Surface

Three piece soul vocal group formed in the mid-80's by songwriter David Townsend (son of singer/songwriter [a=Ed Townsend]), multi-instrumentalist David “Pic” Conley and singer/songwriter/lead vocalist Bernard Jackson.

Originally staff writers for EMI providing songs for [a=Gwen Guthrie] and [a=Sister Sledge], they charted in 1987 with “Happy,” from their debut album "Surface". Further hits and a second album "2nd Wave" followed in 1990. 1991 saw the release of "3 Deep" and a greatest hits complilation "A Nice Time for Lovin'" in 1992. Townsend and Conley concentrated on songwriting after this but the group returned with "Love Zone" (1998). They announced a reunion tour for Summer 2005 and the recording of a new album. Sadly, David Townsend died on October 29, 2005 at age 50 before the album was completed.