Altered Images formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1979, with founding members Clare Grogan (vocals), Gerard “Caesar” McInulty (guitar), Johnny McElhone (bass), Tony McDaid (guitar), and Michael "Tich" Anderson (drums). In 1980 Clare appeared in Bill Forsyth's film Gregory's Girl which helped to bring attention to the band, and after sending a demo to Siouxsie & The Banshees they secured an opening slot for their 1980 tour. This association soon resulted in the choice of Banshees bassist Steven Severin to produce AI's first recorded work. Read more on Last.fm
Below is a breakdown of the artist's performance types. Repeat performances are not counted, unless stated otherwise.
Mimed
0
Live
0
Live Mimed
0
Satellite
0
Music Video
0
Repeats
0
YouTube Videos
0
Screengrabs
0
Episode | Performance | |||
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14/03/1996 |
Happy Birthday Mimed Performance |
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23/03/1983 |
Don't Talk To Me About Love Mimed Performance |
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15/04/1982 |
See Those Eyes Audience Dancing |
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25/03/1982 |
See Those Eyes Mimed Performance |
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14/01/1982 |
I Could Be Happy Mimed Performance |
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Christmas Day 1981 |
Happy Birthday Mimed Performance |
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24/12/1981 |
I Could Be Happy Mimed Performance |
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17/12/1981 |
I Could Be Happy Audience Dancing |
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12/11/1981 |
Happy Birthday Audience Dancing |
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29/10/1981 |
Happy Birthday Mimed Performance |
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15/10/1981 |
Happy Birthday Mimed Performance |
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01/10/1981 |
Happy Birthday Mimed Performance |
Mimed Performance
01/10/1981
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Interview date: Circa 2003
Claire Grogan's girlish glee and innocent pout made her the '80s most glamorous frontwoman. Any chance of an Altered Images comeback?
Well, a good record is a good record, whatever era it comes from. I've always loved disposable pop music. The nature of pop is disposable. It's not supposed to be around forever. The nostalgia fad for the '80s does baffle me but then again I'm hooked on it myself. I think music was far more tribal in the '80s, you had punks, new romantics, Goths, etc. That was interesting. You don't get that now.
I have mixed reactions to those Pop Idol and Popstars shows. I like to watch them but at the same time it is manufactured. All this synchronised dancing is a bit stage school for me. Who knows if any of them will have long careers. I do think that record companies should invest more in the long term future of British bands. I do think something will give quite soon with this glut of boy and girl bands. It can't be sustained forever. Something will come along as a reaction to it.
I don't have any. I wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't gone through those experiences. I didn't do it to be famous or rich. We just wanted to make music. We didn't bother much about contracts or money and consequently we lost a lot of money too. Younger artists now tend to walk around with a pocket calculator and that's good in a way. You have to try and hang on to your money. We were just living our fantasy and not really thinking about a career.
Well, I only got my first royalty cheque last year! There's been an ongoing legal battle that has lasted years which meant I didn't get paid for ages. But even at the height of our success we were all on a wage. I was earning £45 a week back in 1982! The most I ever earned from Epic Records was £75 in one week. It was frustrating I guess but then you don't miss what you don't know.
Not really although I bump into Siouxsie from time to time. I'm still incredibly in awe of her when I see her. I never really know what to say to her. She was brilliant. She had such style and presence. She made such a great pop star.
Well, coming from Scotland everyone voted Labour anyway. I was shocked when I first came to London to meet young people who actually voted Tory. I hated that 'Greed Is Good' ethic of the '80s. But then the band didn't really have a political message. I wouldn't have known how to include politics in our music anyway. We left it to the Sex Pistols to make the big statements. But two of the guys in the band, their dads were Scottish Labour MPs. We were 'political' without being political as a band.
Women were treated as a bit of a novelty in the music business back in 1981. There was a certain dismissiveness about female performers. But to be honest I wasn't desperate to be taken seriously. I didn't give a toss what people thought of me. I just wanted to enjoy myself and have a good time. I didn't examine anything too deeply.
To be honest, I couldn't have imagined doing this tour a few years ago. My life is very different now to 18 years ago. I have a successful career in acting. I'm married to Shawn who used to be a guitarist in the band. Next year I'm starring in this British movie, a psychological thriller called 10am which is exciting. But to be honest it's just ego making me do this tour. The promoter persuaded me and I couldn't resist the chance of playing Wembley Arena. We didn't play there the first time. I was reluctant at first but then I spoke to Kim Wilde and she said don't worry about it, just enjoy it. I'm only doing four songs, 'Happy Birthday', 'I Could Be Happy', 'Don't Talk', 'See Those Eyes'. It's hardly a gruelling routine each night!
You know what? I'm 40 years old now and I really don't bother with things like that. It doesn't matter. I've always had a tendency to over analyse things. It's a chance to relive a great moment in my life and you shouldn't take pop music too seriously. It's all nonsense anyway!