David Townsend of Surface Dies
z4
Singer/songwriter David Townsend, a member of the 80's vocal trio
Surface, was found dead inside his Northridge, CA home last Wednesday
night by a close friend. He was 50. The cause of death was unknown.
Townsend wrote, produced and performed with various artists over the
past three decades, including The Isley Brothers, Sister Sledge, New
Edition, Rebbie Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Aretha Franklin. With
Surface, Townsend recorded such hits as "Happy," "Closer Than
Friends," "Shower Me With Your Love" and the "The First Time"
Bernard Jackson and David "Pic" Conley of Surface released the
following statement Tuesday: "We are both shocked and very saddened by
the loss of our close friend, David. He was a great producer,
songwriter and a great friend. We will miss him. We also want to say
thank you to all our fans around the world for their love and support
during this difficult time."
In 1987, the group's self-entitled album peaked at No. 11 on the
Billboard R&B Album chart. The disc spawned two top ten R&B singles,
"Happy" and "Lately"; and a top 25 R&B single "Let's Try Again."
The group's 1989 follow-up sophomore album, '2nd Wave,' was certified
platinum and peaked at No.5 on the R&B chart. The album generated five
singles, three of which went No. 1: "You Are My Everything" featuring
guest vocalist Regina Belle, "Closer Than Friends" and "Shower Me With
Your Love." The singles "Can We Spend Some Time Together" and the
up-tempo dance floor cut "I Missed" were also top 5 hits.
In 1991, the group's third album '3 Deep' was released with the No. 1
R&B single, "The First Time."
Townsend was the son of the late legendary singer/songwriter/producer
Ed Townsend, who was responsible for co-writing "Let's Get It On" with
Marvin Gaye.
At the time of David’s death, Surface was working on a new album
scheduled for release in late 2006. The surviving members are
scheduled to perform at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA
on Dec. 29 and 30.
A funeral for Townsend will be held near Los Angeles on Thursday
Agent Smith
> David Townsend of Surface Dies
>
> Singer/songwriter David Townsend, a member of the 80's vocal trio
> Surface, was found dead inside his Northridge, CA home last Wednesday
> night by a close friend. He was 50. The cause of death was unknown.
This reminds me of John Entwhistle's cocaine induced heart attack. He
should have taken a note from the Rolling Stone's playbook and kept a
portable defibrillator handy.
quator...@netzero.com
humorous band names of the 80s.
..."surface"? as in "skin deep"?
what were they thinking?
in the 90s, "changing faces" (indeed!) and "divine" (oh, really?) were
more obscure r&b band names that made me giggle, too.