Altered Images
Encyclopedia
Altered Images were an early 1980s Scottish New Wave
/ post-punk
band. Led by lead singer Clare Grogan
, the band branched into mainstream pop music
, and had a string of chart
hits between 1981 and 1983.
(vocals
), Gerard "Caesar" McNulty (guitar
), Michael 'Tich' Anderson (drums
), Tony McDaid (guitar
) and Johnny McElhone
(bass guitar
), sent a demo
tape to Siouxsie and the Banshees, who soon gave the band a support slot on their Kaleidoscope tour of 1980. The band's name referred to a sleeve design on the Buzzcocks
' single "Promises", and was inspired by Buzzcocks vocalist Pete Shelley
's constant interfering with the initial sleeve designs.
After being championed by BBC Radio 1
DJ John Peel
, they garnered enough attention to be offered a recording contract
with Epic Records
, but mainstream success was not immediate; their first two singles
, "Dead Pop Stars" and "A Day's Wait", failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart
. "Dead Pop Stars" was particularly controversial at the time, sung at the viewpoint of a "has-been" icon with irony, but badly timed in its release shortly after John Lennon
's death, even though it was recorded earlier. It was absent from their studio album releases. After these two singles and their first two sessions for John Peel, Caesar left and formed The Wake
.
(who had garnered tremendous success producing The Human League
that year), who notably produced the title track which became the band's third single and their biggest hit. The song reached number 2 in the UK (for three weeks) in October 1981, catapulting the band to fame. They quickly became established as one of the biggest New Wave
acts around, and were subsequently voted "Best New Group" at the NME
Awards. Meanwhile, Grogan, with her quirky candy-floss voice and energetic stage persona, became something of a pin-up at the time.
After a successful headlining tour, the band retained Rushent as their producer and released their second album, Pinky Blue
, in May 1982. It reached the UK Top 20 and provided three more Top 40 hit singles with "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes", and the title track.
Later that year, after McKinven and Anderson left to be replaced by multi-instrumentalist Steve Lironi (formerly of the band Restricted Code), the band began working on their third album with producer Mike Chapman. The collaboration provided them with another Top 10 hit, "Don't Talk To Me About Love", in spring 1983 and the subsequent album, Bite
, was released in June. Half of the album was produced by Chapman, and half by Tony Visconti
. Although it reached the UK Top 20, the album sold less than the band's two previous offerings (which had both earned a Silver disc) and, following another concert tour, the band broke up.
in 1987 and releasing a single, "Love Bomb". Grogan was also included on a London Records compilation album
titled Giant, contributing the track "Reason Is the Slave". After "Love Bomb" failed, plans for a follow-up single release, titled "Strawberry", and the album, Trash Mad, were shelved by London Records.
Grogan also became a film and television actress, appearing in productions such as Gregory's Girl
, Red Dwarf
(in which she originated the role of Kristine Kochanski
), EastEnders
, and Father Ted
. In recent years she has also become a presenter on UK television, as well as a children's novelist.
Grogan and Steve Lironi (who eventually married) formed Universal Love School, performing together but never releasing any recordings. Johnny McElhone went on to perform with Hipsway
and eventually Texas
. Grogan sang live under the name Altered Images in 2002 for the Here and Now Tour
, showcasing a revival of popular bands of their era alongside The Human League
, ABC
, and T'Pau
, and again for some separate shows in 2004.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/ post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band. Led by lead singer Clare Grogan
Clare Grogan
Clare Grogan is a Scottish actress and singer. She is sometimes credited as C. P. Grogan.-Early life:...
, the band branched into mainstream pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and had a string of chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hits between 1981 and 1983.
Early career
Ex-school friends with an equal interest in the UK post punk scene, Clare GroganClare Grogan
Clare Grogan is a Scottish actress and singer. She is sometimes credited as C. P. Grogan.-Early life:...
(vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
), Gerard "Caesar" McNulty (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Michael 'Tich' Anderson (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), Tony McDaid (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) and Johnny McElhone
Johnny McElhone
John Francis "Johnny" McElhone is a Scottish guitarist and songwriter.Unusually, he has played with three, otherwise unconnected rock bands, who have all enjoyed a Top 20 presence in the UK Singles Chart. Indeed, two of those groups have repeated that feat in the UK Albums Chart...
(bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), sent a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
tape to Siouxsie and the Banshees, who soon gave the band a support slot on their Kaleidoscope tour of 1980. The band's name referred to a sleeve design on the Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
' single "Promises", and was inspired by Buzzcocks vocalist Pete Shelley
Pete Shelley
Pete Shelley is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of Buzzcocks.-Biography:...
's constant interfering with the initial sleeve designs.
After being championed by BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, they garnered enough attention to be offered a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, but mainstream success was not immediate; their first two singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Dead Pop Stars" and "A Day's Wait", failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. "Dead Pop Stars" was particularly controversial at the time, sung at the viewpoint of a "has-been" icon with irony, but badly timed in its release shortly after John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's death, even though it was recorded earlier. It was absent from their studio album releases. After these two singles and their first two sessions for John Peel, Caesar left and formed The Wake
The Wake (band)
The Wake were a British post punk and later indie pop band, founded in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard "Caesar" McInulty , Steven Allen and Joe Donnelly, who was later replaced by Bobby Gillespie...
.
Chart success
With additional guitarist Jim McKinven, they recorded their debut album, Happy Birthday (1981), largely produced by Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band also worked briefly with producer Martin RushentMartin Rushent
Martin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks.- Early life :Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman...
(who had garnered tremendous success producing The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
that year), who notably produced the title track which became the band's third single and their biggest hit. The song reached number 2 in the UK (for three weeks) in October 1981, catapulting the band to fame. They quickly became established as one of the biggest New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
acts around, and were subsequently voted "Best New Group" at the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
Awards. Meanwhile, Grogan, with her quirky candy-floss voice and energetic stage persona, became something of a pin-up at the time.
After a successful headlining tour, the band retained Rushent as their producer and released their second album, Pinky Blue
Pinky Blue
Pinky Blue is the second album by British pop group Altered Images. It was released in 1982 and featured the singles "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes" and "Pinky Blue".-Overview:...
, in May 1982. It reached the UK Top 20 and provided three more Top 40 hit singles with "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes", and the title track.
Later that year, after McKinven and Anderson left to be replaced by multi-instrumentalist Steve Lironi (formerly of the band Restricted Code), the band began working on their third album with producer Mike Chapman. The collaboration provided them with another Top 10 hit, "Don't Talk To Me About Love", in spring 1983 and the subsequent album, Bite
Bite (album)
Bite is the third and final studio album by the Scottish band Altered Images. It was released in 1983 and was produced by famed producers Mike Chapman and Tony Visconti...
, was released in June. Half of the album was produced by Chapman, and half by Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
. Although it reached the UK Top 20, the album sold less than the band's two previous offerings (which had both earned a Silver disc) and, following another concert tour, the band broke up.
Break-up
After the breakup of the band, Grogan attempted a solo career, signing to London RecordsLondon Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
in 1987 and releasing a single, "Love Bomb". Grogan was also included on a London Records compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
titled Giant, contributing the track "Reason Is the Slave". After "Love Bomb" failed, plans for a follow-up single release, titled "Strawberry", and the album, Trash Mad, were shelved by London Records.
Grogan also became a film and television actress, appearing in productions such as Gregory's Girl
Gregory's Girl
Gregory's Girl is a 1981 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth.The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill district of Cumbernauld. It features Gordon John Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, and Clare Grogan, among others...
, Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
(in which she originated the role of Kristine Kochanski
Kristine Kochanski
Kristine Z. Kochanski is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. Kochanski was the first console officer in the navigation chamber on board the spaceship Red Dwarf...
), EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, and Father Ted
Father Ted
Father Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...
. In recent years she has also become a presenter on UK television, as well as a children's novelist.
Grogan and Steve Lironi (who eventually married) formed Universal Love School, performing together but never releasing any recordings. Johnny McElhone went on to perform with Hipsway
Hipsway
Hipsway were a Scottish pop/rock band.The band was formed in Glasgow in 1984 by ex-Altered Images guitarist Johnny McElhone on bass, and featuring Grahame Skinner , and Harry Travers . Skinner and Travers had been members of the band Kites with Paul McGrath and Ian McGreevy before Hipsway formed...
and eventually Texas
Texas (band)
Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...
. Grogan sang live under the name Altered Images in 2002 for the Here and Now Tour
Here and Now Tour
The Here and Now Tour is a series of concert tours, which began in 2001, featuring groups and singers famous in the 1980s. The Tour takes in arenas and theatres around the UK and still runs today. The tours are organised by Tony Denton Promotions...
, showcasing a revival of popular bands of their era alongside The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
, ABC
ABC (band)
ABC are an English band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.-Formation:...
, and T'Pau
T'Pau (band)
T'Pau was a 1980s British Rock group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe...
, and again for some separate shows in 2004.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
UK Certification (BPI) British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Happy Birthday | 26 | Silver |
| 1982 | Pinky Blue Pinky Blue Pinky Blue is the second album by British pop group Altered Images. It was released in 1982 and featured the singles "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes" and "Pinky Blue".-Overview:... |
12 | Silver |
| 1983 | Bite Bite (album) Bite is the third and final studio album by the Scottish band Altered Images. It was released in 1983 and was produced by famed producers Mike Chapman and Tony Visconti... |
16 | – |
Singles
| Year | Song | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Dead Pop Stars" | 67 |
| 1981 | "A Day's Wait" | - |
| 1981 | "Happy Birthday" | 2 |
| 1981 | "I Could Be Happy" | 7 |
| 1981 | "See Those Eyes" | 11 |
| 1982 | "Pinky Blue" | 35 |
| 1983 | "Don't Talk To Me About Love" | 7 |
| 1983 | "Bring Me Closer" | 29 |
| 1983 | "Love To Stay" | 46 |
| 1983 | "Change of Heart" | 83 |
Compilations, EPs and special releases
| Year | Song/EP/album |
|---|---|
| 1981 | "Happy New Year" (3-track flexidisc released with Flexipop magazine) |
| 1982 | "See Those Eyes" (flexidisc released with Trouser Press Trouser Press Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ... magazine) |
| 1982 | Greatest Original Hits (4-track EP) |
| 1982 | "Little Town Flirt" (track on the Party Party Party Party (film) Party Party is a British comedy film about three friends and their South London crowd.This crowd includes workers, spivs and young police constables. A British entry into the teenage/youth house party genre typified by John Hughes' films and the late 80s movies of Kid and Play.The movie was... soundtrack album) |
| 1984 | Collected Images (compilation album) |
| 1992 | The Best Of Altered Images (compilation album) |
| 1996 | Reflected Images - The Best Of Altered Images (compilation album) |
| 2003 | Destiny - The Hits (compilation album) |
| 2010 | The Collection (compilation album) |