Bertie Higgins

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Elbert Joseph “Bertie” Higgins (born December 8, 1944 in Tarpon Springs, Florida) is an adult-contemporary singer and songwriter. In 1982, he had his only top-40 album with Just Another Day in Paradise. It spawned the Top 10 romantic ballad "Key Largo", which referenced the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name. Higgins is of Irish, German, and Portuguese descent;^[1] his great-great-great-grandfather is German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the author of Faust. His eldest son, Damian Higgins, is better known as renowned drum and bass DJ Dieselboy.

Higgins' musical career began with a teenage band, 'The Romans' (later changed to 'The Roemans'), which signed to ABC-Paramount Records in the early 1960s, and was temporarily backing singer Tommy Roe, hence the change of spelling from Romans. The band released three singles between 1964 and 1966. These achieved some radio airplay but did not reach any national charts.

Higgins' famous 'Key Largo' composition was apparently composed from recollections of watching old movies with a former girlfriend. After the song was released, the couple were re-united.

The success of the single was such that it has tended to overshadow what was a very accomplished and varied album. One of the stand-out tracks from the album is the long, powerful 'The Tropics'.

The sequel to Just Another Day in Paradise was Pirates & Poets, which could not match the success of its precedessor. As such it tends to be overlooked, which is regrettable, because it included some fine songs, including 'When You Fall In Love', 'Tokyo Joe' and 'Beneath the Island Light'. These albums were released both on vinyl LP and on CD.

In recent years, he has moved into film production with his son, Julian Higgins, producing “The Wrath” (being distributed by Lions Gate) and a biker film, “Poker Run”, which is in post-production as of June 2007.