Surface (band)
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Surface was an American rhythm and blues/pop music group from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s best known for their #1 pop & r&b hit, "The First Time".
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[edit] History
Bernard Jackson moved from Stamford, Connecticut to live in New York with his cousin to pursue a music career. While touring the city, his godfather advised him to contact his nephew David Townsend who had been a former guitarist for The Isley Brothers. Meanwhile, Townsend was a part of the band Port Authority during the 1970s and met Dave Conley. Conley and Townsend wrote songs together and upon meeting Jackson, they formed a trio.
The trio was then signed as staff songwriters for EMI and wrote songs for groups such as New Edition's "Let's Be Friends" and Sister Sledge's "You're So Fine." Encouraged by this success, the trio adopted the name Surface and began recording their own material, releasing several disco/early-80's-style tracks under the Surface name. They would find moderate success in the U.K. with their singles "Falling in Love" in 1983 and "When Your Ex Wants You Back" in 1984 (according to the Allmusic Guide, "Falling in Love" also cracked the U.S. R&B chart, peaking at #84). With a sound more reminiscent of Kashif and related early 1980's soul groups, these early singles contrast significantly with the smoother, ballad-style material that would later make the group successful in the States.
The trio then moved to Los Angeles, California searching for more mainstream success. Their 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 in 1986. Their self-titled debut album followed in 1987, featuring two more hit singles: "Happy," which hit #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and "Lately," which hit #8.
Their follow-up album, 2nd Wave, was released in 1989 and packed 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 gold, reached #1 on the R&B charts and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Thanks to the album's wealth of hits, it managed to go platinum.
In 1986, Jackson met with a friend Brian Simpson and recorded a demo tape of a track he had written, "The First Time." He believed it to be a hit and hired a recording studio to get the best professional conditions for the track. As the first single for the group's third album, 3 Deep in 1991, Jackson was right. The song was a big hit, going gold and becoming the group's biggest hit to date. It topped both the R&B and pop charts. The album continued on with "All I Want Is You" which reached #8 on the R&B charts and helped the album go gold.
Townsend, son of producer/songwriter Ed Townsend (co-writer of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On"), died on 26 October 2005 of unknown causes at the age of 50.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 1987: Surface (Columbia) - US #55, R&B #11
- 1989: 2nd Wave (Columbia) - US #56, R&B #5
- 1990: 3 Deep (Columbia) - US #65, R&B #19
- 1991: The Best Surface: A Nice Time for Loving (Columbia)
- 2001: The First Time: The Best of Surface (Sony)
[edit] Singles
- 1983: "Falling in Love" - R&B #84
- 1984: "When Your Ex Wants You Back"
- 1986: "Let's Try Again" - R&B #22
- 1987: "Happy" - US #20, R&B #2
- 1987: "Lately" - R&B #8
- 1988: "I Missed" - R&B #3
- 1989: "Can We Spend Some Time" - R&B #5
- 1989: "Closer Than Friends" - R&B #57, R&B #1
- 1989: "Shower Me With Your Love" - US #5, R&B #1
- 1989: "You Are My Everything" - US #84, R&B #1
- 1990: "The First Time" - US #1, R&B #1
- 1991: "All I Want Is You" - R&B #8
- 1991: "Never Gonna Let You Down" - US #17, R&B #24
- 1991: "You're the One/We Don't Have to Say Good-bye" - R&B #35
- 1992: "A Nice Time for Lovin'" - R&B #52
