In 1951, Townsend joined the United States Marine Corps and served in Korea. After his discharge, he recorded a number of singles for various labels, none of which made the charts. In 1958, he took his ballad, "For Your Love" to Capitol Records, hoping to interest Nat "King" Cole, but, impressed with his voice, Capitol signed him to record it himself. Dick Clark had just started "American Bandstand" on television and invited Townsend to sing the first month the show aired. He was an overnight success and the song peaked at number 13 in the "Billboard" Hot 100. Later in 1958 he reached No. 59 with a rendition of "When I Grow Too Old to Dream".