Altered Images biography
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.
History
Early career
Ex-school friends with an equal interest in the UK post punk scene, Clare Grogan (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.
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 Rushent (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.
Biography from 
, the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.