In 1980, Higgins moved to Atlanta and met record producer Sonny Limbo. He arranged a meeting between Higgins and music publisher Bill Lowery, whom Higgins had known through Tommy Roe. Higgins had been working on a song about a failed romance and presented the rough cut to Lowery and Limbo. They helped him perfect the lyrics of the song that became "Key Largo". Higgins recorded the master and presented it to Kat Family Records, a newly formed CBS/Sony distributing company. After an initial rejection, Kat Family agreed to release the single. The song eventually landed in the "Billboard" pop charts at number eight and in the Billboard adult contemporary charts it reached number one. It also charted in the Billboard country charts. On the strength of the song's success, an album was released titled "Just Another Day in Paradise". Other singles followed, such as "Just Another Day in Paradise", "Casablanca", and "Pirates and Poets", but none matched the success domestically of his breakout hit. (The song "Casablanca" went on to become a major hit in the Pacific Rim countries, and "Key Largo" reached number one status in Canada, Australia and other countries internationally.)