Ruffin got his start singing with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires briefly, before in 1967 joining the Techniques, one of the more successful rocksteady vocal groups of the late 1960s.
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 that he wrote, 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".
In 1972 he secured a crossover hit with "Mad About You", which featured odd background vocals and strings arrangement.
For the rest of the decade, Ruffin continued to release polished reggae-pop that had a strong audience in the UK and Europe.