CoronaVinyl Day 425 (H): Just Another Day in Paradise by Bertie Higgins

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "H," and what better way to spend a Wednesday than by listening to soft rock hirsute lothario Bertie Higgins's 1982 debut album, Just Another Day in Paradise.

Higgins grew up in the Tampa area, drummed in pop singer Tommy Roe's backing band, and was also a friend and protoge of Burt Reynolds.  Then, in the early '80s -- when he was already in his late 30s -- Higgins decided to make a go of it as a solo artist.

Just Another Day in Paradise is pure yacht rock, and it gave Higgins his two biggest hits.  The title track went to #46 on the Billboard Hot 100, #10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and #90 on the Billboard Country singles chart.  But if you know one song by Bertie Higgins, it's the soft rock masterpiece "Key Largo," a song about love lost, with references to Humphrey Bogart movies as a backdrop.  The song went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, #50 on the Billboard Country singles chart, and Top 10 on the pop charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.  The album itself went to #38 on the Billboard album chart.

Higgins never found the same success after Just Another Day in Paradise, but continued to make music and tour since the early '80s.  He has also produced some movies with his sons, and he has been inducted into the Florida Music Hall of Fame (receiving a lifetime achievement award in 2016, along with Jimmy Buffet, Julio Iglesias, and Tom Petty) and the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Key Largo"
I certainly couldn't choose any other song.  Every time I hear anything about Key Largo, Key West, or any other key, I sing to myself "We had it all / Just like Bogey and Bacall."

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Down at The Blue Moon"
This one is a little departure from the rest of the songs on the album, as it's more of a honky tonk country rock song than soft rock.  It's also about getting laid and snorting coke at a hotel, so pretty spot on for the early '80s.