Bruce Ruffin (born 17 February 1952)Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p.260 is a Jamaican

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

and reggae artist.

Biography

Ruffin got his start singing with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires briefly, before in 1967 joining

the Techniques The Techniques were a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group mainly active in the 1960s. History The group was formed by Winston Riley in 1962 while still at school, with the initial line-up also featuring Slim Smith, Franklyn White, and Frederick Wai ...

, one of the more successful rocksteady vocal groups of the late 1960s. There he sang alongside Pat Kelly,Pat Kelly page at Reggae-Reviews.com
/ref> Winston Riley and Junior Menns. He was one of several talented singers to drift through the Techniques' ranks, but his stay with the group was highlighted by several rocksteady

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

that he

wrote Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

, the most notable of which was "Love Is Not a Gamble". Restless, Ruffin left the Techniques a year later, returning in 1969 as a solo artist with the upbeat reggae song, "Long About Now". His greatest success came in the 1970s as a reggae-pop solo artist and writer. He continued to

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

with a number of record producers ( Leslie Kong, Herman Chin Loy, Lloyd Charmers) and had some success with cover versions, including

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

's "Cecilia". However, it was a José Feliciano tune, "Rain", that would give his solo career momentum, recorded on Trojan Records, it was a UK number 19 hit in 1971 – the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of which was the karaoke favourite "Geronimo". In 1972 he secured a crossover hit with "Mad About You", which featured odd background vocals and strings arrangement. It was released on the Rhino record label (not to be confused with Rhino Records), and gave him his biggest selling hit, reaching number 6 in Australia and 9 in the UK Singles Chart - it ultimately set the direction for his career. For the rest of the decade, Ruffin continued to release polished reggae-pop that had a strong audience in the UK and Europe. By the 1980s, Ruffin was concentrating on writing and publishing. He eventually moved away from music to study law, becoming a legal consultant to other reggae artists. Ruffin is now the CEO of the BRM Music companies.

References

External links

Bruce Ruffin biography The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

at Allmusic website {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffin, Bruce 1952 births Living people People from Saint Catherine Parish Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican male singers Jamaican songwriters Trojan Records artists