Primitive Man is ICEHOUSE’s second album, first released in September 1982. In January 1982, Iva Davies started recording Primitive Man essentially as a solo project. It was co-produced with Keith Forsey who later worked with Simple Minds and Billy Idol. Forsey supplied additional percussion; Davies supplied vocals, lead guitar, keyboards, bass guitar and programmed the Linn drum machine. Released as an ICEHOUSE album, Primitive Man reached #3 on the National album charts and provided the band’s international breakthrough single, "Hey Little Girl", which peaked at #7 in Australia, #1 in Switzerland, #5 in Germany, Top 20 in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands, and #31 on the U.S. charts.
"Great Southern Land" made the Australian Top 5, and was later featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein. It remains their most popular song according to listeners of Triple M in 2007. "Street Cafe" was the third single from the album. To promote Primitive Man on tour, Iva Davies re-assembled ICEHOUSE with Michael Hoste (keyboards) and John Lloyd (drums), along with new members Bob Kretschmer (guitar, backing vocals), Guy Pratt (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Andy Qunta (keyboards, backing vocals).
Track List:
A1 Great Southern Land 5:14
A2 Uniform 4:09
A3 Street Café 4:22
A4 Hey, Little Girl 4:10
A5 Glam 3:18
B1 Trojan Blue 4:59
B2 One By One 3:57
B3 Break These Chains 3:40
B4 Mysterious Thing 4:21
B5 Goodnight, Mr. Matthews 3:57