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Clare Grogan

I was listening to an interview with Clare the other day, talking about a new Altered Images album coming out soon - and I thought - they were a real favourite of mine when I was younger, she would be a perfect start for another Six Degrees of Kevin Shields!


And you know what? I think I was right - see what you think.....

Photo credit: Harry Popadopolous

By 1983, Clare Grogan had been in the very successful Altered Images, who peppered the charts with six wonderfully upbeat Top 40 hits, including I Could Be Happy and Happy Birthday, and had featured in popular Scottish film Gregory's Girl. By 1984, the band had split and amongst other things, Grogan appeared in the video for the song Young At Heart, by fellow Scottish pop band, The Bluebells.


This number eight chart hit was about the pinnacle for The Bluebells. The song was written by Bobby Bluebell (a.k.a. Robert Hodgens), with violinist Bobby Valentino and one Siobhan Fahey, who was dating Hodgens at the time.


Siobhan Fahey was born in County Meath, Ireland, but found herself in the UK in the early 80s co-founding legendary pop group, Bananarama - before later having more success with Shakespear's Sister. She was famously married to Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics from 1987 to 1997, but prior to that, as well as Hodgens, she had also dated another musician in Jim Reilly.


Jim Reilly was the second drummer in Northern Irish punk legends, Stiff Little Fingers, playing with them between 1979 and 1981. He later moved to the United States where he played in a band called the Red Rockers, originally based out of New Orleans. Following that, he, along with Mark Cutler and Emerson Torrey from that band moved on to form The Raindogs in Boston, in 1985. Playing a blend of American rock and Celtic rock n roll, they landed a variety of support slots, including with Don Henley, Bob Dylan and Warren Zevon.

Warren Zevon press release photo - 1978 - from Asylum Records

Warren Zevon built a career of cult proportions, putting out solo records, working with REM (as the Hindu Love Gods) and writing songs played by others including Linda Ronstadt. He is best remembered for the song Werewolves of London, which made 21 on the Billboard chart in 1978. It was taken from his third solo record, Excitable Boy and the song is also notable because it featured a rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie from Fleetwood Mac.



Fleetwood Mac's 1987 smash hit album, Tango In The Night, featured an interesting cover that was from a painting by Australian artist Brett-Livingstone Strong - the painting happened to be hanging on lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's living room wall.


Fun Fact: Strong's green card into the US was sponsored by none other than John Wayne! In the late 1970s, he took a 13-ton boulder that had fallen on the Pacific Coast Highway and carved Wayne's face into it. It was allegedly sold to an Arizona company for over $1 million - but it now sits in the library of Lubbock Christian University.


Anyway, on with the connections. As well as the John Wayne sculpture, he worked on commissions for other famous people, including a painting of Michael Jackson and in 1979, a life-size bronze of John Lennon.


In 1980, Lennon recorded what would be the last album released during his lifetime, Double Fantasy. The fifth album by John and Yoko One, it came out in November, just one month before his murder. One of the key musicians featured on the album was guitarist Earl Slick.


Earl Slick, real name Frank Madeloni, is perhaps best known for his work with David Bowie on and off over the years (notably on albums, Station to Station and Young Americans), he also worked with Michael Kamen on film soundtracks (including Hudson Hawk). But in 2003, his solo album Zig Zag included guest appearances by a host of big names. There was Bowie and Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), but also Robert Smith.


Robert Smith is of course best known for fronting The Cure and on occasions in the past, being a Banshee. In 2018, The Cure headlined the Meltdown Festival in London and Smith was asked to help curate the line up, to include some of his favourite bands. Amongst those he picked for that June, was Nine Inch Nails, Placebo, the Manic Street Preachers and My Bloody Valentine.

MBV at Meltdown 2018 / Photo credit: Marc Broussely / Redferns

The lead singer of My Bloody Valentine is.... KEVIN SHIELDS!



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