Clare Grogan spoke to David Hennessy about reforming the Scottish post punk/ new wave band decades after their chart success, 45 years of Happy Birthday and growing up in a house of Irish music.
Clare Grogan and Altered Images are going to hit the road later this year to celebrate 45 years since their debut album and hit single, Happy Birthday.
Formed in Glasgow in 1979 Altered images’ other hits include I Could Be Happy, See Those Eyes and Don’t Talk to Me About Love.
Early on the band would support Siouxsie and the Banshees and championed by John Peel, they would have their biggest hit with their third single, Happy Birthday.
Prior to finding fame with the band, Grogan had filmed her part in a coming of age tale called Gregory’s Girl. Although little was expected of this film, it would go on to become iconic.
Irish viewers will surely remember her appearance on Father Ted where she played a Sinead O’Connor- inspired rock star.
Her other parts include Red Dwarf and Skins.
Altered Images would follow Happy Birthday with the albums Pinky Blue and Bite but would disband in 1983.
However it was during lockdown, when the whole world shut down, that Clare realised she wanted to get the band back onstage again.
In 2021 the new Altered Images would support the Human League on their Dare 40 tour.
It was in 2022 that they released their fourth album Mascara Streakz that came 39 years after Bite.
We caught up with Clare Grogan to talk about the new incarnation of the band and 45 years of Happy Birthday.
Is it exciting to be looking ahead to this very special tour later this year?
“Yeah, it’s so surprising to me sometimes that at this point in my life I’m doing this because it’s not something I necessarily planned.
“I often say to people if you had asked my 18-year-old self, ‘How do you feel about the fact that you’d be doing this in your 60s?’ I would be like, ‘Well, that’s just embarrassing…’
“But it kind of feels right.
“It’s almost like starting over again and I kind of like the adventure of that, I really do.
“I mean the Happy Birthday album, that we’re going to tour in September, is 45 years old, most of the songs I haven’t sung since around that time when it was first released so I wasn’t completely convinced I could do it and then it just became this really interesting idea of recreating a moment in my life and hoping that people will come and see it.
“It’s almost like a homage to all the women that inspired me, in many ways, to be that teenager who was really kind of out there but fearless.
“I mean the fear came later but I feel like I’ve kind of arrived back at being that fearless person again.”
What is it like to revisit an album you made as a teenager?
“It’s quite strange.
“I’ll be honest with you: I’ve been looking at some old footage of myself from around that time just to get a full picture of what I was like then.
“It’s not like I dwell on this stuff, I genuinely don’t but I thought, ‘If I’m going to revisit this, I have to look at who I was back then’.
“I was very vulnerable and I was fearless, definitely, I was quite gobby but I feel a real affection for my younger self and I know that might sound a bit weird but I kind of look back and go, ‘You know what, Clare? You did okay. You were in a brand new world that you had no experience of and for whatever reason, you just ran with it’.
“That’s how I feel about it.
“And I just love feeling like an absolute punk again.
“I’m not looking for anyone’s permission or approval.
“I’m just going to do it and have fun with it and make it a celebration.
“That’s the most important thing for me.”
What are your memories of that time because not only was the band taking off but the film Gregory’s Girl came out and quickly became iconic. Was it all a bit of a whirlwind?
“Yeah, I mean the summer I left school, I got signed to CBS Records and I made Gregory’s Girl and I will never, ever understand why or how that happened to me.
“I loved performing even at that very tender age.
“I was always in the school drama club and I was in the school choir.
“I joined the band when I was 17 and I just loved it all, I really did but it literally went from being just like a bit of a laugh to being on Top of the Pops a year later.
“But I do look back and I think although there was a lot of fun, we were quite ambitious.
“I mean the extent of our ambition was to just make it onto Top of the Pops via a John Peel session and getting to support Siouxsie and the Banshees so our ambition was big and then when we arrived at that really quickly, our ambition just grew and grew and then, of course, it all becomes a bit overwhelming being honest.”
Was it a case of all your success only hitting you later?
“Yeah, and it was much later.
“We took it in our stride a little bit although it was very exciting. It was almost like we expected it to happen: The arrogance of youth almost.
“It was like, ‘Why shouldn’t we be on Top of the Pops?’
“And also, at that time, growing up in Glasgow, just about everyone else I knew was in a band so we were all part of something together but we just took it to the next stage along with other bands like Orange Juice and before them, Simple Minds.
“We were just in really good company.
“And then there was Aztec Camera, The Bluebells.
“It was fun.”
What are your memories of making the album? I have heard of The Cure coming to visit and Wham being around, was it kind of magic?
“Yeah, it was so lovely.
“We made it at Rockfield Studios which are kind of legendary and we were in a bit of a bubble together at that time.
“I think that’s always a really interesting period in a band’s life just before you get that full exposure.
“It was great also because Steve Severin produced it, who was the Banshees’ bass player at the time and because I’ve been listening to the production I just think, ‘God, we really created something quite special’.
“Actually I wasn’t even sure if I’d like the songs again and it’s a relief to go, ‘Oh God, I really like this’. That’s a huge relief.
“I think we were quite hard working.
“I talk about a lot of it being fun but we were quite focused as well.
“We knew exactly what we were trying to achieve within those recording sessions.
“I think we always had quite a clear idea and, of course, a lot of it was slightly pinched from the bands that we loved.
“There’s no getting away from the fact there’s quite a lot of influence in it all but I think that’s what music is.
“I think it is taking bits that you love from other songs and other bands and going, ‘But what would our version of that be? How would we create something like that?’
“And when I write songs, I still think about the songs that inspire me at that time.
“I mean we had a good time, we really did and I think we were really proud of the album and then, of course, we released Dead Pop Stars as our first single and it got to about number 62, I think, and then it got pulled.
“It was quite close to when John Lennon got assassinated and everyone just felt like it was really not the right move at that time.
“But funnily enough, I always thought that Dead Pop Stars had made it onto the album and it didn’t.
“We decided not to put it on the album, but I perform that anyway so in the second set, I’ll be performing that.”
So this tour is celebrating the Happy Birthday album with some other things thrown in, isn’t that right?
“Yes, so we’re going to play the album in its entirety from start to finish.
“And then we’re going to do sort of the hits and my favourite Altered Images songs and kind of mishmash of stuff that I love so it’s going to be a good night.”
The title track Happy Birthday was such a big song for you, did you know what you had with it when you wrote it?
“Well, everyone around us seemed to think this was it, this was going to be our moment to really crash the charts brilliantly and they were right, they were absolutely right.
“It’s very, very different to most of the other songs on the album.
“It’s the only track that was produced by Martin Rushent whereas the rest of it is produced by Steve Severin.
“I’m absolutely sure we did record it with Steve as well and then we did it with Martin who was just riding this big wave of success with the Human League album Dare so the record label got him involved with that track and we loved it.
“I’ve turned into my number one fan, slightly embarrassing but I kind of feel proud of it all now in a way I never used to.”
Altered Images came to an end in 1983 and that was it- aside from a few shows in 2012- until lockdown. Wasn’t it then that you started thinking about getting on the road again?
“Well prior to lockdown, I had started doing quite a lot of shows with my band.
“My band are all based in Glasgow and they’re really lovely.
“They’re great.
“I just like being on a stage and interacting with people.
“It’s just something that’s in me.
“I had been doing a play in Scotland and we kind of thought we’d all get back together within a few months or a few weeks even and then when I realised that wasn’t happening, the thing that I missed most about being a performer was singing and that kind of took me by surprise.
“It really, really did.
“And my husband, Stephen Lironi, was part of the band many years ago and he co-wrote the Bite album with me and Johnny (McElhone).
“He had a very successful career in the music business, Stephen and then he decided to stop because he got sick and he just never went back to it but at that time, we were at home together and we’d watched every box set.
“There was a point where we were going, ‘We can’t just spend the whole time watching television and drinking wine’ as enjoyable as it was.
“We just started playing around with some song ideas and it just developed from there.
“A lot of it really was about reflecting on my daughter who was around the same age as me when I was already in the band coming to London to do Peel sessions and all sorts.
“She was just stuck at home and it really upset me but also, I would talk to her a lot about what it was like to have a big night out in Glasgow.
“Those big nights out are so dramatic and I love the idea of all that drama just within a short period of time.
“I was just telling Ellie about the stories: Losing things, getting drunk, having hangovers, falling in love, falling out, falling down.
“I still feel that way about a big night out.
“I try and reign it in a bit now.”
You grew up in Glasgow with an Irish background in the family, did you grow up with that Irish influence?
“Well there was always sing songs in my house.
“I grew up with a family that all loved music.
“My mum was born in Dublin and spent most of her young life flitting between Glasgow and Dublin until my Nana made her mind up and Glasgow won, I think, for economic reasons at that time.
“And my dad’s grandparents were Irish so there’s always been a really big Irish influence which I totally adore and it’s kind of what won me my part in Father Ted in the end.
“Music was always big in our house and at Christmas those old Irish songs would be sung along with some Elvis Presley and all the rest of it.
“I really think I have a very diverse taste in music as a result of growing up in a household of three generations who all loved music.
“I thought everyone had that in their life but I don’t think they do. I’m so grateful for it.
“I really am.”
You just mentioned your part in Father Ted, I bet Irish people always reference that when you meet them because that show just remains so classic…
“I think so too.
“I was a fan of the show when it first came out and it was a little bit under the radar for a while, but I kind of grew up with those priests in my life so it just absolutely hit the spot for me.
“I just thought it was absolutely hilarious and then I said to my agent, ‘I want to be in Father Ted’.
“And then when the second series came about and they were looking for a rock star that visited Craggy Island, I got my agent to put me up for it and I ended up getting the part which was great.
“But rumour has it Sinead said to the guys, ‘I wish you’d just asked me instead’, but I’m glad they didn’t.
“Although I love Sinead, I really do.”
Did you get over to Ireland much with the band?
“The original band, no although we had a lot of record sales there.
“It was quite a weird time because both the parents of Johnny McElhone were MPs and I think there was a slight kind because I think that maybe that was part of why we didn’t get to go over.
“I’m saying that out loud probably for the first time but it kind of suggests to me, in a way, that there was kind of a security issue with it.
“I have with my new band.
“The reincarnation of Altered Images has had great shows in Ireland so we have.
“I’m hoping to add some Irish dates on later to my tour in September.”
Do you enjoy getting to Ireland, does it feel like home?
“What I find is when I get into cabs, the driver will always have a wee chat with me.
“I like that.
“I like the fact that people there feel a kind of kindred spirit.
“That’s always really cool.
“I have to admit I’m very Scottish as well.
“It’s just been a Celt, I think.”
They say you don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St Patrick’s Day but you have another reason to celebrate 17 March, don’t you?
“It is my birthday.
“Oh my god, yeah.
“It’s great to have a birthday on a day where everyone’s celebrating and there’s always a party.
“I’m Claire Patricia and my mum was Patricia, my dad was Patrick so it doesn’t get more Irish than that really, does it?”
Before you go what is the biggest highlight or the most special thing about your career? What leaps out?
“I think the specialness of it is the lasting effect that it’s had on people.
“Everywhere I go people say, ‘If it’s anyone’s birthday in our house, we put that track on’.
“And I think that that is such an amazing gift to have in life.
“I really don’t take it for granted so it’s the longevity that has made it so special to me.
“I call it the song that keeps on giving.”
Altered Images tour the UK throughout September. Tickets available here.
