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Interview: Altered Images singer Clare Grogan celebrating their iconic album Happy Birthday on tour, sexism in the music industry and why she had to morally turn down a McDonald's advert...
Altered Images singer Clare Grogan spoke with Contact Music about the band's upcoming tour celebrating their debut LP Happy Birthday this September and her career in music, film and TV...
Altered Images legend Clare Grogan and her legion of fans are set to travel back to 1981 as the band plays their iconic debut album Happy Birthday in full for the first time in 45 years this September.
Fans of the band will get to relive their youth as the group plays venues across the UK and treats them to songs like Happy Birthday, Love and Kisses, and Beckoning Strings.
And Clare and her band will also delve into the rest of their back catalogue of greatest hits.
Contact Music's Ethan Aaron Banks' caught up with Clare ahead of the tour to speak about that classic album, the lasting impact of her film Gregory's Girl, sexism in the music industry in the 1980s and why she morally had to turn down a big money offer from McDonald's to use Happy Birthday in the fast food chain's adverts...
Contact Music: You must be really excited about playing the Happy Birthday album in full...
Clare Grogan: I mean, I'm genuinely excited about it, and I also think I'm a little crazy for wanting to do it, because it takes me back to a person that I'm clearly not anymore. But, I mean, I guess that person is still in there somewhere, but it really is at the beginning of the whole Altered Images thing, and so we're young, naive, you know, quite raw, but with this great energy,
So when I listen to it, I'm, like, completely detached from myself, and listen to it as a listener, and love it!
That was the most amazing thing, because when I first thought about doing it, I hadn't actually listened to the album in a very, very long time. So, I'm a runner, so I listen to music sometimes when I'm out running, and I thought, 'I'm gonna listen to…’ and I kept on having to stop and go, ‘Oh, I really like this.'
I know it sounds a bit daft, but when I thought about doing it, I hadn't considered the fact that I might not relate to the songs anymore, and yet when I listened to it, I was like, ‘Yeah, I can do this.'
Is there some songs that you feel as if you don't want to associate yourself with anymore, because you’ve evolved as a person?
I think that's a really great question, and I probably would struggle with our second album, the Pinky Blue album more, because we did, we did Bite, we took Bite on tour, we did the Bite Back Tour a couple of years ago on its 40th anniversary.
And singing those songs was an absolute joy, but do you know, it's really emotional as well, because it takes me back to time and place in my life. And, you know, there's attached to it a lot of the really great stuff. There is inevitably some not-so-great stuff attached to it as well. I did a lot of crying when I decided to do it.
The Happy Birthday album… I love it. It’s a challenge, but I think it'll also give my band a real chance to show off, because it's really musical, you know? I know that sounds crazy, but the album I think I would really struggle with in those terms is the second album, Pinky Blue.
Why is that?
I loved working with [record producer] Martin Rushent, and there's certain key tracks on it I love, like I Could Be Happy, See Those Eyes, just gorgeous songs.
But I remember where we were at then, and we were just under so much pressure to get that second album out.
Do you think it was too rushed because of the success of Happy Birthday?
I think you can tell that it's a bit rushed. I don't think it was our best work. I really don't.
And yet, we worked with such an incredible producer, he produced Happy Birthday, it's the one track on the Happy Birthday album he did produce, but yeah, it's funny. No one’s asked me that before.
What made you decide to perform the full Happy Birthday album live?
Because it's the 45th anniversary. I mean, a lot of these kind of playing full albums are sort of, like, linked to significant anniversaries, and I really did think, I'm not sure if I'll ever have the chance to do this again on this way.
The album is actually very short, so it's only 32 minutes long, but that means we can then do a second set, which will be all the hits that we have in our back catalogue, so that'll be fun.
Will you be playing the B-sides as well?
I don't think so, I mean, I guess not. I mean, I know people do that stuff, but, not necessarily, because there's a lot of songs from Bite we can do, and the last album, Mascara Streakz, we do, and also sing songs that I love singing.
You’ve just got to do what you love at the end of the day!
Yeah, I mean, I think you definitely get to a point in your career where you go, ‘If I can't please myself, then there's no point in doing it.’ I've got to really feel it, genuinely mean that.
So, first and foremost, I go, ‘What will work for me?’ And then, ‘How can I make that work for my audience?’
What song on the Happy Birthday album would you say you relate to the most?
Mmm, this is quite weird. I was thinking about this the other day, there's a song in it called Leave Me Alone. A lot of my songwriting is about escaping.
And it took me a long time to realise that myself, you know, even I could be happy, I would like to climb high up in a tree. You know, so there's always been something in me that has loved being part of this.
But also sometimes I want to pull the blanket over my head. I can't stop it, you know?
It's interesting to me how consistent that has been in all my songwriting, that thought of loving it one moment, and then going, leave me alone.
Was that what you were like as a child, then? Like being really engaged in stuff one minute, and then suddenly you’d maybe shy away?
I mean, I think there was certainly a period of... because when the band first started, things happened very, very quickly. Massively so. And it kind of scared me a bit, you know. I always say this thing about when you come from somewhere like Glasgow, where no one likes a show-off, I always knew I was in big trouble, because I was always like, ’I'll do it! Yeah, I don’t mind!’
But there's also this bit of me that just kind of frightens myself with it, you know? It's hard to describe it, but when I suddenly found myself in this possession of really quite big fame, globally, I was like, ‘What the hell!’
But it's interesting, though. I think what's lovely now is I really learned how to manage all of that. I mean, I still write songs that are about escape and things.
But I think that with my experience, and I'm so fortunate that I've been around this industry for a very long time, and I've kind of grown with confidence in it.
When I started out, I was full of it. I was like, ‘Yay!’ And then you go into a sort of period of self-reflection and self-doubt as a young person. Everyone does it right. You are what you are. And for me, it happened in a quite big way. But I've come around to the fact that I'm allowed to enjoy this.
You mentioned you hadn't listened to the Happy Birthday album in full for years. So how have you been preparing when it comes to singing the songs? Had you forgot most of the lyrics?
Yeah, I mean, I'm just putting it in my head a lot by listening to it a lot, and in that way, it just affects my view of it very subtly. I've also come up with some ideas. I've decided to - and I'm not sure I'm not sure if I can completely pull this off in every venue - but we're creating a little film, a short film, called My First 15 Minutes of Being, which is kind of, like, going to be a montage of my early interviews and just a little reflection of the girl I was, and still am to a certain big extent, actually.
So the album is just triggering lots of ideas, and I've got an amazing musical director, Andrew Cowan, who I work with, and, you know, we're starting to just talk about recreating the feel of that album.
I really will be absolutely truthful to it. And it was a bit like with Bite, when we decided to do Bite, my voice has definitely lowered since I first recorded Bite, and it's definitely lowered since I've recorded Happy Birthday. But I'm gonna do it in the same key, I still have that voice in my head, I just want to make it really, really close to what it was.
Do you feel as if you have to do that because of the fans, or is that just solely your choice?
I think it’s me as a performer in a way, to a certain extent, obviously for the fans as well, because I think if they want to come and hear that album in its entirety, the least I can do is make it sound pretty close! But also, as somebody who loves to recreate characters, and the sort of performer in me wants me to change, find that little bit of me, you know? And go with it.
The 1980s has had a massive revival in recent years, hasn't it? So many artists going on tour, and the decade's music being represented in TV shows, most notably Stranger Things. Do you think you're enjoying performing your tracks more now compared to back in the day?
I think that I'm enjoying it probably more now, because I think I'm more in control of the overall experience of what I'm doing, and when I was young, it was super exciting, and really, like, on quite a mega level at one point. But it was hard to enjoy, because you're traveling - I mean, there's much harder things in life than being famous, do not get me wrong, on any level. But there was an intensity to it, and a pressure to it. And I don’t have to put myself through anymore.
And you feel that pressure of trying to get to number one, or getting in the top 40, and getting on Top of the Pops, whilst releasing records as well, it sounds intense...
It was. To a certain extent I had a taste of that again when we released Mascara Streakz. I really had to put myself out there on a level I hadn't done for years, because as a young person, it's all about having a social media presence, which I'd never really had. I mean, I did a little bit of posting, but suddenly I had to become somebody who knew what I was doing and that, and although I had someone from the record label, a really great social media girl that I worked with, who was fantastic, but it was really up to me to energise that whole album.
I wanted it to work on a certain level, I had to work my backside off. So that was quite intense, because what I found was that ambitious me again. I did want it to get into the charts. It wasn't enough just to do it after all. ‘I'm doing this for me, this is a great experience, just let it see where it goes.' And then suddenly when you think you could make it into the top 30, you're like, ‘I’m doing it!'
What was it like performing on Top of the Pops? That must have been an incredible thrill for you?
Oh, yeah! As a young girl growing up in Glasgow, and leaving school, and a year later, being on Top of the Pops, it was kinda crazy. But so exciting.
At the band's peak you were just 19, so even navigating that fame must have been an interesting time...
Only on reflection did I realise how big a toll it took on me, and I think that, you know, people say, ‘Would you change anything, or would you do things differently?’ And there's a lot of things I would do differently, but only experience lets you into that.
I can't change it, and I think it's all contributed to who I am now, and I think that, for the most, I navigated it pretty well. I think a lot of it was having really good people around me, some solid grounding. But you know, when that sort of self-doubt creeps in. It's a weird one. And suddenly I went, ‘Why me? Why is this happening to me?’
As in fame?
Yeah. And you know fame is a by-product of success, it just is. But when you're 19, nothing prepares you for that.
Did anyone give you some guidance or help on how to navigate fame because you were so young?
Nope. I think it was just a really different time. I always have girls in my band, and it's just, like, subtle things. I had nothing against the boys in the band, but I was in such a male-dominated business, founded by young guys.
I needed a posse. I needed a girl team with me. I needed a Taylor Swift, you know, posse of women, you know, who'd got my back. And that just wasn't an option for me. So I think I ended up being quite lonely, and just out of my depth?
Did you face a lot of sexism because you were the only female in the band in a male-dominated industry?
You know, I think when I look back on it, and it was a different time - and I'm not excusing it for that - but I think that when you're young and you find yourself in that position, you do genuinely just want to kind of keep everyone happy. So you're not going to question things on the same level I would now. There was a lot of, ‘Can you show us a bit more leg,’ and all of that, and it’s just like, ‘No.’ But that was hard to say as a really young person. I just had a sense of self. Even then, that kind of didn't work out well for me at times, but I'm glad I took that stand. I'm glad I wouldn't be that person.
With 1980s music being in vogue, many TV shows have used Altered Images music, such as Peep Show using Happy Birthday in Sophie’s birthday episode. Did you get recognition for that from fans?
Yeah. It's funny, because Happy Birthday does get used in quite a lot of things. I call it the song that keeps on giving.
People say, ‘Do you ever get sick of it?’ And I go, 'I can't be sick of it.’ It’s, honestly, opened so many doors for me, and I have to remember that, probably without it, we would perhaps not even be having this conversation.
People talk to me about what I've done, and the fact that a lot of things that I've done have had really big impact, you know, the whole Red Dwarf thing, I’ve been in Skins, I’ve been in EastEnders, and even the Father Ted episode which people love reporting to me. I feel great about that. I feel like, yeah, it's good.
Do you personally sign off on TV shows and movies using Altered Images’ music? Has there been a time when a TV show or movie wants to use your song, and you’ve refused?
I mean, in recent times, it did happen. I got asked to use Happy Birthday in a McDonald's advert. But I decided not to
Why?
Well, the person that I wrote that song with was a very strict vegetarian, so I went, ‘You know what, I’m gonna pass on that one.’ But it was a difficult decision, because it was…
It's funny, I saw a sketch on Saturday Night Live about all these kind of whimsical pop songs that are now used in the most violent scenes in films. I do really look at the small print when I'm agreeing or disagreeing, but yeah, I've got a publisher, obviously, Notting Hill Music.
You know what I do love? I love it when I walk into a shop and they're playing one of the songs. ‘Everyone! Excuse me? That's me!' That's really something There’s something because it's been a long time, and the fact that these songs still resonate with people, it's quite special, you know?
That's something I can't explain. No one saw that coming. I quite often joke about the first time I got asked to do the Altered Images songs again, and there had been a really big gap. I was doing other stuff, and I got asked to do an arena tour with The Human League and Kim Wilde, and I can remember saying to Kim, 'I'm just not sure if in my 40s I can pull off Happy Birthday.' And here I am, at 63, about to pull off the whole album, hopefully!
After Altered Images, you appeared in Gregory’s Girl and other things, as well as appearing in the music video for Young at Heart by The Bluebells. How did that come about?
We were all pals! And one of my oldest friends went out with Ken McCluskey, the singer of The Bluebells. So we were all pals, we all knew each other, and they asked me to be in it, and I was like, ‘Yeah, of course, I'd love to.’
A bit of waitressing! [Clare played the waitress of the greasy spoon café in the music video]
Back to my original days, back to my original career!
As well as Gregory’s Girl, you’ve also appeared in Father Ted, EastEnders, Red Dwarf. Do people recognise you more for your roles in films and TV compared to Altered Images, or is it roughly the same?
I think it's right across the board. Also, I worked for VH1 and MTV for a long time, and it's impressive to me the number of people that still say to me, I used to love watching your shows on VH1.
Why did you go into acting after Altered Images?
Well, I've always wanted to do the two things hand-in-hand. I really did, and sometimes I feel like that might have watered down one in favour of the other, and vice versa. But the other thing is I needed to earn a living. You can have a burst of fame but I didn't really make any money out of that first wave of success. Honestly, I was on £75 a week when I was at my peak in Altered Images, right? And so when that all kind of fell apart on me, because I left the band, and I just wanted to take a break from it all.
It's when I went back into the industry, where I had to really go, but I need to make this work, because one, I'm probably unemployable in the real world, but two, this is who I am, and this is what I want to do. So I think that's when the really hard work came into it, and just that focus and determination to find myself back in there.
Going back to Father Ted, you must have some great memories of, playing Niamh Connolly in the episode Rock a Hula Ted?
Oh, I loved it so much. I was thrilled to bits when they cast me as, as Niamh Connolly. I mean, I just loved the show so much. When I got the casting call - there’s something really special about being asked to be in a show that you already know and love, and at that point, it was still not quite the sort of big cult success it became. But I was just very aware of it, you know, I grew up in a sort of Irish Catholic background, and those kind of priests would visit our house! I just thought the whole thing was hilarious, I loved it.
Your character was, like, a thinly veiled parody of Sinead O’Connor. Did she reach out to you when she saw the show?
Well, she told one of the writers, Graham Linehan, that she didn't know why they didn't just get her to do it. I'm so glad that they didn’t do it. No disrespect to Sinead, but, I would just not have had the chance if they’d roped her in, so, yeah, she did mention it.
Let me have this one, Sinead!
Yeah, give it to me!
You then went on to do EastEnders. You played, Ros Thorne, Ian Beale's love interest, who, with him, tried to track down his and ex-wife Cindy’s children. That must have been fantastic, because obviously, you know, it's EastEnders, isn't it? A massive soap. Did you watch EastEnders growing up?
I mean, I was very much, like, aware of it and stuff. When I got the call from my agent, and the casting at EastEnders wanted to see me, I was like, ‘What?!’ But also - I tell this story quite a lot - all my first scenes were shot in Lake Como, so I flew to Italy, because that's where Cindy had disappeared with the kids. But I was a bit like, I just couldn't wait to get onto Albert Square, and so when I eventually got there, you know, the cast were like, ‘Oh yeah, we've been on the show for years, no one's asked us to go to Italy!’ And I was like, ‘I just wanted to be in the Queen Vic!’
Originally when I went in, it was a kind of a nine-week contract, and then I ended up staying all year.
EastEnders celebrated it’s 40th anniversary in 2025, and we're seeing many previous characters return in some form. Would you ever be open to going back into EastEnders to reprise your character?
I really genuinely cannot imagine that ever happening, but I've learned to sort of expect the unexpected in life, but I do think that one is a bit unlikely. But never say never!
Looking back on your illustrious career, you must have many highlights. But if you had to pick one, what would it be?
I mean, that's a tough one, but I did have this amazing experience, about five years ago, where the British Film Institute decided to have a screening of Gregory's Girl. And I had never seen the film in its entirety before. And, they were showing it on their biggest screen, and John Gordon Sinclair was there, and Dee [Hepburn] was there, and we all had our kids with us. And I thought, if I'm gonna see this film, to get to see it with my own daughter, just at the age where she will get it. That was really special, and also being in an audience and not quite know how it would go down, if people would still find it funny. And they loved it, and that was a magical event, it really was. I liked it a lot.
Why do you think Gregory’s Girl has stood the test of time?
I think a lot of it is down to John, to Gregory! The central performance is so funny, and we can basically, all of us can see a bit of ourselves in them, girls and boys. I think it's so relatable. And also, I loved the whole role reversal thing, you know, I mean, this is years before Bake Off, and, you know, Bill Forsyth has got boys baking cakes and selling them in the boys' toilets, which why the hell are you buying cakes from them in the boys' toilets? But, you know, and the girls being in the science lab talking, and obviously the big central performance from Dee with the girls playing football. I mean, this was the early '80s. None of that was a big thing. So, I'm really proud of it.
How is your husband Stephen Lironi and your daughter? Are you all doing well?
Yeah, thank you for asking. We're good. Ellie is doing a degree in education, and she works in our restaurants.
Stephen and I have got three restaurants in London, so she works in our local one, and she sometimes sells merch for me. We put her on the merch stall, and things go really well. She's like, That's my mum!'
Altered Images tour dates, CLICK HERE for tickets:
03 September 2026 The Adrian Flux Waterfront Norwich, UK
04 September 2026 Islington Assembly Hall London, UK
05 September 2026 Thekla Bristol, UK
07 September 2026 Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK
08 September 2026 Brudenell Social Club Leeds, UK
10 September 2026 Stables Milton Keynes, UK
11 September 2026 Picturedome Holmfirth, UK
12 September 2026 Town Hall Birmingham, UK
13 September 2026 Lowther Pavillion Lytham, UK
15 September 2026 Band On The Wall Manchester, UK
16 September 2026 The Grove Newcastle, UK
18 September 2026 The Factory Live Worthing, UK
19 September 2026 Phoenix Exeter, UK
23 September 2026 St Lukes Glasgow, UK
24 September 2026 Old Fire Station Carlisle, UK
25 September 2026 Liquid Rooms Edinburgh, UK
