I Could Be Happy
A song that began as half of "Happy Birthday" and was split off by Martin Rushent; it reached number seven in the UK.
Altered Images, from Pinky Blue (1981)
- Written by
- Altered Images
- Released
- 1981
- Length
- 3:28
- Album
- Pinky Blue
"I Could Be Happy" was released in December 1981 as the first single from Pinky Blue, produced by Rushent, with "Insects" on the B-side. It went to number seven in the UK in January 1982, their second top-ten single, number four in New Zealand and number 45 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, their only US chart single; it was certified silver. It is credited to the band, with no individual writers named.
Grogan has said that "Happy Birthday" and "I Could Be Happy" were originally one song, in a version produced by Severin. Rushent asked whether they knew they had two different songs, suggested splitting them and saved the "I Could Be Happy" section for the next album; she has no copy of Severin's original. Tim Pope directed the video, in which the band hold pastel objects as if instruments before playing real ones. No statement from the band on the lyric was found.
The French project Nouvelle Vague recorded it in 2016 and named an album after it. In 2022 it opened shows at the Georgian Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees and the Cluny in Newcastle, and sets usually close with "Happy Birthday". Which version of the song our upload is has not been established.
On stage
- 2022-03-04, Georgian Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees Opened the set.
- 2022-03-05, The Cluny, Newcastle Opened the set.
Covers and versions
- (2016) Recorded for their album I Could Be Happy.
Where to go next
Reference
- I Could Be Happy on Wikipedia Charts, B-sides and the video.
Interviews
- Classic Pop: Clare Grogan interview On splitting the song from Happy Birthday.
Sources
- I Could Be Happy, Wikipedia
- Clare Grogan: I constantly felt I had to prove myself, Classic Pop (2025-04-13)
- Clare Grogan on the first new album for 39 years, Super Deluxe Edition (2022)