Local Boy In The Photograph
This will remain as the “first” Stereophonics song despite being the second single. Every band has their song, whether its “One”, “Live Forever” , “Creep” or “Losing My Religion” the ‘Phonics have “Local Boy”. This is the magnificent second single that reached number 51 back in early 1997. It tells the tale of a young man who committed suicide at the age of 23 by lying in the path of a train. It’s fast, there is a great melody and a fantastic set of lyrics. The version that was released as the first release of the single is also on Word Gets Around.
Following the initial release, and following the huge success of Word Gets Around, it was decided to remix and re-release Local Boy In The Photograph. Dave Bascombe provided the remix and gave the track a heavier, live feel by turning up the bass, drums and guitars, whilst also speeding the track up. This makes it sound much more raw. It really is an improvement on the original and can only be found on CD1 and CD2 of the second release of the song. Released in Februrary 1998, the re-mixed song reached number 14 in the charts. A remixed video including footage from live gigs was also released to music channels.
