"The Best Thing" is a song by American band Ivy on their second studio album, Apartment Life (1997). Released on September 12, 1997 by Atlantic Records, it was the band's major-label debut single and served as the parent album's lead single. The track was written by Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, and was produced by the latter two. A pop song, "The Best Thing" is accompanied by several guitars and a keyboard.

It was distributed to radio stations for airplay in September 1997, coinciding with the release of two CD singles. It was also released as a 7" single in Italy, where it was paired with the B-side track "A Nanny in Manhattan", performed by the American band Lilys. music critics praised "The Best Thing", with several calling it one of the catchiest tracks on Apartment Life.

"The Best Thing" was taken from Ivy's second studio album, Apartment Life, which was released on October 7, 1997 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded in 1997 in New York City at three different recording studios. The single was released in three formats; the commercial CD single includes the album version of "The Best Thing" while a promotional Italy 7" jukebox single, released by East West Records, used Ivy's song as the A-side and Lilys' "A Nanny in Manhattan" as the B-side. Another promotional CD single was also created containing the "Video Remix" of the track.

According to the liner notes of the promotional release, Atlantic Records billed "The Best Thing" as Ivy's official debut single. Following its distribution as a physical single, "The Best Thing" was serviced to modern rock and modern adult contemporary radio stations beginning September 12, 1997. The record label had hoped that Ivy would receive considerable radio airplay, in light of musical trends during the same time period when Apartment Life was scheduled to be released. Michael Krumper, the vice president of product development for Atlantic Records, predicted this, given that "there are a number of records that have a similar feel to Ivy".

...
Wikipedia