Encyclopedia

Primitive Love

1985 studio album by Miami Sound Machine

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors

4 min read
Source updated August 26, 2026

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

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".

01Background

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".

02Track listing

All tracks are written by Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, and Rafael Vigil, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Body to Body"	Suzi Carr Dermer Galdo	3:56
2.	"Primitive Love"		4:42
3.	"Words Get in the Way"	Gloria M. Estefan	3:23
4.	"Bad Boy"		3:53
5.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)"		3:58

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Conga"	Enrique E. Garcia	4:11
7.	"Mucho Money"		4:44
8.	"You Made a Fool of Me"	Wesley B. Wright	2:54
9.	"Movies"		2:57
10.	"Surrender Paradise"	Carr Dermer Galdo	4:50
Total length:			39:24

Europe, U.K., South Africa and Japan CD bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Conga" (dance mix)	Garcia	5:59
12.	"Bad Boy" (club mix)		6:24
13.	"Body to Body" (dance mix)	Carr Dermer Galdo	6:49
14.	"Primitive Love" (dance mix)		6:25

Japan Mini-LP CD Series Limited Edition bonus track (2009)
No.	Title	Length
15.	"Bad Boy" (Shep Pettibone Dub)	6:25

U.S. (Discos CBS International release) and Latin American track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Body to Body"	Carr Dermer Galdo	3:56
2.	"Primitive Love"		4:42
3.	"No Me Vuelvo a Enamorar" (Words Get in the Way) (Spanish version)	G. Estefan	3:23
4.	"Bad Boy"		3:53
5.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)"		3:58
6.	"Conga"	Garcia	4:11
7.	"Mucho Money" (Spanish version)		4:44
8.	"You Made a Fool of Me"	Wright	2:54
9.	"Movies"		2:57
10.	"Hablas de Mí" (exclusive track)	Jorge Luis Piloto	3:40

2017 Remastered Deluxe Version (unreleased)

Disc one bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Hablas de Mi"	Piloto	3:05
12.	"Hot Summer Nights" (From Top Gun)	Michael Jay Alan Roy Scott Roy Freeland	3:34
13.	"Suave" (From Cobra)	Emilio Estefan	3:03
14.	"Body to Body" (extended dance edit)	Carr Dermer Galdo	4:48
15.	"Primitive Love" (extended dance edit)		5:09
16.	"No me Vuelvo a Enamorar"	G. Estefan	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)	Garcia	4:24

Disc two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Conga" (Pablo Flores dance mix)	Garcia	6:00
2.	"Bad Boy" (Pablo Flores club mix)		6:26
3.	"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" (Pablo Flores extended mix)		6:07
4.	"Body to Body" (Extended dance mix)	Carr Dermer Galdo	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)	Garcia	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

03Personnel

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

04Chart positions

Weekly charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)	19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	41
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	13
US Billboard 200	21
US Latin Pop Albums (Billboard)	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)	78
US Billboard 200	10

05Certifications


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.

06Release history

Region	Date
U.S.	August 13, 1985 (1985-08-13)
Europe	August 12, 1985 (1985-08-12)
Japan	August 23, 1985 (1985-08-23)
Japan (Mini-LP CD Series)	July 8, 2009 (2009-07-08)
Music on vinyl re-release	March 29, 2024 (2024-03-29)

Watch videos about Primitive LoveExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Primitive Love”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Primitive Love.jpg by Epic Records, Fair use

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.