Public Images Ltd: an interview with Clare Grogan, Guilfest, 2025
Guilford’s girl: Clare Grogan packed the Literary Tent on Sunday at Guilfest (Image: Jayne Houghton)
In the run-up to Guilfest, when the prospect of interviewing Clare Grogan came up in conversation with male friends of a certain age, there was a common response: “I was in love with her.” Grogan became the template of “marriage material” for many 1980s teen lads. Small but perfectly formed, edgy, confident, good at dancing, a fine proponent of a hair accessory and a regional accent. Boxes ticked.
Bernard Sumner of New Order once said he’d kept his boyish looks for so long due to eating tinned food which was packed with preservatives. Grogan must have followed a similar diet because at 63 she looks knock-out, today wearing fashion sunnies, a white fitted waistcoat, baggy leopard-print jeans and sand-coloured, grippy-soled, rugged sandals.
We meet backstage, which is a whir of alternative-music entertainers. Grogan is a sort of Glinda, the Wizard Of Oz sorceress, practically emitting white light and calm amid the maelstrom. Fuzzbox Kollective have just departed the stage and the pumped-up pop princesses are like firecrackers of excitement, asking for their photo to be taken for posterity – it’ll be on their social media somewhere… in fact it’s here. Bez is present too, so he’s quickly buttonholed for a few quotes about his experiences in the summer of 1988 for a project this journalist is working on.
On the walk to the Literary Tent with Grogan we have a brief blether about the questions I’ll be asking in our 30-minute interview slot. Chart success, Father Ted, Gregory’s Girl and, of course, literature! Here’s how it panned out…
Here we are, the last event in the Literary Tent for the weekend – for 2025. And we’re ending on a real high because we have Clare Grogan with us.
Thank you.
I was backstage yesterday with David Gedge from The Wedding Present and their rider was just packets of ham. I wonder if that’s a similar story for Altered Images.
I used to always request orange Smarties only, for years and years. And then Bill Forsyth, who directed me in Gregory’s Girl, said, “Clare, have you ever thought about who the person is who has to sort the orange Smarties from the other coloured Smarties and whether they’ve washed their hands?” I had no words. Ours is so dull, it really is. We just have lots of crisps. It’s the unhealthiest rider around. But we’re Scottish.
How do you prepare for a gig like Guilfest?
When I start talking about this stuff, I usually sound a bit of a wanker. I apologise in advance. But I love what I do, Lee, I really do. When we’re on stage we have the best time ever but we take it quite seriously before we get to that point. Singing is just part of my everyday life. I love it, I really do, even singing in the shower. My daughter Ellie is constantly saying, “Mum, stop singing.” But logistically my band are based in Glasgow and I live in London so we meet up together in Glasgow, which is lovely because I have this relationship with my home city. Since my parents passed away, my family moved on, so it’s great that I’ve still got that. We have fun but we always want to do the best we can for people. I was brought up to not let the side down, and that’s how I feel about it.
Did you do a gig yesterday?
We did. That was at Llangollen in Wales with The Human League. We get to do a lot of shows with them. We have the same management. We hang out together, which is really nice, because some of my very early shows with the original Altered Images were with The Human League. It’s come full circle – it’s so bonkers.
What might we expect from you this evening – you’ve got the late slot on the Second Stage, haven’t you?
At 9pm, yes. Well, there’ll be fabulous outfits because we really like to put on a show. All the hits, because that’s what people want. And I’ll probably sneak in a few songs from our most recent album Mascara Streakz, which I wrote with Bernard Butler, my husband Stephen Lironi and Bobby Bluebell from The Bluebells. Mascara Streakz got me thinking about new songs, which was really great. The album came out and we went Top 30 in the charts. So there’ll be a couple of songs from Mascara Streakz, some of our classics and probably a couple of cover versions.
You started out as a punk.
Yes.
You were in the Siouxsie And The Banshees fan club – and that’s how the band came together.
Yes, Altered Images, we were massive Siouxsie fans and we had this band, so we thought, “Well, Siouxsie’s coming to Scotland, why don’t we get in touch and see if we can open for her?” So we sent our demo tape to Billy Chainsaw, who was the Banshees’ fan club manager, and he said, “I’ll play it to Siouxsie and we’ll see what happens.” He played it to Siouxsie, Siouxsie loved it, and we got to support Siouxsie on tour.
Was John Peel a fan of the band – an early adopter?
Honestly, without John Peel I doubt we’d be sitting here today. We had our little hitlist. We were quietly ambitious in the tiny wee world of music that we lived in. We wanted to support Siouxsie And The Banshees and we wanted John Peel to like us so that we could do John Peel Sessions. We played at this huge punk festival in Leeds, Futurama. John Peel was there and there was a whole bunch of people badgering him to come and watch us. We got the Peel Session. We wanted a record deal, we wanted to be on Top Of The Pops, and we did all that within about ten months. We thought it was going to be like that forever. It wasn’t.
Can we talk about Gregory’s Girl? How did that come about?
When I was at school, I had a part-time job in a restaurant called The Spaghetti Factory in Glasgow. Bill Forsyth used to go in there quite regularly. He came in one night with another director, Mike Radford, who said, “My friend Bill is going to make a film next summer and he thinks you’ll be really great in it. Can we have your phone number?” And I was like, “What? Absolutely no way. I’ve heard about men like you.” So I point-blank refused to give him my number. The manager of the restaurant knew them and said, “They actually make films.” I guess it was meant to be. And Bill became such a good friend as well. Just a lovely person to hang out with.
You almost didn’t get the role because of a pretty horrific accident.
It was one of the most traumatic things… It was a really horrible situation. It was two months before we were due to start filming and I was hit in the face with a broken glass. It took the left side of my face off practically. Most film producers would go, “Perhaps this is not such a good idea,” but Bill said, “Let’s film from this side.” I think it was such a massive thing to happen in a young person’s life and I looked to the adults around me to take some sort of clarity about how I should react to it. And they were like, “You’re OK.”
How old were you then?
Seventeen.
You did three albums in the 1980s with Altered Images. All went Top 30. What was your dream at that point?
I was kind of living my dream because it happened really quickly for me. It’s almost hard to describe because I was so young. I had no life experience at all and yet I found myself in the most extraordinary circumstances. And I absolutely took it in my stride. It was really bonkers. And I’ll never understand why I reacted like that but it was just, “This is so great – I really wanted to be a pop star and it’s happened!” All the stuff is amazing fun until it’s not.
What happened after the release of the third album, Bite? You seemed to vanish.
I retreated to Glasgow. I was staying in Los Angeles, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and we were wined and dined by all sorts of people. I just felt the fear. I thought, “This is not who I am.” I went home. I ended up making [1984 film] Comfort And Joy with Bill, which was a great thing to do. So good. And then I just decided to try and live my life more normal, which lasted about eight months. I was doing small parts like Blott On The Landscape, The Monocled Mutineer – I got to do lots of really nice bits and pieces. I thought, “I’ve found my place – I was never meant to be big. This is how it works out.” Although I try not to overanalyse it.
Did you go solo for a while?
Yes. I had a great time. I went to New York and worked with Madonna’s producer. He was a riot. I took Stephen Lironi from Altered Images with me and I co-wrote the album with him – who’s now my husband. I remember one of the first records we ever wrote together was “Don’t Talk To Me About Love” [on Bite, 1983].
Which is one of the best records ever made.
Ha-ha! Thank you. So you can understand my surprise when I didn’t take the Elizabeth Taylor route and ring ’em and sling ’em. I’ve ended up with Stephen for 40 years, which has been the most amazing, lovely thing. That’s where we fell in love, New York. So I got really distracted. The album does exist but nobody can find it. It’s called Trash Mad. I keep on thinking, “It couldn’t have been that bad.” But I don’t know, maybe it was. And I’m not saying that to be like ridiculous. I’ve got a copy but I think it’s at someone’s house. People often say to me, “What about Trash Mad?” And I’m, “Yeah, do you know where it is?”
Is this correct – and tell me to mind my own business – that Spandau Ballet’s “True” is written about you?
Well according to Gary, yes. That’s the sort of inspirational person I am. Honestly, I used to joke about it because I was friends with Gary and we tried to have a relationship but nobody would let us do that. We were too young, too busy, too… I don’t know. So everyone kept us apart. As a subject, it’s annoying for Stephen. And I’m, “Just stop this right now – it’s one of the greatest love songs ever, and it was written about me! Just watch out!” I was just joking with him because I didn’t think it was true, then Gary said in his autobiography that it was about me. I thought, “This is really embarrassing.”
I’m a massive fan of Father Ted and you appeared in one of the greatest episodes, “Rock A Hula Ted”. You played a Sinead O’Connor figure. How did that happen?
I was a massive fan of Father Ted too. I grew up in an Irish Catholic family. I went to convent school and I knew those priests. Those priests were in my house having plates of tea with my mum and my aunties so it was so familiar to me. I thought it was hilarious and I said to my agent, “I want to be in Father Ted.” I really wanted to play a nun. That’s my dream role, the one I haven’t pulled off yet. They said they wanted me to play a rock star so I said, “Come on!” I went in and auditioned. My mum’s from Dublin so I’ve got the accent and I got to do it. It was a magic moment.
As this is the Literary Tent, we’d better quickly talk ‘words’. You’re an author…
Yes. I’ve had to deal with plenty of things that have been shite in life. My mum got really, really ill and so did my husband. It was a crazy double-whammy of me having to stop working. My daughter was pretty much a toddler at that time. And I thought I’d really like to explain to her my story through a children’s book. I would sit at various hospital beds and write this story, which became the adventures of Tallulah Gosh [Tallulah And The Teenstars].
That was 2008. Was there a follow-up?
Yes there was a follow-up. The first book did really, really well, and the second book [Tallulah On Tour, 2015] did really well. And it was like a whole other career. Spinning plates but I can only do that to a certain extent. Looking back I think everything I do has a timeless quality to it. Everybody wants me to write a memoir but I’m not going to. I’m going to make a little film instead.
We’ll do a quick-fire round then we’ll take a few questions from the audience, if that’s alright.
Yes.
Favourite band?
Altered Images.
A film you never get bored of seeing?
That’s such a hard one. I’m thinking… Sweet Charity. Oh my God, I love Shirley MacLaine, that film with all the dancing and outfits. I thought that was what being a grown-up was all about.
Do you have a hobby?
Yes! I run. And I like drinking too.
What’s your favourite place on earth?
Glasgow.
What’s the best birthday party you’ve ever been to?
My husband’s 50th birthday party for me. He’s really understated, Stephen. He put on this really beautiful event for me. Cos everyone was a bit traumatised about me turning 50 and I wasn’t! “I’m 50!” I used to go. When I was 40 somebody said, “Will you come back and do Altered Images songs?” and I was, “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m 40. I don’t want to be singing ‘Happy Birthday’ for anyone.” I’m now 63. But it’s just so much fun.
If we can do one or two audience questions then we’ll let you get on your way.
OK.
Audience member No.1: Where did you get your glasses from?
They’re from Arket. Do you like them?
Audience member No.1: They’re amazing.
Thank you.
Audience member No.2: Did you enjoy being in Red Dwarf?
I really did. For whatever reason, some of the jobs I’ve done have really resonated with people.
Audience member No.3: What advice would you give my 17-year-old daughter who’s just been dumped by her boyfriend?
I’ve had a similar situation at home with my daughter. They were just about to go on holiday as well. At first I was like, “Don’t worry about it.” But then I thought, “Cry a river – go on. Eat some ice cream and find someone else.”
Audience member No.4: You used to drink in a pub in Great Western Road, Wintersgills. Do you remember Kenny Hyslop, the original drummer with Simple Minds?
Was Kenny not with Slik?
Audience member No.4: That’s it, Slik. And then the Rich Kids. And I saw you at The Anvil in Basingstoke. You were out the front signing autographs. I said, “It’s me again!”
Security! Security!
Ha-ha! Let’s leave it there! Thank you very much Clare Grogan!