# Primitive Love

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Robert Christgau | B |
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. 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.
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.
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".

## 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

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | Platinum | 100,000$^^$ |
| Colombia | Gold | |
| Japan | — | 42,640 |
| United States (RIAA) | 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) |