Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music21 Jun

Altered Images - The Post-Punk Roots of Clare Grogan

Altered Images began in 1979 after forming from a group of five teenagers in Glasgow, Scotland. The band was fronted by singer Clare Grogan with her sweet and bubbly youthful vocals as the band would go from their post-punk roots onto new wave and synth pop in the early 80’s.

The first two singles by Altered Images as well the majority of the songs on the debut album were produced by Siouxsie and the Banshees co-founder Steven Severin, who had taken the band under his wing. This early work with Severin was dark and moody post-punk along with Grogan’s more upbeat vocals and melodies, creating a unique mixture and sound.

Martin Rushent produced the title track of the debut album, Happy Birthday , which brought the band commercial success, but was more pop sounding than the Severin produced work of the album. Rushent would remain producing for Altered Images with album number two, which was another successful LP and included the hit song “I Could Be Happy”.

This Scottish band would find success with six UK top-40 singles and three top-30 albums by 1983, before breaking up following the third album.

More recently, Altered Images reformed in 2021 and released a fourth studio album. Clare Grogan has been the one constant member from the original formation while also maintaining a successful acting career among her many ventures.

This episode tells the story of this often overlooked band and the career of Clare Grogan, including the story of her connection to the song "True" by Spandau Ballet.

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