Jimmy Ruffin - It's Wonderful [[To Be Loved By You) - Top Of The Pops

[motown01]

I don't know if this is a well-known clip, but I've never seen it before:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkDDjtqMKi8

[thomas96]

Great! I've never seen this before. Thanks for posting it.

[Bluebrock]

I don't know if this is a well-known clip, but I've never seen it before:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkDDjtqMKi8

It is not a very well known clip. I did see it several years ago and promptly forgot all about it. Thank you for posting.

[marv2]

This song was released in 1970 ,but I had never heard it before now.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

I've always loved "It's Wonderful [[To Be Loved By You)" from Jimmy Ruffin's second Motown album, "Ruff 'N Ready". I love how its intricate melody bounces back and forth between major and minor chords. IMO, it's pure, sophisticated, 1970-era Motown at its finest, and, as always, Jimmy and The Andantes sound super. I noticed that the mix used in the above video is slightly different from the Stereo album mix which I'm used to. Maybe a Mono or alternate mix was used? Doesn't matter. The video looks good and sounds great! Thanks for sharing, motown01.

[westgrandboulevard]

I'd say Jimmy was singing live there, accompanied by the TOTP orchestra [[musical director Johnny Pearson) and singers.

The music is most likely not a pre-recorded track, but also played live [[Musicians Union compliant at that time), out of sight of the camera[[s)....

[Bluebrock]

This song was released in 1970 ,but I had never heard it before now.
It was a decent sized hit in the UK where Jimmy always seemed to be received favourably. He was a really nice guy and i got a few opportunities to hang out with him whilst he was living over here.

[masterblaster]

It was a decent sized hit in the UK where Jimmy always seemed to be received favourably. He was a really nice guy and i got a few opportunities to hang out with him whilst he was living over here.
The song was a hit because of the appearance on Top Of The Pops. If other artists would have taken the time to appear live once their songs had hit the lower regions of the charts, I'm sure a lot of the releases would have been much bigger in the UK.

[Bluebrock]

The song was a hit because of the appearance on Top Of The Pops. If other artists would have taken the time to appear live once their songs had hit the lower regions of the charts, I'm sure a lot of the releases would have been much bigger in the UK.
Good point but you had to be invited onto the show. Having said that I doubt that many artists turned it down except for the trendy rock artists who thought it beneath them to appear. As regards American artists a lot depended upon whether they were in the UK at the time or if the record company was willing to pay for flights to the UK.

[westgrandboulevard]

There was a contrast between 'Top Of The Pops' and 'Ready Steady Go!'.

'RSG!' did have artists appearing to promote current hits. It was also a great TV showcase for seeing American artists visiting the UK , who may or may not have achieved chart placings in the States, particularly many black artists who were often little or completely unknown in the UK.

It's hard to over estimate the success of 'RSG!' in promoting 'Tamla-Motown' records here in the UK.

In contrast, 'Top Of The Pops' generally worked on the policy of not only featuring records which were already in the charts, but were also ascending up the charts...or, were placed high [[Top 10, sometimes Top 20), and while may not have moved up, were still selling consistently well.

One exception would be the number one selling record that week, which would feature on each edition while it remained at the top, albeit sometimes in edited form. Another exception might be a visiting artist who had previously had chart success, and was promoting a new record.

As Bluebrock says, the artists had to be available, as the timing to appear on 'TOTP' was crucial. Jimmy Ruffin's records, by the early 1970s, were not selling as consistently in the US as they were in the UK, so he was more available than some of the other artists.

Many of the '60s Motown records which were hits in the US immediately led to increased demand for appearances at home for the artists. The result was they often couldn't appear on UK TV at short notice, even though the UK single release might follow some time later.

If a Motown record was popular enough to reach even a lower placing in UK Top 30 based largely on radio plays, it had the potential for greater sales, if the artists were able to appear in person.

There are quite a few Motown records which did sell well in the UK but could easily have been Number Ones.

Sales of 'Baby Love' [[The Supremes' only Number One record in the UK) must have been boosted simply because [[as I believe) The Supremes recorded it while here promoting 'Where Did Our Love Go', which itself nearly made it to the top of the UK charts.

As one example, had The Supremes been available, it seems very likely that 'You Can't Hurry Love' would have been a UK number one for them, as it had wide, popular appeal, and raced up the UK charts on radio plays. UK sales of the follow-up, 'You Keep Me Hanging On' must surely have been boosted with the video of Diana, Mary and Florence playing table tennis.

But, that's show business, and the UK is a much smaller market than the US....so the artists go where their manager books them, and that will be where the money is....;)

[mysterysinger]

Sheet music for "It's Wonderful" and some of the albums on which the song appears.

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