Bertie Higgins
| Bertie Higgins | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Elbert Joseph Higgins |
| Born | December 8, 1944 |
| Origin | Tarpon Springs, Florida |
| Genres | Country, pop, soft rock |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Epic |
| Website | Official website |
Elbert Joseph "Bertie" Higgins (born December 8, 1944,[1] Tarpon Springs, Florida) is an American singer-songwriter.[2] 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 and reached #8 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 record chart, number one in the adult contemporary charts, and a country hit as well. In 2009, his song was #75 on VH1's Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80's. He also became a multi-platinum recording artist in the Pacific Rim countries including Japan and China due to the mega-hit, "Casablanca".
Career
Higgins is of Irish, German, and Portuguese descent; he is a direct descendant of the German author Johann Wolfgang Goethe.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
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.[8]
After Higgins failed to follow up the success of "Key Largo," he was plagued with personal and legal problems that included a divorce, heavy drinking, a night in jail for making threatening phone calls to the mother of his ex-wife's boyfriend, and four months in prison for a 1995 DUI crash.[9]
His eldest son, Damian Higgins, who goes by the moniker Dieselboy, is a drum and bass DJ, producer and label head (Human Imprint).
In recent years, Higgins has moved into film production with another son, Julian Higgins, producing The Wrath (distributed by Lions Gate, a biker film, Poker Run, which was released in 2009 and The Colombian Connection starring Tom Sizemore in 2012. Higgins also co-wrote the screenplays, supervised the music and acted in major roles in all three films.[7][10]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | US | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Just Another Day in Paradise | 38 | Epic |
| 1983 | Pirates & Poets | — | Kat Family/CBS |
| 1985 | Gone With the Wind | — | CBS (Japan) |
| 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 |
| 2002 | Island Bound | — | Sony |
| 2007 | The Ultimate Collection | — | Madacy |
| 2008 | A Buccaneer's Diary | — | Key Largo |
| 2008 | The Essential Playlist" | — | Toucan Cove/Universal |
| 2009 | Captiva | — | Toucan Cove/Universal |
| 2012 | Year of the Dragon | — | Toucan Cove/Universal |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | RIAA | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US AC | US | US Country | CAN AC | CAN | CAN Country | ||||
| 1981 | "Key Largo" | 1 | 8 | 50 | 1 | 3 | 34 | Gold | Just Another Day in Paradise |
| 1982 | "Just Another Day in Paradise" | 10 | 46 | 90 | 12 | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "Casablanca" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "Port O Call" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1983 | "When You Fall in Love" | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Pirates and Poets |
| 1983 | "Pirates and Poets" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1983 | "Tokyo Joe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1988 | "You Blossom Me" | — | — | 72 | — | — | — | — | singles only |
| 1989 | "Homeless People" | — | — | 75 | — | — | — | — | |
References
- ↑ "BBC — Music — Bertie Higgins". BBC Online. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ↑ "Singer Songwriter Bertie Higgins Appears Monday At Pazzazz Lounge". Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Florida, USA: Diane McFarlin). 16 December 1983. p. 90. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ↑ "Singer Bertie Higgins to perform". The Cedartown Standard (Cedartown, Georgia, USA). 12 July 1990. p. 3A. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ↑ Atkins, Tony (16 October 1982). "Bertie Higgins Finds Success". Daytona Beach Morning Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida, USA). p. 34. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ↑ "Bertie's Biography". Official Website of Bertie Higgins. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ↑ "'Trop Rocker ' performs at annual music event". Gadsden Times (Gadsden, Alabama, USA). 12 May 1999. p. 23. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Reeves, Terri Bryce (16 July 2009). "Tarpon Springs' Bertie Higgins of 'Key Largo' fame joins son to make a horror flick". St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, Florida, USA: Times Publishing Company). Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Miller, Zell (1996). They heard Georgia singing. Mercer University Press. p. 138. ISBN 0-86554-504-9.
- ↑ Bertie Higgins: Where Is He Now?
- ↑ "Poker Run on IMDB"