I've considered myself a Temptations fan for a long time. Back in my early days in Japan, someone loaned me a 2-disc compilation of the Temptations greatest hits, which I copied over to MiniDisc (W), and I used to listen to it over and over again.
But, back in those days, it was before Wikipedia, and I didn't know a lot about the history of the band, and I didn't know that the lead singer actually changed in 1968.
Now, the drama of David Ruffin, and how he got kicked out of The Temptations, is easily readable on Wikipedia. (See here and here). I won't recount it all here, but some interesting reading, if you care to follow the links.
The personal problems of David Ruffin and his split with The Temptations are unfortunate (even if it makes for good drama). But still, the man was a very passionate singer. Just look at how much emotion he pours into this song.
According to Wikipedia, after David Ruffin left the Temptations:
He later scored two top 10 singles as a solo artist, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" and "Walk Away from Love."
I'd never heard of either song before. And I grew up on oldies stations. And Walk Away from Love even made it to number 1 on the R&B charts. (I guess this is an interesting reminder that not everything that was popular back in those days survived into the oldies circuit.)
But now, through the magic of Youtube, both songs are readily accessible. I have to say, I don't care all that much for Walk Away from Love, but My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) is a keeper.
Addendum:
David Ruffin is the younger brother of singer Jimmy Ruffin. Jimmy Ruffin's song What Becomes of the Brokenhearted is another one of my favorites. Back when I was using a lot of song worksheets in my lessons, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted was one I used regularly. And the students really liked it as well. They didn't always like my music, but they liked this one. I remember in one particular class, a group of teenagers in Cambodia, I played this song, and at the end of the song, one of the boys said in an awed voice, "Teacher, this song is good."
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