Ruffin left Motown in the early 70s after an unsuccessful collaboration with his brother, and achieved minor success with singles on Polydor Records and Chess Records. Despite his popularity as a live performer in Britain, he enjoyed no significant hits until 1980, when ‘Hold On To My Love’, written and produced by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, brought him his first US Top 30 hit for 14 years. A duet with Maxine Nightingale, ‘Turn To Me’, was a big seller in 1982, while Ruffin’s only other success of note in the 80s was the British chart-contender ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ in 1985. He joined Ian Levine’s Motor City label in 1988 and recorded two singles with Brenda Holloway. Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze. |
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7 May 1939, Collinsville, Mississippi, USA. The son of a minister, Ruffin was born into a musical family: his brother, David Ruffin, and cousin, Melvin Franklin, both became mainstays of the Temptations. Ruffin abandoned his gospel background to become a session singer in the early 60s, joining the Motown Records stable in 1961 for a one-off single before he was drafted for national service. After leaving the US Army, he returned to Motown, turning down the opportunity to join the Temptations and instead recommending his brother for the job. His commercial breakthrough came in 1966 with the major US and UK hit ‘What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted’, which displayed his emotional, if rather static, vocals. After three smaller hits, Ruffin found success in the USA hard to sustain, concentrating instead on the British market. ‘I’ll Say Forever My Love’ and ‘It’s Wonderful’ consolidated his position in the UK, and in 1970 he was voted the world’s top singer in one British poll.