Key Largo (song)


"Key Largo" is a popular song recorded by Bertie Higgins in 1981. Released as a single in September 1981, it became Higgins' only Top 40 hit in the United States in early 1982, when it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song spent 17 weeks in the Top 40 and was certified Gold by the RIAA. In addition, "Key Largo" topped the adult contemporary chart for two weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song reached #60 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and content

The song's lyrics plead with a lover to reconsider ending a romance the singer compares to that depicted by the stars of the 1948 film Key Largo, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The glamorous couple is recalled in the lyric We had it all / Just like Bogie and Bacall / Starring in our own late late show / Sailin' away to Key Largo.
The lyrics also draw from the film Casablanca, in the lines "Here's looking at you, kid" and "Please say you will / Play it again". The song "Key Largo" was included on Higgins' album Just Another Day in Paradise.
In 2009, VH1 ranked "Key Largo" #75 on its program 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.

Music video

A promotional music video was produced in 1982, filmed in and around Tarpon Springs, Florida. It begins with Bertie Higgins leaning against a pole, smoking a cigarette, reminiscing. Later, the singer is seen walking with a young woman, played by then-17-year-old Patty Wolfe. The scene then cuts to the pair riding in a motorboat around Anclote key off Tarpon Springs Florida. The video also shows the pair in a car on Fred Howard park also in Tarpon Springs. The final moments show the couple walking along a beach at sunset.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts