1979
Altered Images formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1979, with members Clare Grogan (vocals), Johnny McElhone (guitar), Tony McDaid (bass), and Michael “Tich” Anderson (drums).
1980-81
Clare appeared in Bill Forsyth’s film Gregory’s Girl and after sending a demo to Siouxsie & The Banshees they secured an opening slot for their 1980 tour on which I first saw Altered Images. This association soon resulted in the choice of Banshees bassist Steven Severin to produce the imagesfirst single Dead Pop Stars. After the tour ended and with the support of a young John Peel, the band signed with Epic. The first two singles, “Dead Pop Stars” and “A Day’s Wait,” saw the band beginning to develop their own sound. Next Epic brought in producer Martin Rushent, who had a host of successful records under his belt and added to that a second guitarist Jim McKinven was added to the line up. The next release “Happy Birthday,” which managed to break in to the charts placed Altered Images on Top of the Pops and into everyones living room. The remainder of the album, also titled Happy Birthday, was produced by Severin, but it was Rushent who had charted the course for the remainder of the band’s career.
1982
1982 saw Rushent place his unique style on the next LP Pinky Blue and its three singles I Could Be Happy – See Those Eyes and Pinky Bue, the sound was more commercial than the last record, but Clare’s vocal style made sure the band got noticed. The band also recorded Little Town Flirt a cover of the Del Shannon song for the film Party Party. Following the releas of Pinky Blue the band replaced Titch and Jim with Steve Lironi
1983
83 saw the recording of the next and last installment of Altered Images short career Bite, Tony Visconti and Mike Chapman were brought in to move the Images on to the next phase a more sophisticated disc type sound which should have appealed to a larger audience. The sleeve had Clare in a black and white pose looking very sophisticated. The signs looked good as Don’t Talk To Me About Love reached number 10 here in the UK but the LP and the next three singles didn’t do so well and after a UK an US tour the band split!
1983-2000
Clare went back to acting with another Bill Forsyth film Comfort and Joy and then a stint in Red Dwarf and Eastenders before going on to host a show on MTV. Clare also recorded a solo LP Trash Mad which was never released but a single Love Bomb and a track on Giant a various artists LP did make the shops. In 89-90 Clare and Steve formed Universal Love School but no material was released. Johnny formed Hipsway and then went on to form Texas who are still cracking the charts today!
2002-
Altered Images returned to grace the stage on the Here & Now Tour and with the Destiny Hits package saw the release of two new songs by Clare and Steve. 2004 also saw the release of the three albums remastered and expanded to include b-sides and remixes. Clare is still on the road with Altered Images and I hope they continue as long as possible. A new collection is out ‘Happy Birthday’ its a 2xCD issue.
