"Photograph of Mary" is a dance, R&B, and pop song recorded by American singer Trey Lorenz for his eponymous debut studio album, Trey Lorenz (1992). Epic Records released it as the album's second single in December 1992. Written by Seth Swirsky, the lyrics concern a man regretting the end of a relationship with a woman while looking at her picture. A "na na na" hook functions as the chorus. Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey produced "Photograph of Mary" and others produced remixes.
Music critics gave the song positive reviews, several describing it as catchy. To promote the release, Lorenz performed on the British television program GMTV and starred in a music video. "Photograph of Mary" peaked within the top forty on record charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. It reached number forty-six on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles in the United States and gained success on dance music charts in other regions.
In the United States, Epic issued "Photograph of Mary" on 7-inch vinyl, 12-inch vinyl, and cassette formats.[8] The label released it to urban contemporary radio stations in December 1992,[9] and later released it in the United Kingdom on January 18, 1993, on 7-inch vinyl, 12-inch vinyl, and CD.[10] To support the single, Lorenz performed live on British television network ITV's morning program GMTV.[11] A Japanese mini CD single followed on February 21, 1993,[12] and a music video starring Lorenz was also released.[13]
"Photograph of Mary" is a dance,[5] R&B,[14] and pop[7] song with gospel influences.[15] The track features a fast tempo[5] and lasts for four minutes and twenty-six seconds.[16] The chorus contains a "na na na" hook,[4] which Dave Sholin of the Gavin Report thought resembled that in Elton John's 1970 single "Take Me to the Pilot".[17] The lyrics concern a man looking at a picture of a woman named Mary and lamenting the loss of their relationship through his actions.[9]
Seth Swirsky wrote the lyrics and composed the music for "Photograph of Mary". Walter Afanasieff produced and arranged the song with Carey. It features keyboards played by Afanasieff and Dan Shea, guitars strummed by Michael Landau, and digital programming by Afanasieff, Shea, Ren Klyce, and Gary Cirimelli. Lorenz, Carey, Mark C. Rooney, Patrique McMillan, and Karen Anderson provided background vocals.[4] According to Music Week's Alan Jones, the beat is similar to songs by the group Soul II Soul.[15] John Martinucci of the Gavin Report considered the track's production "punchy"[9] and Johnny Dee of Smash Hits said it "bumps along in a meaty big and bouncy funky way".[18]
"Photograph of Mary" received positive reviews from American and British critics.[a]Music Week writer Bob Jones gauged it as "great"[21] and Dave Sholin called it a "winner" in the Gavin Report.[17]Music & Media's Steve Morton and Billboard considered it an effective vocal showcase for Lorenz.[5][22] The latter magazine and Peter Kinghorn of the Evening Chronicle described the hook and beat as catchy, respectively.[5][23] In contrast, the Accrington Observer's Guy Rayner deemed the track "wimpish-sounding rubbish".[24]
Commercial performance
"Photograph of Mary" appeared on music charts in Europe, North America, and Oceania. In Canada, the song peaked at number nineteen on The Record's Retail Singles list.[25] It reached the top forty on the primary New Zealand and United Kingdom singles charts (numbers thirty-one and thirty-eight, respectively).[26][27] It did not match this performance in the United States and instead topped out at number eighteen on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles,[28] which lists the top twenty-five songs not yet qualified to appear on the main Hot 100.[29] The song fared better on the country's R&B charts; it reached number forty-six on BillboardHot R&B Singles and number thirty-seven on Cash Box R&B Singles.[30][31] On the urban contemporary radio chart published by Radio & Records, the single peaked at number twenty.[32]
"Photograph of Mary" experienced success on dance music charts. In the United States, the song achieved top-ten positions on Billboard's Maxi-Singles Sales (number six) and Cash Box's Dance Singles (number seven).[33][34] It peaked at number eleven on the European Dance Radio list produced by Music & Media and the American Club Play chart published by Billboard.[35][36] In the United Kingdom, "Photograph of Mary" reached number seventeen on the Chart Information Network's dance singles list and the remixes peaked at number twenty-five on the Record Mirror Club Chart compiled by Music Week.[37][38]