There’s always at least one song that’s suitable for just about every special occasion.
It can be the fairly general joy bringer of Cliff Richard with Congratulations, or the more time specific Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade, the anthemic Have a Nice Day by Stereophonics or the tissue soaking Anniversary Waltz and The Wedding by Anita Harris and Julie Rogers.
Even Tammy Wynette’s (or Billy Connolly if you prefer) D.I.V.O.R.C.E has been gifted with a celebratory life of its own since everything in life is these days considered a good excuse for a “paaaaarty.”
But top of the crop of celebration songs must be the joyful near chart topping Happy Birthday by Altered Images from 1981which has thankfully eclipsed the almost dirge like tones of its traditional predecessor – except in Italian restaurants when the lights are dimmed and the embarrassed staff are forced into song.
Clearly Altered Images’ Happy Birthday is a song to be sung (or danced to) at, well birthdays actually. Hence the opening lyrics:
“Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy, happy birthday.”
And then there’s the closing words:
“Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday.
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, happy birthday.”
Get the picture?
As for the rest of the song it doesn’t make a lot of sense – even for those of us who find it hard to forget the not so altered image of Altered Images front person Clare Grogan bubbling and bouncing along on Top of the Pops.
Try these lyrics for size:
“Happy, happy birthday in a hot bath
To those nice, nice nights
I remember always, always
I got such a fright
Seeing them in my dark cupboard
With my great big cake
If they were me, if they were me
And I was you, and I was you
If they were me, if they were me
And I was you, and I was you
If they were me and I was you
Would you’ve liked a present too?
Happy, happy birthday in a hot bath
To those nice, nice nights
I remember always, always
I got such a fright
Seeing them in my dark cupboard
With my great big cake
If they were me, if they were me
And I was you and I was you –
If they were me, if they were me
And I was you and I was you –
If they were me and I was you
Would you’ve liked a present too?”
Rubbish really aren’t they? Well, they were Scottish after all.
Happy Birthday was released from Altered Images’ 1981 album of the same name. The song entered the UK charts in September 1981, and peaked at number two in October, holding that position for three weeks. It has been certified Silver by the BPI for sales in excess of 250,000 copies.
It is the only song on the album that was produced by Martin Rushent, who had already scored major success that year producing for The Human League and would win the Producer of the Year award for 1981 at the BPI Awards. Accordingly, the band chose Rushent to produce their next album, Pinky Blue (1982), in its entirety.
The song appeared in the 1984 John Hughes movie Sixteen Candles and was covered by The Ting Tings for the children’s television show Yo Gabba Gabba! in 2008, and by The Wedding Present, for their 1993 compilation album John Peel Sessions 1987-1990, as well as by Thomas Fagerlund (The Kissaway Trail) with Christian Hjelm (Figurines) in 2010.
Altered Images were an early 1980s Scottish new wave/post-punk band. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the band branched into mainstream pop music, scoring six UK top 40 hit singles and three top 30 albums between 1981 and 1983.
Their other hits included I Could Be Happy, See Those Eyes, and Don’t Talk to Me About Love.
Former schoolmates with a shared 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 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 DJ John Peel, for whom they recorded a radio session in October 1980, they garnered enough attention to be offered a recording contract with Epic Records, but mainstream success was not immediate; their debut single, Dead Pop Stars, only reached number 67 in the UK Singles Chart, while its successor, A Day’s Wait stalled outside the top 100..
Dead Pop Stars was particularly controversial at the time, sung from the viewpoint of a “has-been” icon with irony, but badly timed in its release the day of John Lennon’s death, even though it was recorded earlier. A dance remix of it with different lyrics was recorded and released as the 1982 single Disco Pop Stars. After these singles and their first two sessions for John Peel, Caesar left and formed The Wake.
With additional guitarist Jim McKinven (formerly of Berlin Blondes), they recorded their debut album, Happy Birthday (1981), largely produced by Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees. But it was Martin Rushent’s title track which became the band’s third single and their biggest hit.
They quickly became established as one of the biggest new wave acts and were subsequently voted Best New Group at the NME Awards and Most Promising New Act in the 1981 Smash Hits readers poll.
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 top 20 of the UK Albums Chart and provided three more top 40 hit singles but was perceived as a disappointment by the British press.
I Could Be Happy was the group’s only foray onto the US charts, with the single peaking at number 45 on the Billboard Dance Chart.
Later that year, after McKinven and Anderson left to be replaced by multi-instrumentalist Steve Lironi (formerly of Restricted Code), the band began working on their third album and saw another Top 10 hit, Don’t Talk to Me About Love, in spring 1983 with the subsequent album, Bite, released in June. Half of it produced by Mike Chapman and half by Tony Visconti.
Although it reached the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart, it sold less than the band’s two previous offerings. Before breaking up later that year, Altered Images went on another concert tour that included the band’s American debut at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, California, on Thursday, 11 August 1983.
After the break-up Grogan attempted a solo career, signing to London Records in 1987 and releasing a single, Love Bomb. She was also included on a London Records compilation album titled Giant, contributing the track Reason Is the Slave but after Love Bomb failed, plans for a follow-up single and an album were shelved.
Grogan also became a film and television actress. Prior to finding fame with Altered Images, she appeared in the 1981 film Gregory’s Girl. Afterwards she appeared in Red Dwarf (in which she originated the role of Kristine Kochanski), EastEnders, Father Ted, and Skins.
In recent years she has also become a presenter on UK television, as well as a children’s novelist.
She and Steve Lironi (who eventually married) formed Universal Love School in the mid-1980s, performing together but never releasing any recordings. Johnny McElhone went on to perform with Hipsway and eventually Texas. Grogan sang live under the name Altered Images in 2002 for the Here and Now Tour, showcasing a revival of popular bands of their era alongside The Human League, ABC, and T’Pau,[ and again for some separate shows in 2004.
She performed again in 2012 under the name Altered Images at Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead on 11 May and at The Assembly in Leamington Spa on 12 May 2012. Also in 2012, Grogan put together a new all-female version of Altered Images and performed at Blackpool’s Rebellion Festival.
WRITERS: | Altered Images |
PRODUCER: | Martin Rushent |
GENRE: | New Wave |
ARTIST: | Altered Images |
LABEL | Epic (UK) Portrait 24 (USA) |
RELEASED | August 1981 |
UK CHART | 2 |
COVERS | The Ting Tings |