range from four to 18). She released just two accomplished but low-key albums in the Nineties. "I want to make music I can live with and be proud of. I felt like I was becoming a caricature female spokesperson, jumping up and down on the spot for all the girls."
Her antipathy to the superficial aspects of the music business seems to have made an impression on her younger brother. "I learned a lot from seeing Neneh decide her priorities, having a record company screaming for that follow-up album and Neneh saying, 'No, I have some kids here, I'm gonna chill out.' It's a messed-up business. The trick is to do your thing and survive it, not end up being frustrated and disillusioned, not get messed up on drugs, all these things we see every day. I think that's why I stayed away from it for so long."
In contrast to Neneh, Eagle-Eye was a late starter. Although an accomplished musician, for many years he pursued an acting career in New York (his most notable credit being a small part in The Cosby Show). But following the death of his father in 1996, Eagle-Eye returned to Sweden and began writing songs.
The ease of the process came as a revelation. "It was as if I had found the key to a secret door," he says. Eagle-Eye's penchant is for classically structured American pop-rock, catchy adult-themed songs characterised by subtle musical flourishes and emotional richness. His conservative musical style is almost the polar opposite of his sister's radical chic, but it has proved equally popular. Released without a great deal of fanfare by Polydor in 1997, his debut album, Desireless, became a multi-million seller around the world, installing another Cherry on top of the charts.
For this year's follow-up, Living in the Present Future, Eagle-Eye invited big sister to add her distinctive vocals to an upbeat duet called Long Way Around. "It's about time!" was her delighted response. It was Neneh's first time in a recording studio since 1996 and it appears to have the welcome effect of reminding her that there is more to life than motherhood. Particularly now that two of her offspring (and several other youngsters she seems to have picked up along the way) are teenagers. "I want to record an album just to get out the house," she jokes.
Apparently, there is no sign that any among the next generation of this unusual dynasty wish to join them in the studio. "I don't think they want to be musicians but in this family, who knows?" laughs Neneh. "A doctor would be handy. Even an accountant. That'd be something different."
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