The First Time (Surface song) explained

The First Time
Cover:	The_First_Time_-_Surface.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Surface
Album:	3 Deep
B-Side:	"Closer Than Friends"
Released:	October 1990 October 11, 1990 December 6, 1990
Recorded:	1989
Genre:	R&B^[1] quiet storm
Length:	4:16
Label:	Columbia
Producer:	Surface
Prev Title:	Can We Spend Some Time
Prev Year:	1990
Next Title:	All I Want Is You
Next Year:	1991

"The First Time" is a single by American R&B/pop music trio Surface that hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991 for two weeks, the trio's only chart-topper. The song also spent one week at number one on the U.S. R&B chart^[2] and two weeks atop the adult contemporary chart.^[3]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1990–1991)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[4]	103
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary^[5]	1
Canada RPM Top Singles^[6]	18
New Zealand Singles Chart^[7]	7
UK Singles Chart	60
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Billboard R&B Singles	1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
US Cash Box Top 100^[8]	1

Year-end charts

Year-end chart (1991)	Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)^[9]	9
US Cash Box^[10]	21

All-time charts

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1991 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1991 (U.S.)
• List of Hot Adult Contemporary number ones of 1991

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tom . Breihan . The Number Ones: Surface’s “The First Time. . November 3, 2021 . December 19, 2023. Consider the chorus of “The First Time,” a tender R&B ballad that was the only #1 hit for the group known as Surface...and “The First Time” sounded like a relic of the smoothed-out quiet storm ’80s..
2. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 559.
3. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 237.
4. Web site: Bubbling Down Under: Week commencing 11 February 1991. February 20, 2022.
5. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1991-02-16 . 2018-12-21.
6. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1991-03-02 . 2018-12-21.
7. https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Surface&titel=The+First+Time&cat=s Charts.nz
8. http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/90s_files/19910202.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 2, 1991
9. December 21, 1991 . 1991 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles . YE-14 . Billboard . 103 . 51 . Nielsen Business Media Inc. .
10. Web site: Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1991 . December 28, 2018 . December 28, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181228223321/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/90s_files/1991YESP.html . dead .
11. Web site: Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart. Billboard. 10 December 2018.