Primitive Love

For the 1964 Italian film, see Primitive Love (film).

Primitive Love
Standard cover art
Studio album by Miami Sound Machine
Released	August 13, 1985 (1985-08-13)
Recorded	1984−85
Studio	New River (Fort Lauderdale), International Sound (Miami)
Genre	Dance-pop
Length	39:24
Label	Epic CBS Discos International
Producer	Emilio Estefan Jr.
Miami Sound Machine chronology
Eyes of Innocence (1984) Primitive Love (1985) Let It Loose / Anything For You (1987)
Singles from Primitive Love
"Conga" Released: September 1985 "Bad Boy" Released: February 1986 "Words Get in the Way" Released: June 1986 "Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" Released: October 1986

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	B [2]

Primitive Love is the ninth studio album and second English-language record by the Miami Sound Machine, released in August 1985, by Epic Records. The album has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. ^[3] The album includes the top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles "Conga", "Bad Boy", and "Words Get in the Way".

Background

Previous releases by Miami Sound Machine had failed to achieve much in the way of crossover success. However, with the release of Primitive Love in 1985, they achieved success both in the United States and abroad. The album was the band's first appearance on the American albums chart, reaching #21 on the Billboard 200. The album ended the year on the 1986 Billboard Year End Charts at number ten. ^[4]

Three singles released from this album reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Conga" peaked at number ten; "Bad Boy" reached number eight; "Words Get in the Way" was the highest-charting single from this album (#5); and "Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" climbed to number 25. ^[4]

A 2CD remastered version of the album was scheduled for release on March 31, 2017 by Vibe on Records, but it was postponed because Estefan was working on a new album at that time. To date, there is still no new date set for the re-release. It was to include five songs that were previously unreleased on CD, sixteen remixes, two soundtrack songs, one demo and the Spanish version of "Words Get in the Way". ^[5]

Track listing

Standard track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Body to Body"	Suzi Carr, Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo	3:56
2.	"Primitive Love"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	4:42
3.	"Words Get in the Way"	Gloria M. Estefan	3:23
4.	"Bad Boy"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	3:53
5.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	3:58
6.	"Conga"	Enrique E. Garcia	4:11
7.	"Mucho Money"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	4:44
8.	"You Made a Fool of Me"	Wesley B. Wright	2:54
9.	"Movies"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	2:57
10.	"Surrender Paradise"	Suzi Carr, Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo	4:50

Europe, U.K., South Africa and Japan CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Conga (Dance Mix)" (Bonus Track)	Enrique E. Garcia	5:59
12.	"Bad Boy (Club Mix)" (Bonus Track)	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	6:24
13.	"Body to Body (Dance Mix)" (Bonus Track)	Suzi Carr, Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo	6:49
14.	"Primitive Love (Dance Mix)" (Bonus Track)	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	6:25

Japan Mini-LP CD Series Limited Edition bonus track (2009)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Bad Boy" (Shep Pettibone Dub)	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	6:25

U.S. (Discos CBS International release) and Latin American track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Body to Body"	Suzi Carr, Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo	3:56
2.	"Primitive Love"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	4:42
3.	"No Me Vuelvo a Enamorar" (Words Get In The Way - Spanish Version)	Gloria M. Estefan	3:23
4.	"Bad Boy"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	3:53
5.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	3:58
6.	"Conga"	Enrique E. Garcia	4:11
7.	"Mucho Money" (Spanish Version)	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	4:44
8.	"You Made a Fool of Me"	Wesley B. Wright	2:54
9.	"Movies"	Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil	2:57
10.	"Hablas de Mí" (Exclusive Track)	Jorge Luis Piloto	3:40

2017 Remastered Deluxe version (unreleased)

Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Body to Body"	3:56
2.	"Primitive Love"	4:42
3.	"Words Get in the Way"	3:23
4.	"Bad Boy"	3:53
5.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)"	3:58
6.	"Conga"	4:11
7.	"Mucho Money"	4:44
8.	"You Made a Fool of Me"	2:54
9.	"Movies"	2:57
10.	"Surrender Paradise"	4:50
11.	"Hablas de Mi"	3:05
12.	"Hot Summer Nights" (From Top Gun)	3:34
13.	"Suave" (From Cobra)	3:03
14.	"Body to Body" (Extended Dance Edit)	4:48
15.	"Primitive Love" (Extended Dance Edit)	5:09
16.	"No me Vuelvo a Enamorar" (Words Get in the Way Spanish version)	3:29
17.	"Bad Boy" (Shep Pettibone 7" Remix)	3:42
18.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" (Demo)	3:58
19.	"Mucho Money" (Spanish version)	4:44
20.	"Conga" (The Stronga Conga Remix)	4:24

Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Conga" (Pablo Flores Dance Mix)	6:00
2.	"Bad Boy" (Pablo Flores Club Mix)	6:26
3.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" (Pablo Flores Extended Remix)	6:07
4.	"Body to Body" (Extended Dance Mix)	6:47
5.	"Primitive Love" (Extended Dance Mix)	6:23
6.	"Bad Boy" (Rubber-Club- Dub Mix)	6:18
7.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" (Pablo Flores 7" Remix)	3:07
8.	"Bad Boy" (Shep Pettibone Remix)	6:11
9.	"Conga" (Instrumental)	4:52
10.	"Bad Boy" (Shep Pettibone Dub Version)	6:43
11.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" (Pablo Flores Dub Version)	5:18
12.	"Bad Boy" (Extended Dance Mix)	6:22
13.	"Bad Boy" (Extended Dub Mix)	6:15

Personnel

• Gloria Estefan – lead vocal, background vocals
• Emilio Estefan – percussions
• Enrique "Kiki" García – drums
• Juan Marcos Ávila – bass guitar
• Wesley B. Wright – guitar
• Roger Fisher – keyboards
• Gustavo Lezcano – harmonica
• Víctor López – trumpet
• Ed Calle – saxophone
• Tony Concepcion – trumpet
• Rafael Padilla – percussion, timbales
• Betty Cortez – keyboards, background vocals
• Rafael Vigil – background vocals
• Paquito Hechavarría – piano ("Conga")
• Juanito Márquez – guitar ("Conga")
• Suzi Carr – background vocal ("Body to Body")
• Emilio Estefan Jr. – producer
• Lawrence Dermer – arranger
• Joe Galdo – arranger
• Eric Schilliing – engineer, mixing
• Ted Stein – engineer
• John Haag – engineer
• Mark Richman – engineer
• Teresa Verplanck – assistant engineer
• Patrice Caroll Levinsohn – assistant engineer
• Carlos Santos – assistant engineer
• Juanito Márquez – horn arrangement ("Mucho Money", "Movies")
• Víctor López – horn arrangement ("Conga")
• Ricardo Eddy Martínez – horn arrangement ("Conga")
• Pablo Flores – remixes ("Bad Boy" Dub Version, 2009 Japan Mini-LP CD Edition, "Conga", "Primitive Love")
• Bob Rauchman – design and art direction
• Al Freedy – front cover photography
• Michael Wray – back cover photography
• Samy – hair and makeup
• Fini Lignarolo – front cover clothes

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (1985) Peak position [4] Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [6] 19 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [7] 30 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [8] 41 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [9] 13 US Billboard 200 [10] 21 US Latin Pop Albums ( Billboard ) [11] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1986) Peak position Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [12] 78 US Billboard 200 [13] 10

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [14]	Platinum	100,000^
Colombia [15]	Gold
Japan	—	42,640 [16]
United States (RIAA) [17]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date
U.S.	August 13, 1985 (1985-8-13)
Europe	August 12, 1985 (1985-8-12)
Japan	August 23, 1985 (1985-8-23)
Japan (Mini-LP CD Series)	July 8, 2009 (2009-7-8)
Music on vinyl re-release	March 29, 2024 (2024-3-29)

See also

• List of Billboard Latin Pop Albums number ones from the 1980s

References

1. Allmusic review
2. "Robert Christgau: CG: Miami Sound Machine".
3. Montane, Diana (18 January 1990). "Gloria Estefan Takes Success One Day at a Time". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 20 September 2020.
4. "Primitive Love (1985)". 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009.
5. "The Estefans block Miami Sound Machine 'Primitive Love' reissue" . Retrieved 2017-03-25.
6. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0648". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
7. "Dutchcharts.nl – Miami Sound Machine – Primitive Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
8. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
9. "Charts.nz – Miami Sound Machine – Primitive Love". Hung Medien.
10. "Miami Sound Machine Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
11. "Miami Sound Machine - Chart history - Billboard". Billboard.com. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8824". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
13. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end charts". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
14. "Canadian album certifications – Miami Sound Machine – Primitive Love". Music Canada.
15. "Las canciones más populares de Latinoamérica". La Opinión (in Spanish). 12 September 1987. p. 35. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
16. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
17. "American album certifications – Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound – Primitive Love". Recording Industry Association of America.