David Edward Townsend (May 17, 1955 – October 26, 2005) was an American musician best known as the guitarist for the R&B band

Surface A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...

Biography

Early years

Townsend was born in 1955 in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, the son of Ed Townsend, a singer-songwriter famous for the song "

For Your Love "For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by the English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues roots ...

" and the co-writer and producer of "

Let's Get It On ''Let's Get It On'' is the twelfth studio album by the American soul singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye. It was released on August 28, 1973, by the Motown subsidiary label Tamla Records on LP. Recording sessions for the album took place dur ...

" with

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

in 1972.Thedeadrockstarsclub.com
– accessed February 2011 The younger Townsend showed an interest in music from an early age and soon learned to play an array of instruments, including the guitar, piano and synthesiser.

Early career

Grew up in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

. After graduating from college in the mid-1970s, Townsend joined

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

' backing band Sunrize, produced by the Isley Brothers 1982, as guitarist, before forming a group called Port Authority with David Conley, another singer and musician. They found another member in Bernard Jackson and formed a songwriting partnership, which led to them becoming staff writers at

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

. After having written songs for

New Edition New Edition is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B/Pop music, pop group from the Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by singer/rapper Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a new edition of the Jackson ...

("Let's Be Friends"), Gwen Guthrie and

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...

("You're So Fine"), the group decided to record some of their own material. They chose the name Surface and released "

Falling in Love Falling in love is the development of strong feelings of attachment and love, usually towards another person. The term is metaphorical, emphasizing that the process, like the physical act of falling, is sudden, uncontrollable and leaves the ...

" and "When Your 'Ex' Wants You Back" on the

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

label

Salsoul Records Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases ...

Peak success (1989–1991)

Although Surface achieved some club success, Townsend felt the band could have gone a lot further on a larger label. In 1985, he went to

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

to visit his father, who was building a recording studio there. (Ed) Townsend pulled some strings to get Surface a contract with Columbia. They convinced the label to let them continue recording at The Lab, the 24-track studio they had built in Conley's living room in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Surface's first single on Columbia, "Let's Try Again", was a small hit, however, "Happy" reached No. 2 on the US R&B charts and No. 20 on the US Pop charts in 1987, and the group's debut album sold well. Their 1989 follow-up album, ''2nd Wave'' saw the band become staples of the

quiet storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album '' A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Li ...

urban radio format with the success of the single "Closer Than Friends", which reached No. 1 on the R&B charts on March 18, 1989 and was there for two weeks, and "Shower Me With Your Love," a Jackson written song, reached No. 1 on the R&B Charts on July 29, which crossed over to the US Pop charts. Their next single, "You Are My Everything", featured

Regina Belle Regina Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles "Baby Come to Me (Regina Belle song), Baby Come to Me" (1989) and "Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle is most notabl ...

as a guest vocalist and on November 4, 1989, took over the top of the R&B charts, replacing her single "Baby Come to Me," it also crossed over onto the British charts. Townsend had a song that he co-wrote with David Conley reach No. 1 on the US R&B charts. "Don't Take It Personal" by

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

, reached No. 1 on November 18, 1989, replacing "You Are My Everything" by Surface. In 1991, Surface released the album ''3 Deep'' which included the singles "All I Want Is You", "Never Gonna Let You Down" and " The First Time", which topped the US pop charts. "The First Time" reached No. 1 on the US R&B charts on January 19, 1991 and became the group's biggest hit. However, Townsend and Conley decided to concentrate on songwriting and producing and helped

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

record the album ''What You See Is What You Sweat'' in 1991, while Jackson went solo.

Later years

The group disbanded in 1994 after Townsend and Jackson left the group. However, in 1999, the band reunited and released their final studio album ''Love Zone''. Plans were being made for a reunion tour. However, those plans were cancelled when Townsend was found dead at his home on October 26, 2005, in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

Studio albums

* ''Townsend, Townsend, Townsend & Rogers'' (with Townsend, Townsend, Townsend & Rogers) ( Chocolate City), 1979 * ''Sunrize'' (with Sunrize) (

Boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

), 1982 Surface * ''

'', 1986 * '' 2nd Wave'', 1988 * '' 3 Deep'', 1990 * '' Love Zone'', 1998

References

External links

Surface at SoulTracks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, David 1955 births 2005 deaths Musicians from Inglewood, California Singers from California 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers