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The Estefans block Miami Sound Machine ‘Primitive Love’ reissue

By Paul Sinclair

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73

primitivelove

US label Vibe On Records were all set to reissue a remastered two-CD deluxe edition of Miami Sound Machine‘s 1985 album Primitive Love, when a last minute change of heart by the Estefans has seen the project mothballed.

The press release had been sent out, an impressive track listing had put together (which included two previously unreleased tracks) and the reissue was due to be released at the end of next month.

Matt Emerick from Vibe On told SDE that “after we announced everything and started pre-sales, the Estefans decided they wanted us to pull it all and put the project ‘on hold’ while she works on her new album, which is going to be re-recordings of past hits.”


Conga was a top ten hit in the USA in 1985

He was keen to stress that both Vibe On and Sony had worked tirelessly “to put together a great package of rare and previously unreleased material, in addition to securing the legal rights to distribute the content therein.”

The label are offering full refunds to those who may have pre-ordered the deluxe edition (which was available only via their website for literally just a few days) as well as offering discount codes for our other catalog titles. The site is currently down, while Vibe On sort things out.

In a statement, the label remained positive saying “We look forward to working with the Estefans in the future and have an exciting outlook on our relationship with Sony Music Entertainment and Legacy Recordings.”

You can see what you would have won below. Primitive Love now WON’T be reissued on 31 March 2017.

track_listing

This was the track listing to the reissue which is now indefinitely on hold.

CD One

  • 1. Body To Body
  • 2. Primitive Love
  • 3. Words Get In The Way
  • 4. Bad Boy
  • 5. Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)
  • 6. Conga
  • 7. Mucho Money
  • 8. You Made A Fool Of Me
  • 9. Movies
  • 10. Surrender Paradise
  • 11. Hablas De Mí*
  • 12. Hot Summer Nights (From “Top Gun”)
  • 13. Suave (From “Cobra”)
  • 14. Body To Body** (Extended Dance Edit)
  • 15. Primitive Love** (Extended Dance Edit)
  • 16. No Me Vuelvo A Enamorar (Words Get In The Way–Spanish)
  • 17. Bad Boy (Shep Pettibone 7” Remix)
  • 18. Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)** (Demo)
  • 19. Mucho Money* (Spanish Version)
  • 20. Conga (The Stronga-Conga Remix)

Disc Two –

  • 1. Conga (Pablo Flores Dance Mix)
  • 2. Bad Boy* (Pablo Flores Club Mix)
  • 3. Falling In Love (Uh-Oh) (Pablo Flores Extended Remix)
  • 4. Body To Body (Extended Dance Mix)
  • 5. Primitive Love (Extended Dance Mix)
  • 6. Bad Boy* (Rubber-Club- Dub Mix)
  • 7. Falling In Love (Uh-Oh) (Pablo Flores 7” Remix)
  • 8. Bad Boy (Shep Pettibone Remix)
  • 9. Conga* (Instrumental)
  • 10. Bad Boy (Shep Pettibone Dub Version)
  • 11. Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)* (Pablo Flores Dub Version)
  • 12. Bad Boy (Extended Dance Mix)
  • 12. Bad Boy** (Extended Dub Mix)

*Previously unavailable on CD.

**Previously unreleased.

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73 Comments

73 thoughts on “The Estefans block Miami Sound Machine ‘Primitive Love’ reissue”

  1. Some will leak out, promo’s will be already made for this relrase and they will become collector’s items just like Abba by Abba deluxe cd in 2012, withdrawn then rereleased at a later date!

  2. I read somewhere that the reason Miami Sound Machine became Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine (and then later just Gloria Estefan), was purely for promotional reasons, rather any kind of ego trip.

    Because they were billed as a group, it was felt Gloria wasn’t getting the recognition she deserved as a singer, even though she was effectively fronting the band, so by billing her name first it then allowed her to be nominated in various categories for things such as the Grammy Awards (because as Miami Sound Machine, they could only ever be nominated in “group” categories).

    Have to say, I’m disappointed to hear the reissue has been blocked. Particularly because the Shep Pettibone 7″ remix of “Bad Boy” (which I believe was used for the soundtrack of the video) has never been commercially released on CD here in the UK (not that I’m aware of), so I would have happily bought it just for that one track! Oh well…

    1. The Shep Pettibone 7″ Remix was released on Playlist: The Very Best of Gloria Estefan (2009) release, as well as, Falling In Love (Uh-Oh) [Pablo Flores 7″ Remix].

  4. The Estefans are great people and I’m definitely sure that there’s much more to this story than Vibe on officially admits. Gloria and Emilio are both known in the business for class and fairness,so to be honest I don’t believe a single word of what they are accused now.

    1. Please. You mean we haven’t heard the reissue company’s take. Gloria is still with Sony. They are even putting out her new crap. So it was approved by Sony and squished by Estefans thinking anyone would care about their new stuff. Dumb move.

  7. Considering that her/their first few (English) albums got Japanese mini-lp re-issues (with bonus tracks) several years ago, it’s odd that the Estefans are allowing some re-issues but not others.

  8. The sad part of this is that she’s basically ignored the first two albums for decades now, and suddenly she’s interested enough to block them from being released. Primitive Love was the best MSM album, and it deserves the reissue, moreso than pretty much anything else in her catalog. This is one of those rare moments when I hope the label ignores what she wants and just goes ahead with it.

  10. Hope her re-hash dive bombs.
    Hope her daugter’s album dive bombs
    Yes, I know I’m hateful.
    Oh, and SDE, we would have ‘purchsed’ it – not ‘won’ it. Stop with the trashy biz talk.

      1. Steady… I will try to get some kind of statement from the Estefans. Let’s keep it calm. We don’t know that anybody is “lying”.

  12. Would’ve loved this to have seen the light of day, with Conga (European 7″ Remix) from 1986 added. Maybe one day before I’m 6 feet under… ;)

  13. Here in the states there are a number of veteran artists who are both A) re-recording their back catalog so that they can make more money from downloads, and also B) suing/contracting with their former labels to have the rights to their catalog revert back to them. I can only guess that when it was up to Sony, they were more than happy to license the album to Vibe On (or really anyone that is willing to show them money, because money.) But if the Estefans now own the rights or are in negotiations to own them, they chose to decline the license, because as has been stated they apparently don’t need money and don’t want the unreleased material out there. Count me as another fan who is disappointed by this choice of theirs and who has no interest in a re-recording of anything, ever.

  15. Wonder what ever happened to their re-issue of 1994’s “Kylie Minogue”, which they announces last year would be coming out this year in a deluxe 2-CD Deluxe package! Hmmm…

  16. In bringing Latin American flavored music to the masses, this album was a game changer. It’s hard to believe that it hasn’t been given this kind of deluxe treatment already. Very sad to see this shelved.

  17. What a fantastic example of an artist who doesn’t appreciate what their actual fans want. Phil Collins was the last. I just read his book and it’s really good. I genuinely think, if someone took him to one side, he’d have listened. Makes me wonder about Gloria.

  18. Why would anyone announce releases if they don’t have the clearance to do it? Either you have actual clearances or you don’t. Or am I missing something?

    1. Exactly… you wouldn’t have thought so. Vibe On specifically said that they had secured “the legal rights to distribute the content therein”. However if the artist objects to the major label, then Sony have to look on which side their bread is buttered and they are always going to side with an artist that they have a 30+ year relationship with, particularly if it’s an ongoing relationship.

  19. I have bought every Gloria Estefan album in the past and I was really looking forward to this re-issue. I do find the explanation a little strange. How on Earth is a re-issue of a more than 30 years old album going to be in the way, even if she is releasing a new re-worked album? A re-issue is just a re-issue and only fans are going to buy that. If anything it would serve as a reminder of the original album and make people more interested in getting the new album with new versions of the songs. Very disappointing.

  20. Remakes & reworkings of old hits should be left to the live performances. Carly Simon did a great album of her old self-penned hits called Never Been Gone which really turned some of those golden chestnuts inside out….. But, but, but, whenever I hear ANYONE doing a remake or even a cover, it always makes me think of the original and that sidetracks my concentration every time.

    I know diddly about Gloria Estefan but possibly she is going the Jeff Lynne / ELO route recording old hits to license in place of songs Gloria may not have exclusive license when it was just Miami Sound Machine. Maybe she doesn’t share well with others and wants 100% of royalties.

  21. What is everybody complaining about! In fact every remix, extended version is a re-issue of an allready existing song! Her upcomming album is greatest hits with a Brazillian twist and 4 new songs! Re-issued or not I am so looking forward to it! Gloria Estefan not succesfull after her first albums? And what about 90 Millias? It came in 1st place in the album top 100 in the Netherlands. She had a promotional concert in the Rotterdam haven before its release! It is all about promotion! Radio stations, record labels hardly promote her these days. Instead they promote crappy super commercial poppy sensations. In fact I hear re-issues all the time of old songs but done in a super commercial style not by the original artists! I hear more re-issues these days then ever before back in the days like the 80’s. Gloria Estefan litteraly made money only by making music and selling millions of copies wich proves how succesfull she is and still is rellevant in the music-industry these days. Making a musical about there life wich is going abroad to other countries. She still inspires people from all ages! She has done a lot for the Latin music! These days artists need to do more then only write and bring out an album! Only selling is not enough anymore these days!

  23. She probably took a cue from Ozzy, re-recording your album to cut out the original players who you begrudge. Who would want her re-hash re-trash if the deluxe was released prior? How could this have anything to do with her daughter’s album?

    1. Some might say that is why Jeff Lynne did the very same thing. Not a patch on the originals, a Synth could never hope to replace the powerhouse that was Mik Kaminski, Hugh McDowell, Melvyn Gale et al. It boils down to ego as much as greed.

      As Bob says above there was also Director’s Cut which was about an artist wanting it to sound different, not about the money or ego. However Kate was still wrong, to a large extent. She only got away with it because she chose to do it to her least well known and least loved albums, so no-one gave it the hard time it deserved AND we were just so desperate for new material. If the Director’s Cut had been re-workings of The Kick Inside and Lionheart then all hell would have been let loose and if it had come after 50 Words for Snow, instead of just before it (and with no clues it was coming) it would have been panned. I give you “Rubberband Girl” as the case for the prosecution. As a massive fan (and one of her biggest defenders) I would never (EVER!) pick the “New Vocal” version of Wuthering Heights over the original and that was “ONLY” 8 years later.

      I think most of us could count on the fingers of one hand, maybe both hands at a push, when an artist has given the fans what they want to buy rather than what the artist wants to sell. Even less than that if you discount the items that Paul has had a hand in.

      Why do so many artists think this is the way to go….

      1. I do broadly agree with your thoughts on Director’s Cut although I quite like mumbly lo-fi ‘Stones-esque reworking of Rubberband Girl. It is at least quirky and interesting, unlike the original which I’ve never really got on with. Funnily enough, the one song you’d really think she shouldn’t f**k with – This Woman’s Work – is also a dreamy delight, which suggests that maybe it would have been better if she’d reworked ‘the hits’. Ultimately, the main problem with Director’s Cut is that it’s a collection of some of her weakest material, because The Red Shoes is a crap album (nothing is going to change that) and she totally ruined the songs ‘The Sensual World’ and ‘Deeper Understanding’.

        Back to the topic and of course Blondie re-recorded all their old hits as part of the Ghosts Of Download package.

        1. Blondie practically made clones of their old hits, for financial reasons, as per many others – Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard spring instantly to mind [sidebar – someone please re-issue Little Richard’s ‘Complete Speciality Sessions’ Box set]. David Bowie re-recorded many songs of course – ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Panic In Detroit’ were very well done, although I’ve never been able to find a soft spot for the new ‘Rebel Rebel’, much though I love David, and hopefully someone will let his ‘Toy’s out of the attic at some point. Given the apathy [and that’s a polite word for it] that Bob Dylan’s forthcoming ‘Triplicate’ has generated, and given that his first album is now open season for people to licence, if I had his ear I would have suggested that re-recording his debut album would be an interesting idea – hearing ‘Fixin’ To Die’ and ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’ sung by Bob in a voice that now reflects the old bluesmen that inspired him in his youth.

  24. I’ve been a fan for years. Gloria has been semi- retired for awhile now. She has been focused on the Broadway musical ‘on your feer’ since production began. Now with Emily putting out her own sound, Im sure Gloria is stepping back. As far as the next album Gloria puts out I heard its Brazilian influenced.

    Much of her “lack of success” after the late 90’s was Sony lack of promotion and her not touring as oftern. They spent many years on the road and she wanted to enjoy family!!

    Hopefully they do rerelease some of the older recordings but let’s face it, they dont need the money!!

  25. I have most of these mixes but would have bought this just to have the complete set all in one place.

    If you really want to channel your disappointment, make your voice heard. Even if it’s just a tweet at @gloriaestefan saying “Please don’t block the 2CD Primitive Love reissue, fans really want this complete release!”

    Sure, chances are it won’t do anything, but it’s certainly more effective than nothing.

    1. agreed.
      it would have been nice to have a collected set but the originals aren’t exactly scarce on the ground.
      another artist scores own goal.

  26. If they were smart, they would add new recordings to their deluxe sets and release them. Maybe the record companies will talk some sense in them and release the deluxe version anyway.

  28. that’s why sometimes you shouldn’t involve an artist in a reissue project…
    Just as Phil Collins, who totally missed his catalog reissue, the Estefan family showed an absolute disregard for long time fans…

    1. Was the Phil Collin’s joke intentional…? If so, Kudos Kiki, nice one.
      How many buyers would prioritize live versions over demos and alternate takes? Not me at any rate. Particularly if the live recording was from a totally different era.

      As an aside (on kinda the same subject) I saw a Paul Young YouTube video yesterday of a mimed live performance on German (?) TV which was plainly within the last few years, grey hair, goatee etc and he was miming to the original Fabulous Wealthy Tarts version of Love of the Common People. It was the most wince-some thing I have seen, hiding behind the sofa stuff of nightmares. Seriously dig it out, watch and recoil in horror.

  30. Too bad. I would have ordered/bought it right away, with all these remixes etc. Why don’t they released their spanish albums for the first time on CD’s (the ones right before their English hit albums)? No, I won’t buy any re-recordings. Perhaps after their re-recordings have flopped they will greenlight this re-issue! Ahhh, why bother? (No one will buy the re-recordings). Just spare us the time & go on with this re-issue and perhaps even more like this for their international success’ albums.

  31. Wow! Not interested myself, but if I’d been a fan of the original then I guess I’d have been pretty impressed with what on offer in the remaster, and would be feeling pretty hacked off that having got this far, it was being blocked by GE. Wholeheartedly agree with the comments about re-recordings / re-workings of old songs. I was prepared to give Kate Bush the benefit of the doubt with Director’s Cut, but part of me still thinks she should have just left alone. Still I can see Kate doing it for her own personal satisfaction, entirely unconcerned about whether it sold or not… :)

  32. Vibe on had to previously cancel their 2Cd reissue of La Toya Jackson’s “Heart Don’t Lie
    they also refunded everyone stating that:
    “here is a small market for obscure pop reissues and an even smaller one for niche artists like La Toya. In addition, the price of another label’s earlier reissue has been slashed to one-third of the price that we were able to offer for ours. Yes, ours offered much more content but for the casual buyer, the price point just didn’t make sense.”

    so a stroke of bad luck again
    I do applaud them for coming up with good reissues ( they previously issued 2 other Latoya albums etc) and working relentlessly to ensure all 12″s and extra tracks are on the reissue
    ( and not offered as hmmf “dl only to teach people to stream”

  33. The Estefans did not pull the plug at the last minute. They have said all along that they did not want this released. This was not news to Sony or Vibe. The Estefans are great people and I trust that they believe they are doing the right thing. I am looking forward to anything they put out.

    1. In reply to Lisa…..
      Hi Gloria, hope you’re well, love to Emilio.

      Seriously, I would like to add my voice to the others on here. If Gloria thinks that there is a market for re-recordings of here hits than she is clearly out of touch. I am a huge pop fan but I cannot remember the last time I thought about her or even read anything about her. She has absolutely no presence just now, or none that I am aware of.
      Let her release her crummy new album, most of us will probably not even notice, it will be forgotten in a fortnight.

      1. Ha! Bob, you made me laugh. I only really remember Estefan’s songs from 30 years ago but I’m pleased that Lisa still still finds her hugely relevant. One sale for the re-recordings is better than zero sales, I’m sure.

  34. In its heyday, Miami Sound Machine was awesome, but then, Gloria was made the headliner as if she were the only one with talent. Eventually the Sound Machine dissolved little by little to where it was just her. Each former member of the Sound Machine have their story of rough dealings with Emilio and Gloria and how they were treated. Obviously Emilio and Gloria are out of touch because the reissue market is strong with this kind of release and they just don’t recognize the market out there for this! I like Gloria Estefan, but that standards album was horrible. Now word comes she plans a release of rerecorded previous material??? I have no intentions on buying that as I always go by the standard that lightning only strikes one place once and you cant recapture the magic of those times, plus she is getting older and doesn’t sound exactly the same as she did when she was younger. What would we get with this new release, a jazzy slow version of “Bad Boy” or a french version of “Conga”? The rerelease was cancelled because they know everybody will buy it if they have the choice to buy the original album with tons of remixes and unreleased stuff. Plus their daughter just released her album so they don’t want attention to go into another direction and away from her too.

    1. Modern Talking? This is not music. This is noise. It should be banned from this site. Lol. Worts German thing ever. I am German so I can say that.

  39. So the issue with the reissue is unreleased material? Of which there are three mixes and a demo. Sounds a bit petty to me. Some of these artists need to have their head examined.

    1. Ern,

      Exactly! So, this reissue features 3 unreleased recordings. If the Estefans are so concerned with unreleased recordings, ask the label to scrap those 3 unreleased recordings then instead of putting this release on hold. I really don’t understand artists sometimes! Aside from the 3 unreleased recordings, this material has already been put out there in one form or another. What a shame! I was really looking forward to this reissue.

  40. Some thoughts on this:

    I liked the first two MSM English albums. They went downhill when it became Gloria Estefan and the MSM.

    They had a nice niche in the music world with their style of music. I lost interest when they became more adult contemporary, and became just another face in the crowd.

    If it’s true that the project was shelved due to the release of previously unreleased material, it shows how out of touch they are with current trends in the music industry.

    Their daughter just released her first album last Friday. Maybe they did not want to interfere with her budding career?

  41. This is the building block of a great episode of “Columbo”. Difficult artist causes company / individual to lose a small fortune by withholding permission and gets bumped off… oh, and just one more thing….

    In general I hate re-workings / re-recordings. they lose all of the spontaneity and passion of the original. Give me an original remix or demo version every time over a 20 years later re-hash.

  42. What a pity! Their fist albums were full of energy while the last ones were poor and not succesful worldwide. I collected every Gloria’s releases except the last ones…

  45. I’m not surprised, she had said in an interview when the reissue was announced last year that she wasn’t going to let it happen because she was not keen on unreleased material being released.

  46. Damn…this looks like it would be an awesome release and something I would definitely buy!

    I just hope it is a temporary ‘hold’, not completely dead in the water…like someone on a jetski in Miami…

    1. Amen to that Mike. Gloria is dreaming if she thinks people want to hear re-recordings. Why would anyone want re-recordings when the originals remastered are what people want. The problem is she has nowhere to go commercially. She has done a CD of standards and that went nowhere even with a PBS special mostly because she doesn’t have the voice to carry those off. She has tried other musical styles and they were vapid and horrible. The Estefan’s need to understand that reissues and deluxe editions are the only way to go and get out of their bubble in Miami. Hope Vibe On and Sony Legacy carry on even without Gloria’s blessing. After all Sony owns those masters.

  49. The Estefans clearly think that they can afford to snub the market for Gloria’s English language recordings. Perhaps her commercial success with Spanish language recordings continues in some foreign markets, but her English language recordings career went into steep commercial decline many years ago, under circumstances for which the Estefans were themselves to blame.
    Since neither Gloria or Emilio Estefan are prolific songwriters, they have discovered songwriters and signed them to the Estefans publishing company. One of these songwriters was a Colombian who wrote songs as a hobby, but he came to write 40% of the songs on Gloria’s English language albums. But after providing plenty of hits for Gloria, he wanted an increase in publishing royalties. The Estefans said “No”, and the songwriter never wrote for Gloria again. The Estefans’ view was that they gave this man a career, and he was lucky to be able to have Gloria record his songs. But, in the end, The Estefans did themselves no favors. After an album of cover versions of 1970’s hits, her English language recording career plummeted. But, maybe it doesn’t matter: the Estefans have an estimated $150 million fortune.

    1. Gloria wrote almost all of her hit ballads herself with NO co-writers:
      Here we Are
      Anything for You
      Can’t Stay Away from You
      Don’t Wanna Lose You
      Words get in the Way

      So your points are pretty much nonsense, and she NEVER supported this project. She is in touch with fans all the time.

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