The band set up their own label, Lazy Records, and achieved a modicum of success on the UK independent circuit with their first single "Thru The Flowers" as they were rewarded with four separate Radio 1 sessions. The follow-up, "Really Stupid", was a student dance-floor favourite and helped establish the band on the indie scene. This was confirmed when the third single, "Stop Killing Me", reached #1 in the UK indie chart.

1987 saw The Primitives sign with RCA records, but they still kept the Lazy imprint.
With echoes of Blondie and the Ramones, the Primitives jangling guitar work brought them national fame in early 1988, when their RCA debut "Crash", a classic piece of "indie-pop", reached the UK Top 5. The accompanying album, "Lovely", reached the UK Top 10, but any chance of consolidating this position was halted by personnel changes. The acrimonious ousting of Pete Tweedie saw the inclusion of Tig Williams, with further line-up changes when Andy Hobson replaced Dullaghan.

Subsequent singles failed to emulate the success of "Crash" and the follow-up album, Pure, was only a partial success. The Primitives ended the 80s touring the USA and returned to the UK to undergo extensive touring around Britain, hoping to regenerate those brief glory days. Both Dullahan and Tweedie would join Hate, while Hobson's tenure in the bass position was a fleeting one, being replaced in 1989 by Paul Sampson. When Galore failed to sell, the Primitives disbanded.

In "Lovely", the band left us an album that freeze-frames a precise moment in rock history. Girl-fronted English guitar bands were all the rage and after the success of "Crash", "Lovely" was held up as the album from which all others should take their lead. A collection of classic pop melodies alongside psychedelic-tinged offerings.