Clare Grogan rejected a big-money payday to use Happy Birthday in a McDonald’s advert because her co-writer was a “strict” vegetarian.
Clare Grogan rejected a big-money payday to use Happy Birthday in a McDonald’s advert.
The 63-year-old singer made the “difficult decision” to reject an offer for the fast food chain to use the track – which she is credited as writing with her Altered Images bandmates Jim McKinven, Johnny McElhone, Tony McDaid, and Michael Anderson – because of the “very strict vegetarian” beliefs of one of her co-writers.
Asked if she’s ever refused anyone using her music, she told ContactMusic.com: “I mean, in recent times, it did happen. And I got asked to use Happy Birthday in a McDonald’s advert.
“But I decided not to [because]the person that I wrote that song with was a very strict vegetarian, so I went, ‘You know what, I’m gonna pass on that one.’
“But it was a difficult decision.”
Clare always checks carefully when she is made such offers to ensure the projects are the right fit.
She added: “But it is funny, I saw a sketch on Saturday Night Live about all these kind of whimsical pop songs that are now used in the most violent scenes in films.
“And I do really look at the small print when I’m agreeing or disagreeing, but yeah, I’ve got a publisher, obviously, and Notting Hill Music.”
The Don’t Talk to Me About Love hitmaker loves it when she’s taken by surprise by one of her own songs.
She laughed: “You know what I do love? I laugh when I walk into a shop and they’re playing one of the songs. ‘Everyone! Excuse me? That’s me!’
“There’s something because it’s been a long time, and the fact that these songs still resonate with people, it’s quite special, you know?”
In the years after Altered Images split, Clare landed regular presenting and acting work and admitted she needed to “earn a living” in new ways after making very little money during her pop peak.
She said: “I needed to earn a living. You can have a burst of fame. I didn’t really make any money out of that first wave of success.
“Honestly, I was on £75 a week when I was at my peak, right? And so when that all kind of fell apart on me, because I left the band, and I just wanted to take a break from it all.
“It’s when I went back into the industry, where I had to really go, but I need to make this work, because one, I’m probably unemployable in the real world, but two, this is who I am, and this is what I want to do.
“So I think that’s when the really hard work came into it, and just that focus and determination to find myself back in there.”
Claire will mark 45 years since the release of Altered Images’ Happy Birthday album with a tour later this year.
Visit http://alteredimages.band/ for more information.
