“The Best of Me” – Single by Cliff Richard from the album Stronger
B-side: Move It / Lindsay Jane (all)
Released May 1989
Label EMI
Songwriters David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock, Richard Marx
Producers Cliff Richard
Charted No.2 in UK; No.2 in Ireland; No.61 in Germany; No.59 in Australia.
Cliff Richard selected the song for his milestone 100th single in 1989. Released on 30 May 1989, the song debuted at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there another week in its 7-week run on the chart. It was certified silver by the BPI for sales over 200,000.
Before releasing his 100th single, Richard invited 2,000 British fans to the London Palladium for a preview of six songs from his forthcoming album (which would be Stronger), to vote on which one they liked most as the possible 100th single. Ironically, “The Best of Me” came second to “Stronger Than That”, but Richard had also revealed by mistake that the latter was composed by Alan Tarney who had written most of Richard’s biggest hits since 1979. Regardless, it was enough confirmation for Richard to choose “The Best of Me” with its fitting lyrics as a tribute to his audience. Coming third in the vote was “I Just Don’t Have the Heart”, ahead of “Joanna” and “Lean on You”.
