Ex-school friends with an equal interest in the UK post punk scene, Clare Grogan, Caesar, Michael 'Tich' Anderson, Tony McDaid and Johnny McElhone, sent a demo tape to Siouxsie and the Banshees, who soon gave the band a support slot on their Kaleidoscope tour of 1980.

After being championed by legendary DJ John Peel, they quickly garnered enough attention to be offered a deal with Epic Records, but mainstream success was not immediate; their first two singles, "Dead Pop Stars" and "A Day's Wait", failed to reach the top 40.

"Dead Pop Stars" was particularly controversial at the time, sung at the viewpoint of a "has-been" icon with much irony, perhaps badly timed in its release shortly after John Lennon's death, even though it was recorded earlier. It was absent from their studio album releases. After these two singles and their first two sessions for John Peel, Caesar left and formed The Wake.

With additional guitarist Jim McKinven, they recorded their debut LP, Happy Birthday (1981) seeing them continue their link with Siouxsie and the Banshees, as the band's bassist Steve Severin produced several tracks on it besides the title track, which became their third single and biggest hit.

"Happy Birthday" saw them be catapulted to fame with Grogan standing centre, quirky voice and bubbly character sending the band to number 2 in the singles chart in the summer of that year, establishing the band as one of the biggest New Wave acts around.

This was confirmed when they were voted "Best New Group" at the NME awards. "Happy Birthday" was brought to more widespread American audiences when included in the soundtrack to the John Hughes movie Sixteen Candles.