Miami Sound Machine is an American band of Latin-influenced music featuring the vocals of Cuban-born Gloria Fajardo Garcia (later Gloria Estefan). The band was established in 1975 originally as Miami Latin Boys by Emilio Estefan Jr. and became very successful after joining with Gloria Fajardo (Estefan) in 1977. The band had a number of albums and a string of hit singles until 1989. The band's 1985 album Primitive Love credited the band whereas their follow-up album Let It Loose in 1987 adopted the name Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine.
Expanding line-up
In 1980, MSM added a more complete horn section primarily consisting of trumpet players Fernando Garcia and Victor "Papito" Lopez, plus trombonist Louis Perez. The permanent addition of a full horn section added a new dimension and would become a future MSM musical trademark. Early 1982, a second keyboardist, Roger Fisher was added, as well as the virtuoso harmonica player Gustavo Lezcano. But at the end of 1982, Gloria's cousin Merci and her husband Raul Murciano left the band, just prior to the recording of the third CBS International LP Rio. Once painfully shy, Gloria was now the lone lead vocalist on stage and in the studio, and began to both systematically and stylistically evolve on all levels. Fisher stepped up to Murciano's piano duties. At the same time, Betty Cortes was brought in as replacement for Fisher's second keyboardist role and to sing background vocals live and occasionally in the studio. During the same time period, Elena Stracuzzi was brought in to sing background vocals for live performances. In 1983, Leo Villar was added as second trumpet to replace Fernando Garcia who had left the previous year.  MSM was now quite a large ensemble. With both an expanding and sometimes changing lineup, MSM was now being focused around the primary core founding members: Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Enrique "Kiki" Garcia, Juan Marcos Avila, and frequently, founding guitarist Wesley B. Wright. By the early '80s, MSM had established themselves as major musical artists in Latin America with a strong presence in both the media and on the radio. The next major hurdle was conquered in early 1984 when a Dutch DJ began playing "Doctor Beat" in Amsterdam. Garcia's catchy lyrics, Gloria's sassy vocals, Wright's funky guitar, and Emilio's infectious conga drums took Europe by storm with the tune eventually reaching #1 in the UK and most of Continental Europe, finally causing record labels in the US Market to take notice of the group's strong musical prowess.  In late 1984, the group released their first Epic/Columbia album, Eyes of Innocence, which contained the Garcia-penned classic, previously released, single and dance hit "Dr. Beat" as well as the ballad "I Need Your Love".

Q: What year did Miami Sound Machine expand their line-up?
A: 1982,
Who did they add to their line-up?
Roger Fisher
Roger Fisher