Early years

Surface was formed in New Jersey in 1983 with musicians David "Pic" Conley, David Townsend, and Everett Collins at its nucleus, with Conley's girlfriend Karen Copeland on vocals.^[3]

David Townsend was the son of late singer/songwriter Ed Townsend, and was also a member of the band Port Authority in the 1970s along with David "Pic" Conley,^[4] who was the bassist of funk band Mandrill from 1978 to 1981. Townsend and Conley met when Townsend was in a '70s band in Los Angeles. During the 1970s, Townsend was a friend and colleague of drummer/writer Everett Collins, who worked with The Isley Brothers and founder of the band Sunrize, produced by The Isley Brothers with David Townsend as guitarist.

They then became resident songwriters for EMI and wrote New Edition's "Let's Be Friends" and Sister Sledge's "You're Fine."^[4][1] Encouraged by this success, the group dubbed themselves Surface and began recording their own material, releasing several post-disco/early-'80s-style tracks under the name.^[1]

In 1983, Surface released their debut single "Falling in Love," which peaked at #84 on the United States R&B Singles chart,^[2] staying there for 4 weeks. In the UK, the song peaked at #67 on the UK Singles Chart.^[5] A year later, they released their second single "When Your Ex Wants You Back," which also peaked at #84 on the U.S. R&B chart, and peaked at #52 on the UK Singles chart.^[5] Karen Copeland and David Conley then broke up. Copeland left the group, with Conley and Townsend meeting Bernard Jackson in 1984.^[3]

The three met when Jackson moved from Stamford to New York to pursue a music career. While Jackson was in New York, his godfather said that he should contact his nephew, David Townsend. They did, and Conley, Townsend, and Jackson started writing music together. They wrote songs which would integrate the next female lead vocal. After auditioning several women, Surface, according to Conley, "never found another girl."^[3]

After failing to find a female lead singer to replace Karen Copeland, Bernard Jackson himself became the lead singer. The group then worked on recording its first full album. After leaving Surface, Karen Copeland faded into obscurity, eventually becoming a schoolteacher working at Our Lady Help of Christians, a Catholic school in East Orange, New Jersey.^[6] According to Conley and others,^[6] she is now deceased.^[3]

First major-label record deal

The trio then moved to Los Angeles, California, in search of 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 in 1986.^[7] Also in 1986, Jackson met Brian Simpson, and recorded a demo tape of a track he had written, titled "The First Time". He believed it to be a hit and rented recording-studio time to get the best professional conditions for the track. Their self-titled first album followed in 1987, featuring two more hit singles: "Happy," which reached #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks,^[1] and "Lately," which reached #8.^[4] However, "The First Time" did not appear on the album and remained unreleased.

The band's follow-up album 2nd Wave was released in 1988, and included some of the group's biggest hits. "I Missed" reached #3 on the Billboard R&B chart. "Closer Than Friends" was the group's first #1 hit, topping the R&B chart for two weeks,^[4] followed by "Can We Spend Some Time," which reached #5 on the R&B chart.^[4] 2nd Wave featured two other #1 R&B hits: "You Are My Everything," featuring popular R&B singer Regina Belle, topped that chart for two weeks, and the album's biggest hit,^[1] "Shower Me with Your Love" went gold, selling 500,000 units, reaching #1 on the R&B chart, and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Belle was also a guest vocalist on the album track "Hold on to Love." Thanks to the album's multiple hits, it achieved RIAA Platinum status—selling over 1 million copies.

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, and was its first single. It was a hit, achieving gold sales status, and becoming the group's biggest hit to date. It topped both the Billboard R&B and Hot 100^[4] charts.

The album continued releasing hits with "All I Want Is You," again featuring Regina Belle, which reached #8 on the R&B chart.^[4]

Surface recorded "A World of Our Own" in 1991, which was featured in the film Return to the Blue Lagoon.

Jackson and Townsend left the group in 1994, and Surface disbanded. In 1998, they reformed and released Love Zone, and a few years later announced a return to live appearances with Conley, Jackson, Townsend, and Collins—an effort that was abruptly cancelled when Townsend was found dead at his home on October 26, 2005, of unknown causes, at the age of 50, almost two years after his father Ed Townsend's death (co-writer of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On").^[1]

Best-known lineup

• Bernard Jackson - vocals (1984–1994)
• David Townsend - guitar, keyboards, vocals (1983–1994)
• David "Pic" Conley - bass guitar, percussion, saxophone, flute, keyboards, vocals (1983–1994)

Other members

• Karen Copeland - vocals (1983–1984)
• Eric "G-Riff" Moore - vocals (born August 23, 1971, Irvington, New Jersey) (1994)
• Everett "Jam" Benton - keyboards (1994)
• Everett Collins - keyboards, vocals, writer (1987 - 2005)

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles