Sold Date: November 4, 2019
Start Date: April 5, 2019
Final Price: £16.99 (GBP)
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Tracklisting -
Side 1
1. intro - Happy Birthday 0.44
2. Love and Kisses 2.18
3. Real Toys 3.23
4. Idols 2.27
5. Legionaire 3.30
6. Faithless 3.49
7. Beckoning Strings 3.05
Side 2
8. Happy Birthday* 3.00
9. Midnight 3.39
10. A Days Wait
11. Leave Me Alone 4.08
12. Insects 3.28
13. outro - Happy Birthday 0.44

Bonus 7inch -
Tracklisting
Side 1 -Dead Popstars  3.17
Side 2 - Sentimental 3.24

Remastered and pressed on 180g vinyl 'Happy Birthday' the bands debut album features a RED vinyl 7inch single of the Steve Severin produced  'Dead Pop Stars' and its accompanying b'side 'Sentimental' both of which were dropped from the album.

Former schoolmates,  the band were formed in the heady post punk scene, when would-be musicians inspired by the explosion of punk and the 'anyone can pick up a guitar and form a band' got together to start making music. This saw numerous bands come onto the scene, it was great time to be growing up and discovering the wonders of writing and performing, no matter what level you were at. That was the whole point of punk rock.

After bass guitarist Johnny McElhone sent a demo tape to Siouxsie and the Banshees the band got a support slot the Banshees Kaliedoscope tour. Banshee Steve Severin was to produce much of the bands debut album.

The name Altered Images referred to the sleeve design on the Buzzcocks singles notably 'Promises'. The sleeve artwork for much of the bands early releases was in this almost comic bookesque style, bold blocks of colours and graphics.

Radio 1's John Peel was a huge fan, he was the barometer of taste at the time and to many youngsters growing up at the time, what John Peel played mattered. The list is endless of bands who's first play on National Radio was on the John Peel Show, he was that influential, his dry wit and charm was as much of his appeal as the music he played. His support for the band led to a recording deal with Epic.

With Clare Grogan on vocals, Gerard McInutly and Tony McDaid on guitars, Michael Anderson on drums and John McElhone on bass guitar the band had little success with their first two singles 'Dead Pop Stars' and 'A Days Wait'. Much to do with timing as anything as 'Dead Pop Stars' as song sung from the point of view of a has-been pop star, the single was released shortly after John Lennon's death so gained little media attention.

After the first two John Peel Sessions Gerard McInulty left the band and John McKinven joined and undeterred they recorded most of the album, produced by Steve Severin.  Martin Rushent was brought in to produce the title track of the album 'Happy Birthday' due to be the next single. Rushent had worked with the Buzzcocks, Stranglers and Generation X and had just finished  the Human League
album Dare; which proved to catapult the Human League into the stratosphere, Dare becoming one of the, if not, the classic 80's album.

'Happy Birthday' was a huge hit charting No2 for three weeks in the UK charts in October 1981 and earned the band the NME  'Best New Group' and Smash Hits 'Best Newcomer Award' that year.

Clare Grogan has appeared in numerous TV and films roles, most famously 'Gergory's Girl and the cult TV Series 'Red Dwarf' in a role she created for herself as Kristine Kochanski.