Surface

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Biography

Surface was an United States|American Rhythm and blues|R& B and pop music group, active from 1983 to 1994, and best known for its #1 pop and R& B Hit record|hit " The First Time (Surface song)|The First Time ".

History

Early years

Bernard Jackson (singer)|Bernard Jackson moved from Stamford, Connecticut, to New York City|New York to pursue a music career. While in New York, his godfather said Jackson should contact his nephew David Townsend (musician)|David Townsend who had been a guitarist with The Isley Brothers . Meanwhile, Townsend was in Port Authority, a 1970s band, and met David Conley . Conley and Townsend started writing and when they met Jackson, then they formed a Band (music)|band .

Songwriters/early recordings

They then became resident songwriter s for EMI and wrote New Edition 's "Let's Be Friends" and Sister Sledge 's "You're So Fine." Encouraged by this success, the group called themselves Surface and began recording their own material, releasing several Post-disco /early-80s-style tracks under the name. They would find moderate success in the United Kingdom|UK with their singles "Falling in Love" in 1983 and "When Your Ex Wants You Back" in 1984 (according to the Allmusic , "Falling in Love" also cracked the United States|U.S. R& B chart , peaking at #84). With a sound more reminiscent of Kashif (musician)|Kashif and related early 1980s Soul music|soul groups, these early singles contrast significantly with the smoother, ballad-style material that would later make the group successful in the U.S.

First major label record deal

The trio then moved to Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles , California , searching for more mainstream success. The song "Let's Try Again" came to the attention of Larkin Arnold of Columbia Records , who signed the band and released this track as a single (music)|single in 1986 in music|1986 . Also in 1986, Jackson met a friend, Brian Simpson, and Sound recording and reproduction|recorded a Demo (music)|demo Audio tape|tape of a track he had written entitled " The First Time (Surface song)|The First Time ". He believed it to be a hit and hired a recording studio to get the best professional conditions for the track. Their self-titled first album followed in 1987 in music|1987 , featuring two more Hit song|hit singles: "Happy", which reached #2 on the Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and "Lately", which reached #8. However, "The First Time" did not appear on the album and remained unreleased.

The band's follow-up album, 2nd Wave , was released in 1989 and included some of the group's biggest hits. "I Missed" reached #3 on the R& B charts, "Closer Than Friends" was the group's first #1 hit, topping the R& B charts for two weeks, and "Can We Spend Some Time" which reached #5 on the R& B charts. The album featured two other #1 R& B hits, "You Are My Everything" which topped the charts for two weeks and the album's biggest hit, "Shower Me With Your Love" which went Music recording sales certification|gold , reached #1 on the R& B charts and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 . Thanks to the album's number of hits, it managed to go platinum.

Later years

The song "The First Time", originally recorded by Jackson in 1986, was featured on the band's third album 3 Deep in 1991 in music|1991 and was the first single from the album. The song was a hit, going gold and becoming the group's biggest hit to date. It topped both the R& B and pop charts. The album continued with "All I Want Is You" which reached #8 on the R& B charts and helped the album go gold.

Jackson and Townsend left in 1994, and the group disbanded. In 1999, the group reformed and released Love Zone and had just announced a return to live appearances when Townsend was found dead at his home. Townsend, son of producer/songwriter Ed Townsend (co-writer of Marvin Gaye 's "Let's Get It On"), died of unknown causes on October 26, 2005, at the age of 50, almost two years after his father.

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	class=artist
Year	Title	US Pop	US R& B
1986	Columbia )	55	11
1988	Columbia )	56	5
1990	Columbia )	65	19
1991	Columbia )	-	-
1999	Love Zone	-	-
2001	Sony )	-	-
2001	Perfect 10	-	-
2005	Sony )	-	-

Singles

Year	Song	US Hot 100 Allmusic	US R& B Allmusic	US A.C. Allmusic	US Hot Dance Allmusic	UK Singles Chart cite book
1983	Falling in Love "	-	84	-	-	67
1984	"When Your Ex Wants You Back"	-	84	-	-	52
1986	"Let's Try Again"	-	22	-	-	-
1987	Happy "	20	2	24	16	56
1987	"Lately"	-	8	-	-	-
1988	"I Missed"	-	3	-	-	-
1989	"Closer Than Friends"	57	1	-	39	-
1989	"Shower Me With Your Love"	5	1	3	-	-
1989	"You Are My Everything"	84	1	-	-	-
1990	"Can We Spend Some Time"	-	5	-	-	-
1990	The First Time "	1	1	1	-	60
1991	"All I Want Is You"	-	8	-	-	-
1991	"Never Gonna Let You Down"	17	24	17	-	-
1991	"You're the One" / "We Don't Have to Say Good-bye"	-	35	-	-	-
1992	"A Nice Time for Lovin'"	-	52	-	-	-

Members

Best-known lineup

Bernard Jackson (singer)|Bernard Jackson - singing|vocals (1984–1994)

David Townsend (musician)|David Townsend - guitar , keyboard instrument|keyboards , vocals (1983–1994)

David Conley - bass guitar , percussion , saxophone , flute , keyboards, vocals (1983–1994)

Other members

Karen Copeland - vocals (born c. 1958, died December 5, 1988, Newark) (1983–1984)

Eric Moore|Eric "G-Riff" Moore - vocals (born August 23, 1971, Irvington, New Jersey|Irvington , New Jersey ) (1994)

Everett "Jam" Benton - keyboards (1994)

Copyright Citations

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