Thirty years of Gloria Estefan’s “Miami Hit Mix” and her “Greatest Hits”
Gloria Estefan released the ‘sampler’ “Miami Hit Mix” in November 1992, which blended five of her best loved uptempo hits into one megamix, created and produced by Pablo Flores and Javier Garza. Released in America as the “Megamix”, it was better known internationally as the “Miami Hit Mix” and served as a teaser to Gloria’s first “Greatest Hits” album, released at the same time.
The “Miami Hit Mix” is a lengthy five minutes and 17 seconds and was accompanied on the single by the new festive song, “Christmas Through Your Eyes”, also a new edition to the album.
The Hit Mix itself consisted of “Dr. Beat” from the “Eyes Of Innocence” album in 1984 and was not, surprisingly, released to full commercial level in America. Instead it was a chart hit across most of Europe and ‘down under’. The song peaked at No.6 in the UK and No.11 in Australia. It did, however, make No.17 on the US Club chart.
“Dr. Beat” merges into “Conga” from the “Primitive Love” album. “Conga” was a US commerical hit in 1985 and reached No.10 in America and No.1 on the Dance chart there. It also topped the singles chart in Canada and Spain a and was a top ten hit in many other parts of Europe, but not the UK, where it stalled at No.79.
The lead single from “Let It Loose/Anything For You”, “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You“, is up next. One of Gloria’s all time most memorable tracks was a must for this Samba-infused megamix. The song went top five in America in May 1987 but was not an instant success on the other side of the Atlantic. It took till December 1988 before the Brits warmed to this classic and a second release saw it rise to No.16 across the festive period.
Also from the “Let It Loose/Anything For You” album came “1-2-3“, released in June 1988 in America and in October across Europe. Another superb, uplifting Latin smash, “1-2-3” peaked at No.3 in the US and No.8 in the UK, the track became Gloria’s second top ten hit in a row there after “Anything For You” had really kickstarted this era for her, two months earlier.
The “Megamix/Hit Mix” concluded with another, more recent up-beat number, “Get On Your Feet“, taken from the “Cuts Both Ways” album in 1989. The track served as the second single in America and went No.11 there, while internationally, it followed “Don’t Wanna Lose You” and “Oye Mi Canto” later that Autumn and made it to No.23 in the UK and the top 40 across most of mainland Europe.
The “Megamix/Miami Hit Mix” itself was a top ten success internationally getting to No.7 in Colombia and The Netherlands and No.8 in the UK in the run up to Christmas 1992. Gloria’s “Greatest Hits” album (Vol.1) was a runaway success, earning four Platinum discs in the US for sales of over four million copies and three Platinum discs in the UK with sales of over a million copies, Gloria’s third album there to achieve sales of one million plus. The album featured two further brand new tracks that were released as singles, “Always Tomorrow” and “Go Away”, which kept the compilation in the charts for more than a year, flipping up and down and seemingly unable to leave anyone’s conscience too quickly!
“O eh, o eh, o eh ooo aah”!
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