"Best Friend"
Single by the Beat
from the album I Just Can't Stop It
A-side"Stand Down Margaret"
Released8 August 1980 (1980-08-08)[1]
Genre
Length3:02
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bob Sargeant
The Beat singles chronology
"Mirror in the Bathroom"
(1980)		 "Best Friend" / "Stand Down Margaret"
(1980)		 "Too Nice to Talk To"
(1980)

"Best Friend" is a song by British ska/new wave band the Beat, released on 8 August 1980 as the fourth and final single from their debut studio album I Just Can't Stop It. It was released as a double A-side single with a dub version of "Stand Down Margaret". The single wasn't as successful as the band's previous singles and only peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] The band raised 14 thousand pounds from the sales of the single, which went to the Anti-Nuclear Campaign and the CND.[3][4]

Meaning and reception

Dave Wakeling said that he was "singing it to myself in the same mirror that "Mirror in the Bathroom" was written in" and that the song is about "singing a song to a reflection, you know, I just found I'm your best friend – you".[5]

Reviewing the song for Smash Hits, David Hepworth wrote "more efficient than a Japanese watch factory, these boys continue to crank out hit product". This is another perfectly levelled 45, crisp, economical and punchy, the usual cleverly varied arrangement shifting the emphasis around a song so simple it's almost a cretin". "Like "Mirror in the Bathroom", it has an insistence to it which is further proof of The Beat's quite incredible sureness of touch".[6] Martyn Sutton for Melody Maker described "Best Friend" as in many ways, their most commercial cut yet. The reggae and ska influences are not so apparent and the whole, attractive sound could well be labelled "Pure Pop". Fabulous rhythm, excellent guitar work and a compulsive hook".[7] On the other hand, reviewing for Sounds, Sandy Robertson was not impressed, writing that "apart from horns, this tune could almost be a lame version of that other Beat from LA".[8]

Charts

Chart (1980) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[2] 22

References

  1. ↑ "News" (PDF). Record Mirror. 2 August 1980. p. 4. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Beat: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  3. ↑ Rachel 2016, p. 280.
  4. ↑ Rachel, Daniel (8 September 2016). Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4472-7270-0.
  5. ↑ Songfacts. "Dave Wakeling of The English Beat : Songwriter Interviews". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Singles". Smash Hits. 3 September 1980. p. 29. Retrieved 11 November 2020 – via sites.google.com.
  7. ↑ "Single File". Melody Maker. 16 August 1980. p. 12.
  8. ↑ "Singles". Sounds. 16 August 1980. p. 24.
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