Bertie Higgins

Elbert Joseph "Bertie" Higgins (born December 8, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1982, Higgins had a top 40 album with Just Another Day in Paradise. It spawned the hit song "Key Largo", which referenced the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film of the same name and reached No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and No. 50 on the Billboard Country chart.

Early career Higgins was born in Tarpon Springs, Florida, United States, and is of Portuguese, Irish and German descent. He once supported himself as a sponge diver, and began his career in show business at the age of twelve as a ventriloquist. He won prizes in local talent contests and became a favorite at school assemblies around Tampa Bay, Florida. Higgins has stated that he is related to German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Higgins' first band played proms, homecoming dances, and sock hops. After graduating from Tarpon Springs High School, Higgins enrolled in St. Petersburg College to study journalism and fine art. He eventually left college and became a drummer for Tommy Roe in his sometime backup band The Roemans,

Later years Higgins' subsequent albums failed to chart, although he had a minor adult contemporary hit with "When You Fall in Love" in 1983 from his second album Pirates and Poets.

After his commercial success waned, Higgins and his band toured extensively around the globe, and he continues to tour on a regular basis in the Pacific Rim and domestically.

Higgins has served on the Board of Governors of the Atlanta Chapter of the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for several years. Besides maintaining a rigorous schedule of one-nighters, he also makes regular appearances on the Las Vegas strip.

Higgins has moved into film production with his sons Julian and Aaron, producing Beast Beneath (distributed by Entertainment One), 2009's Poker Run (also distributed by Entertainment One) and 2012's The Colombian Connection, starring Tom Sizemore, and "Christmas in Hollywood".

Legacy He was inducted into the Florida Music Hall of Fame with a lifetime achievement award in January 2016 along with Jimmy Buffett, Julio Iglesias and Tom Petty. In 2019 he was also inducted in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame along with such notables as Ernest Hemingway.

Jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson recorded a version of the Bertie Higgins original song "Casablanca" for EMI Records.

In 2009, "Key Largo" was ranked No. 75 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s.

His die-hard fans are called "Boneheads".

Discography Albums Year Album Peak chart positions Label US AUS 1982 Just Another Day in Paradise 38 32 Epic 1983 Pirates and Poets — — Kat Family/CBS 1985 Gone With the Wind — — CBS (Japan) (available on vinyl only) 1991 Back to the Island — — Polydor (Japan) 1994 Back to the Island — — Southern Tracks (different track listing than above album) 1999 Trop Rock — — Key Largo 2003 Island Bound — — Sony 2007 The Ultimate Collection (compilation) — — Madacy 2008 A Buccaneer's Diary — — Key Largo 2008 The Essential Playlist (compilation) — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2009 Captiva — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2012 Year of the Dragon — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2014 Bertie Higgins, Live — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2014 The Very Best of Trop Rock (compilation with 1 new song) — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2014 Cowboys of the Caribbean (compilation with 4 new songs) — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2015 The World's Greatest Lover (compilation with 3 new songs) — — Huayi Brothers Media (the Pacific Rim including China) 2015 Dancing in the Tradewinds (compilation with 1 new song) — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2016 Gold from My Treasure Chest (covers) — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2016 Scrap Book (early recordings) — — Toucan Cove/Universal 2016 Forever Casablanca — — Huayi Brothers Media (the Pacific Rim including China) 2019 Wanted — — Toucan Cove/Universal (digital only) 2021 Greatest Hits — — Toucan Cove / Universal

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album US US AC US Country AUS CAN CAN AC CAN Country 1981 "Key Largo" 8 1 50 2 3 1 34 Just Another Day in Paradise 1982 "Just Another Day in Paradise" 46 10 90 — — 12 — "Casablanca" — — — — — — — "Port O Call" — — — — — — — 1983 "When You Fall in Love" —34 — — — — — Pirates and Poets "Pirates and Poets" — — — — — — — "Tokyo Joe" — — — — — — — 1988 "You Blossom Me" — — 72 — — — — Singles only 1989 "Homeless People" — — 75 — — — — 2014 "Cowboys of the Caribbean" — — — — — — — "Just Another Day in Paradise" (country version) — — — — — — — "Key Largo" (country version) — — — — — — — 2015 "The Flag's on Fire" — — — — — — — "The World's Greatest Lover" — — — — — — — 2017 "Son of a Beach" — — — — — — — 2025 "Do the Donald" — — — — — — —2026"A River" —26 — — — — —

Music videos Year Video 1982 "Key Largo" 1983 "When You Fall In Love" "Pirates And Poets" 2008 "The Flag's on Fire" 2011 "Casablanca"