Biography
Clare Grogan supplied the childlike, energetic vocals that defined Altered Images. Director Bill Forsyth spotted her while she waited tables at Glasgow’s Spaghetti Factory and cast the 17-year-old in his feature Gregory’s Girl, instantly placing both the film and her band under intense media scrutiny. Born March 17, 1962, Grogan earned widespread praise for her screen work in that movie while also projecting an innocent, effervescent stage presence with the group. She assembled Altered Images in 1979 alongside guitarist Tony McDaid, bassist Johnny McElhone, and drummer Tich Anderson. After completing a demo, the band forwarded it to Siouxsie & the Banshees, who responded by booking them as support on multiple dates. International attention generated by Grogan’s Gregory’s Girl performance led Portrait to sign the act in late 1980. Their debut album, Happy Birthday, appeared the following year; its title track climbed to number two on the U.K. singles chart. Grogan’s schoolgirl delivery set her apart from other early-’80s new-wave frontwomen, offering none of the streetwise toughness associated with Blondie’s Debbie Harry or the shadowy intensity cultivated by Siouxsie Sioux. Although the band enjoyed far greater success in Britain than in America, Grogan’s photogenic appeal and bright timbre proved well suited to the newly launched MTV format. In 1983 the group’s manager introduced her to Steve Lironi, who joined the lineup and soon became a close friend; six years later the pair became romantically involved and married in 1994. After Altered Images disbanded in 1984, Grogan recorded the solo album Trash Mad with Lironi in 1987 and continued acting in several British television series. She contributed vocals to the 6ths’ “Night Falls Like a Grand Piano” in 2000. Two years later the original band joined the Here and Now package tour alongside fellow ’80s acts the Human League, Visage, and Dollar.
Singles