"I Could Be Happy" is a song by Scottish new wave band

Altered Images Altered Images is a Scottish New wave music, new wave/post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums ...

, released as the first single from their second album, ''

Pinky Blue ''Pinky Blue'' is the second album by the Scottish new wave band Altered Images. It was released in May 1982 and featured the hit singles " I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes" and "Pinky Blue". Overview The album reached No. 12 on the UK Albums ...

''. Their second top-10 hit in the UK, the song peaked at number seven in December 1981, and remained on the chart for 12 weeks. It also reached the top 40 in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand and was their first and only single to chart in the United States, on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart at number 45 in April 1982.

Music video

The music video for this song was a brief mainstay on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in its early days. MTV initially accidentally said the song was from their '' Happy Birthday'' album. The band members are shown holding different pastel pieces and playing them like they were their musical instruments, and singer

Clare Grogan Claire Patricia Grogan (born 17 March 1962), known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish singer and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well a ...

is shown singing the "I could be happy, I could be happy" part in scenes where those lyrics are on the screen with a dot weirdly moving around, but hitting each syllable in time. Near the end, the band members put their pieces down to show it draws a very colorful happy face, then the video ends with Grogan riding out the song with the band playing their real instruments.

Track listings

7-inch single :A. "I Could Be Happy" :B. "Insects" 12-inch single :A1. "I Could Be Happy" :B1. "Insects" :B2. "Disco Pop Stars"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end chart

Certifications

References

1981 songs 1981 singles Altered Images songs Epic Records singles Portrait Records singles Song recordings produced by Martin Rushent {{1980s-rock-song-stub