489 Goodbye Jimmy Ruffin - There Will Never Be Another You

Chart entered : 25  January  1985

Chart  peak :68

We're  going  to  be saying  farewell  to  quite  a  few  black  acts  over  the  next  couple  of  years as  soul  and  disco  give  way  to   R & B, house  and  hip  hop.

Buoyed  by  the  support  of  the  Northern  Soul  crowd,  Jimmy's  run  of  hits  continued  into  the early   seventies   in  the  UK  when  it  had  petered  out  in  the  US. Eventually  though  Motown  cut  him  loose  in  1974. He  had  one  minor  hit  later  that  year  on  Polydor  then  nothing  for  six  years. In  1980  he  relocated  to  the  UK , signed  for  RSO  and  recorded  an  album  written  for  him  by  Robin  Gibb and  former  Amen  Corner  man  Derek "Blue" Weaver  called "Sunrise". This  included  the  huge  comeback  hit  "Hold  On To  My  Love" which  made  the  Top  10  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. Alas  the  follow up  stiffed  and  Jimmy  floated  around, recording  a  couple  of  duet  singles  for  ERC  before  turning  up  on  the  Council  Collective's  single  "Soul  Deep" , a  collaboration  with  The  Style  Council, Junior  and  Heaven  17  to  benefit  the striking  miners. Much  was  made  of  Jimmy's  involvement  as  the  only  overseas  participant  and  he  took  fright  a  bit,  claiming  he  hadn't  realised  the  issue  was  so  politicised.

Nevertheless,  it  raised  his  profile  enough  for  EMI  to  offer  him  a  one  single  deal  to  record  this  one. Jimmy  co-wrote  the  song  with  Steve  Skaith  and  Steve  Jeffries  from  under-rated  political  band  Latin  Quarter.  As  you  would  expect  it  sets  Jimmy's  voice  against  modern  electronics  in  the  same  way  as  Marvin  Gaye's  last  work. It's  a  tad  over-produced  ( by  Heaven  17  associate  Greg  Walsh  )   but  not  a  bad  record , the  song's  reasonably  tuneful , Jimmy's  in  good  voice   and  there's  some  nice  synth  work. However  it  didn't  get  enough  airplay  to  really  climb  the  charts.

With  singles  sales  dropping  a  number  68  hit  wasn't  good  enough  to  extend  his  deal. Instead  ERC  dredged  up  "Young  Heart" a  tuneless  hi-NRG  number  he  did  with  Shakatak's  Nigel  Wright  and  probably  the  worst  thing   ever  to  feature  his  voice.

Heaven  17  attempted  to  give  him  a  leg  up  a  year  later , asking  him  to  front  their  latest  single  "Foolish  Thing  To  Do"  in  April  1986. Jimmy's  vocal  is  polished; the  problem's  with  the  song  , an  attempt  at  a  lachrymose  soul  ballad  like  Billy  Paul's  Me  And Mrs  Jones.  The  lyric's  clumsy  and  the  song  has  no  hooks  at  all; it  just  sounds  like  a  dreary  Simply  Red  B-side. Heaven  17  were  themselves  in  steep  commercial  decline  and  despite  a  performance  on  Wogan   the  single  fell  short  of  the  charts.

Jimmy  cropped  up  again  a  year  later  on  Polydor   with  "Easy  Just  To  Say" , a  decent  attempt  at  modern  soul  produced  by  PWL associate  Phil  Harding.  It  went  nowhere. Inevitably  he  found  his  way  to  Ian  Levine  who  co-wrote  his  next  single  "On  The  Rebound"  and  paired  him  with  Brenda  Holloway  to  perform  it.  Released  on  his  Nightmare  label  it's  an  obscurity  and  I've  not  heard  it.

Jimmy  came  full  circle  with  his  last  single  in  1988,  a  guest  appearance  on  Ruby  Turner's  assault  on  "What  Becomes  Of  the  Broken-Hearted"  , a  bombastic  monstrosity  that  thankfully  bombed.

After  that  Jimmy  was  consigned  to  the  nostalgia  circuit  with  regular  tours  of  the  UK. He  became  involved  in  anti-drugs  campaigns  after  the  death  of  his  brother  David  in  1991. In  1998  he  had   his  own  show  on  Radio  Two  for  seven  weeks  on  a  Saturday  night  playing  contemporary  and  traditional  soul. He  moved  to  Las  Vegas  in  his  last  years  and  was  said  to  be  recording  a  new  album   when  he  died  eighteen  months  ago.