Earlier this month, Scottish new wave band Altered Images announced a concert celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their third album – their widely acclaimed 1983 release, ‘Bite’. Set to take place on the 26th of October at the 229 in London, the highly anticipated performance follows up the group’s first album release in 40 years – the brilliant ‘Mascara Streakz’, which released last year.
Formed in the late 1970s in Glasgow, Altered Images quickly rose to fame after the release of their debut album, ‘Happy Birthday’, in September 1981, which hit Top 40 on UK charts. The title track also hit #2 on the Singles charts, establishing the group as one of Britain’s quickest rising new wave acts. Subsequent success followed with their next album, ‘Pinky Blue’, in 1982, which received mixed reviews from critics but still peaked at #12 on charts, and the aforementioned ‘Bite’ in 1983. The group broke up shortly after, briefly reuniting to tour in 2012 before the duo of founding members Clare Grogan and Steve Lironi (now a married couple) brought the band back properly in 2021 for ‘Mascara Streakz’.
Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans upon its release in 1983, ‘Bite’ has been retrospectively viewed as a classic by most publications. It’s not just looking at the album through rose-tinted glasses, either – songs like the hit ‘Don’t Talk to Me About Love’ and opening track ‘Bring Me Closer’ are genuinely brilliant pieces of pop music that got smashed by critics, simply because they expected post punk instead. Even forty years later, Clare Grogan’s vocals still hold up, and it’s absolutely worth checking out her performance at the 229 in October if you have a chance – tickets are available below.
Buy tickets for the duo’s performance at the 229 here (Over 18s only).
