Viglione has reviewed several of Bassey's albums, including And I Love You So and Nobody Does It Like Me.
His reviews are cited as authoritative sources in discussions and fan blogs related to Dame Shirley Bassey's career and recordings.
In one review, he praised a rendition as "totally wonderful", and in another context, found "much to praise retrospectively about the album".
Viglione's work provides critical analysis and historical context for many of Bassey's recordings, particularly for the American market and audience.
1 Does Anybody Miss Me Review by Joe Viglione
With total authority and enthusiasm, Shirley Bassey takes the Les Reed/Johnny Worth song "Does Anybody Miss Me?" for her title track, opening this album with the consistency few artists give their audience recording after recording, performance after performance. She's decked out in a somewhat revealing angelic white on the front and back cover and her voice flies over the beautiful Dave Pell production and Artie Butler arrangements with perfection, reflecting the ease of the cover photos. Side one's closer, "I Only Miss Him," seems to add to the intrigue of the Les Reed title track, though it's not as tragic as Vicki Carr's "It Must Be Him"; in this artist's hands the melody becomes a pleasant up-tempo song about love that might come back. The array of songwriters is staggering: an early David Buskin composition, "Never, Never No," Rod McKuen/Henry Mancini's "We" from the Patty Duke film Me, Natalie, and a strong reading of Bacharach/David's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" from Promises, Promises, including a verse not on Dionne Warwick's hit. Bassey's vocal command and presence simply amazes from LP to LP, and despite how short the songs and album content appear decades after release -- only two songs go over the three-minute mark -- the striking results do not shortchange the fan in the least. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" is redefined by Bassey; the female perspective of Mel Carter's hit from four years earlier is a bit more coy in some parts, but still gets the message across. The uncredited and appropriate liner notes proclaim that Bassey is "Woman and child co-existing a mere light year above the footlights/tonight...every night." Does Anybody Miss Me? is yet another powerful recording from the diva's diva. https://www.allmusic.com/album/does-anybody-miss-me-mw0001131156
#2 “Love Will” Eliza Neals Official Art MUSIC VIDEO
Review by Joe Viglione
A powerful new song from Eliza Neals, solid drum work which propels the authoritative guitar and Eliza’s oozing, understanding vocals. “Love’s the antidote” she sings in the dark, commanding you to open up your eyes. The neon lights with the title flashing throughout the video helps love to brighten up your day. Terrific stuff. Eliza will be the second guest on the Rob Fraboni show taping end of month.
12:31 pm 1/9/26 https://youtu.be/izREQBLV7_U
3
Does Anybody Miss Me Review by Joe Viglione
With total authority and enthusiasm, Shirley Bassey takes the Les Reed/Johnny Worth song "Does Anybody Miss Me?" for her title track, opening this album with the consistency few artists give their audience recording after recording, performance after performance. She's decked out in a somewhat revealing angelic white on the front and back cover and her voice flies over the beautiful Dave Pell production and Artie Butler arrangements with perfection, reflecting the ease of the cover photos. Side one's closer, "I Only Miss Him," seems to add to the intrigue of the Les Reed title track, though it's not as tragic as Vicki Carr's "It Must Be Him"; in this artist's hands the melody becomes a pleasant up-tempo song about…
(A friend writes on What's App): Wooow 👏👏👏
4 Matheus made this with , Google Dec 21 2025. Photos of us Nov 7. Got over 100 spins on reéls so it goes to the head of the class https://youtu.be/knSI5n9EURQ Matheus made this with , Google Dec 21 2025. Photos of us Nov 7. Got over 100 spins on reéls so it goes to the head of the class https://substack.com/home/post/p-182248578
5)Nobody Does It Like Me Review by Joe Viglione
Dame Shirley Bassey
Nobody Does It Like Me is an appropriate album title for the queen diva, Shirley Bassey, this 1974 release being another in-the-pocket delight. Producer Martin Rushent, who would take the Human League to the top of the charts in 1982, is here in an engineering capacity and the sound is somewhat different from her '60s albums and even the double-live disc from the year before. M. Randall's "Leave a Little Room" starts things off, and the feel is more geared toward the '70s adult contemporary audiophile than the cabaret circuit. Sure, it's the same instrumentation and voice her fans adore, but the music is pulled back somewhat; "When You Smile" is ready for radio, the orchestration not in your face. "All That Love Went to Waste" from the motion picture A Touch of Class finds sweeping strings and dynamic horns playing off of Bassey's intuitive phrasings. Bernard Ighner composes and duets with Bassey on "Davey," the approach Melissa Manchester would take a few years later for her tune "Whenever I Call You Friend," which Kenny Loggins hit with. Even the song selection seems positioned to get the artist a piece of that 1970s radio play that Helen Reddy, Anne Murray, and Barry Manilow were so successful conquering. Paul Anka's "I'm Not Anyone" is a seemingly perfect vehicle for just that. But where the Anne Murrays and Helen Reddys weren't known for belting tunes out, the pop music radio did embrace back then was not the operatic style Jane Olivor and others were issuing. Bassey pulls back nicely on "Morning in Your Eyes," but it still has too much elegance for programmers to latch onto. "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye" is traditional Bassey, subtle and overpowering all at once. The title track, "Nobody Does It Like Me," is from the Broadway musical Seesaw, and it breaks out of the soft rock of most of the album, delivering a snazzy number that, truly, few can do like Bassey: "I got a big loud mouth/I'm always talking much too free/If you go for tacky manners/Better stay away from me." The lower volume level is noticeable when "I'm Nothing Without You" follows that tour de force, its "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" strings and feel coming back to the mission of this record. And that mission is accomplished with the closing track. Just as Bassey recorded a superb version of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny," she re-interprets Stevie Wonder's song with the same flavor, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." It oozes with classy adult pop majesty, understated vocals, and bubbling instrumentation. Totally wonderful. This rendition should have been a huge American radio hit and is the frosting on the cake. https://www.allmusic.com/album/nobody-does-it-like-me-mw0000842289
Below a review of the album and some newspaper clips from 1974.
Review of the album
By Joe Viglione, All Music Guide https://shirleybassey.wordpress.com/2023/05/10/
Nobody Does It Like Me is an appropriate album title for the queen diva, Shirley Bassey, this 1974 release being another in-the-pocket delight. Producer Martin Rushent, who would take the Human League to the top of the charts in 1982, is here in an engineering capacity and the sound is somewhat different from her ’60s albums and even the double-live disc from the year before. M. Randall’s “Leave a Little Room” starts things off, and the feel is more geared toward the ’70s adult contemporary audiophile than the cabaret circuit. Sure, it’s the same instrumentation and voice her fans adore, bu…
Viglione, Joe. "Allmusic review". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 25 June 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_I_Love_You_So_(Shirley_Bassey_album)
6)And I Love You So Review by Joe Viglione
The out of print 1972 CD from Shirley Bassey, And I Love You So, gets two additional bonus tracks on its 2001 re-release, and the more Bassey in the world the better. Her over the top rendition of pianist Jack Dieval's "The Way of Love" keeps the gender intact, as did Kathy Kirby and Cher on their respective hit versions, of a woman singing a song of heartbreak to another woman, only Bassey puts her trademark style on it bringing it into another realm. Chris White includes two lengthy pages of liner notes in the informative eight-page booklet which includes four lovely photos of the queen diva. Perry Como's hit version of the title track, "And I Love You So," a composition from the pen of Don McLean, might've kept this album from getting more exposure, but it is essential Shirley Bassey which her fan base is well aware of. She makes "Bless the Beasts and the Children" exotic while the Tom Evans and Pete Ham timeless classic, "Without You," gets a sort of Eartha Kitt as "Catwoman" reading, Bassey borrowing a bit but never copying. Johnny Harris forgoes the neo-Phil Spector production of Harry Nilsson's hit version to arrange, produce and conduct a special blend to fit Bassey's vocal stylings. The two Noel Rogers produced outtakes from the album sessions. Like many of the artist's releases, this is a real treasure and a true work of art. [The U.K. version adds two bonus tracks: "If I Should Love Again" and "Let Me Be the One."]
https://www.allmusic.com/album/and-i-love-you-so-mw0000740378
7)Live at Carnegie Hall Review by Joe Viglione
This double LP recorded May 11 and 12, 1973, and released that same year features a dozen violinists, four violas, four cellos, piano, bass, drums, guitar, percussion, and the amazing voice of the incomparable Shirley Bassey. Officially titled "Shirley Bassey Live at Carnegie Hall featuring Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Heard," Live at Carnegie Hall begins with her biggest American hit, "Goldfinger," and doesn't let up. Starting with a song that euphoric is impressive; few could lead off a concert with their signature tune and get away with it, but her voice is in amazing shape, and she sets the tone as this precious set of material is flawlessly reinvented. That's the Bassey treatment. She hits the audience with the hits. "Where Am I Going" and "Big Spender" from the musical production Sweet Charity, "For All We Know" from the motion picture Lovers and Other Strangers, and "Day by Day" from Godspell were melodies which reached the public consciousness thanks to other artists -- the Carpenters on "For All We Know," and the original cast for the Godspell hit. Bassey just overpowers each memory when she's got your ear and uses the spirit of each song to take flight. The accompaniment is superb, but never gets in the way of the diva. Dusty Springfield titled her orchestrated 1967 album Where Am I Going and Bassey takes the same tune and shifts it to her arena. "And I Love You So" had become an adult contemporary staple at the time, thanks to Perry Como's hit version this very same year, but she dispenses with the pop and injects pure soul into what was originally Don McLean's light folk tune. Add George Harrison's "Something" to the mix, and it makes for a very appealing set. Bassey's interpretations are clearly her own, with the originals or most famous versions finding themselves as great reference points. I Capricorn was one of her albums released before this live set and Never, Never, Never the studio album which would follow; both title tracks get riveting performances here, the album flowing seamlessly. Her on-stage chatter along with another 007 theme, "Diamonds Are Forever," help make Live at Carnegie Hall a sweeping tour de force. It's just a breathtaking live album from a timeless artist. https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-carnegie-hall-mw0000689262
8)This Is My Life Review by Joe Viglione
Not to be confused with the 2000/2001 Music International best-of compilation which utilizes the same title and features that tune along with other Bassey favorites, this is the 12-song 1968 release from a day when all these performances by the authoritative singer were kept under the three-minute mark. The end melody of the Lesley Bricusse/Anthony Newley tune "The Joker" from the musical production of The Roar of the Greasepaint is right out of the "he loves gold" ending from "Goldfinger," and putting it next to Batman composer Neal Hefti's "I Must Know" is pretty clever -- from the Joker to Batman's Hefti co-write. "I Must Know" is a swinging bossa nova which Eydie Gorme could have dueted on nicely here, and the Sid Feller arrangements embellish Dave Pell's first-rate production, work which gives Bassey's fantastic voice a dynamic platform -- one that doesn't interfere with her passionate expression. "This Is My Life (La Vita)" is over the top, a performance which should have been huge on America's radios. That 1965's "Goldfinger" was her only chart hit in the states is more of a statement on how unfair Top 40 was (and has always been). Shirley Bassey is no one-hit wonder; her movie soundtracks took care of that and delivered her voice to millions when transistors refused to. Tony Hatch's Top 25 chart song for Petula Clark, "Who Am I," is covered so faithfully you'd think Hatch had produced this version, and the pop sounds are a nice change of pace from the show tune presentation of "Funny Girl." Putting the theme from that motion picture next to a driving version of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" works as smoothly as "The Joker" next to "I Must Know" -- though she gives Hebb's classic the powerful hold-the-last-note move that made "Goldfinger" so much fun. When Bassey's not making a statement like "I Must Know" or "This Is My Life," there are questioning tunes -- "Where Is Tomorrow?" or "Who Am I?"; the expressionist may be singing material written by other people, but the way she spins them across her album is the real magic she couples with her voice and spirit. When Janis Joplin put her soul on the grooves of a record, she spoke in a language that went beyond the words. Shirley Bassey does that here on This Is My Life, an album that speaks on many levels. Let there be no doubt this is a great album from one of the greats. https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-my-life-mw0000960051
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Joe Viglione is a writer and critic for AllMusic (AMG), known for providing detailed, often enthusiastic reviews of classic pop, rock, and soundtrack albums from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Regarding his connection to Andy Williams in the AMG database:
Album Reviews: Viglione has reviewed Andy Williams' material for AMG, specifically citing Williams' sound as a benchmark for 1960s pop and middle-of-the-road (MOR) music, such as comparing the vocal style in Frankie Valli's "Eleanor Rigby" to Williams.
Contextualizing Hits: He often places Williams' hits, such as "Dear Heart" (1965), into the broader context of the 1960s music scene alongside artists like Gene McDaniels and The Cowsills.
Other Reviews: Viglione's work at AMG spans various artists, including reviews for Vic Damone, The G-Clefs, and discussions on 1960s pop production.
Note: The search results also mention a "Roger Williams" in an AMG review by Joe Viglione regarding a #1 hit from 1955.
9)West Bruce and Laing
https://whatfrankislisteningto.negstar.com/
The album has a solid ending with “Pollution Woman”. About the song, critic Joe Viglione wrote that this was the direction the band should have taken for the entire album. He also suggests that keyboards might have stabilized the band. https://allmanbrothersband.com/community/general-chat-anything-goes/west-bruce-and-laing-love-is-worth-the-blues/ The inclusion of keys via Mountain’s Knight or Blind Faith’s Winwood would have been monumental in establishing a firmer ground upon which to develop the band’s sound. I might have to agree to some degree, though not entirely, because some of these songs are phenomenal as they are. However, I will agree with Viglione regarding the production of the album. There wasn’t as much “oomph” in the production to give it that heavy-ass Mountain sound with the jazzy basslines Bruce’s blues contained. It wasn’t all Johns’ fault, as the band did have a hand in production.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240098362684435/posts/3617686741592230/
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10)HAPPY HEART ANDY WILLIAMS
"Happy Heart" is a song written by James Last and Jackie Rae. Versions of the song by Petula Clark and Andy Williams charted simultaneously in 1969 and had their best showings on Billboard magazine's Easy Listening chart, where Clark peaked at number 12[1] and Williams spent two weeks at number 1.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Heart
11)NO MATTER WHAT SIGN YOU ARE
SUPREMES
Different Mix https://youtu.be/hguvdkQgj98?list=RDhguvdkQgj98
I’d LOVE to hear a revitalised version of NATHAN JONES. Jean Terrell’s lead took The Supremes to another stratosphere…
Keep up the great work breathing new life into magic Motown million sellers. Always look forward to your new releases. 
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12 TWO LOVERS
MARY WELLS
https://youtu.be/oa4MqpN-A2k Mary Wells - Two Lovers
"Two Lovers" is a single released in 1962 by Mary Wells on the Motown record label. The song was the third consecutive hit to be both written and produced by Smokey Robinson of the Miracles and recorded by Mary Wells,[3] the two previous charters being "The One Who Really Loves You" and "You Beat Me to the Punch." The song's cleverly devised lyrics at first appear to be about a girl singing to one lover who is "sweet and kind" and a second who treats her bad and makes her sad; eventually, the girl reveals that the two lovers are actually the same person. The song became Wells's most successful release to date, reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #7 on the Billboard pop chart. Its success would be eclipsed two years later by the singer's most successful release, "My Guy."[4]
Cash Box said that "Two Lovers" is "in the soft beat cha cha groove of her recent smasheroo, 'You Beat Me to the Punch'" and said that Wells sings "against an attention-getting ork-choral backdrop, that she has a 'Two Lovers' problem in her split-personality guy."[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Lovers_(Mary_Wells_song)
Louise Cordet 2 Lovers
Excellent photo. Thanks to WJIB for playing the great Mary Wells, her many hits should find airtime. I've written about her "2 Lovers" which WJIB plays https://joeviglione.substack.com/p/two-lovers-dolly-parton-louise-cordet Dolly Parton's version is amazing.
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13 The 100th Inning https://substack.com/home/post/p-183967060
https://substack.com/home/post/p-183967060
14 https://substack.com/home/post/p-183925504
15 Happy Heart, first version instrumental Nick DeCaro
https://youtu.be/digq3_90VYE?list=PLzzKyvqXP-gUw3NQezFTkeMT-OrrzXok8
The first recording of "Happy Heart" to reach the charts in Billboard magazine was an instrumental version by record producer Nick DeCaro that debuted on the Easy Listening chart in the March 15, 1969, issue and got as high as number 22 over the course of seven weeks.[3] DeCaro had recently produced the albums Born Free, Love, Andy, and Honey for Williams, who recorded "Happy Heart" on March 8 of that year.[4] Williams also performed the song for Clark's NBC television special Portrait of Petula that would air on April 7.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Heart
16)Joe Viglione on Wikipedia, Petula Clark Happy Heart
Clark's recording appeared on her Portrait of Petula album, and in reviewing the LP for Allmusic, Joe Viglione wrote, "She does take the tempo of Andy Williams's 'Happy Heart' down a bit."[8]
17)
96,750 views Dec 26, 2024
This is one of the most beloved pop songs of the 1960s. No true stereo mix was ever released or known to have been made by the original producers. The technology of separating voices and instruments within a Mono mix has progressed to a point where, with some further effort, I could put together a True Stereo mix that sounds contemporary. The video starts with a short intro by Petula Clark, which I also turned into stereo. I hope you enjoy this unique new version and will like and comment as well. Thanks!
18)Nils Lofgren "Ain't The Truth Enough" from Mountains
https://youtu.be/3VjKCe12VVc?list=PLkuivVXN1s9-Gp1T1-zjksPI-VKMuQOzY
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19)Only Ticket Out Nils Lofgren from Mountain
5:15 in length and a great riff and melody, Nils Lofgren delivers
with a majestic plodding with intensity rock journey
https://youtu.be/wD4X9HPpzTc?list=PLkuivVXN1s9-Gp1T1-zjksPI-VKMuQOzY
℗ 2023 Cattle Track Road Records Released on: 2023-07-21 Music Publisher: CATTLE TRACK ROAD RECORDS Composer, Lyricist: Nils Lofgren
https://youtu.be/wD4X9HPpzTc?list=PLkuivVXN1s9-Gp1T1-zjksPI-VKMuQOzY
20) MICK TAYLOR, THE ROLLING STONES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-tow5PiCvw
Mick TAYLOR: A Case For 10 UNFORGETTABLE Touch ...a wonderful, loving documentary on Mick Taylor's immense and incredible work with the Rolling Stones.
21)
Joe Viglione interviews Mick Taylor on Visual Radio
22)
23)
24)JAFA Pretty Girls
Clocking in at 2:41, perfect for pop radio, Jafa's Pretty Girls is a tune that's happy/sad, uptempo guitars bubbling under JAFA's vocals, "second chances/past romance" - the singer's various relationship thoughts align with the backing vocals, lending for repeated spins to help figure out where the protagonist is going.
JV review 2:55 pm 1/12/26
Hear on Soundcloud
25)Happy 83rd Birthday Willie Loco Alexander
https://www.facebook.com/willie.l.alexander
26)
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28)Star Star The Rolling Stones from Goat's Head Soup
Produced by Jimmy Miller https://youtu.be/lP_TmSqwXps
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29)Hush Money Band Steve McQueen
The Rolling Stones' "Star Star" immortalized Steve McQueen in song, in a way that got the song banned from radio, but a fan favorite on their album Goat's Head Soup. A five minute and three second epic ballad, "Steve McQueen", by Hush Money from their album "Go Back Home" is a powerful musical statement. The intensity of the band "step on the stage like Steve Queen....wild horses I got it tamed..." another Rolling Stone reference (Wild Horses from Sticky Fingers) the vibrations sustaining from your speakers can rock the room. Just majestic and quite perfect.
Their website notes: Emerging from the foothills of the southern Appalachians, Hush Money is a diverse original band with a sound that is deeply rooted in vintage rock, blues, and outlaw country.
https://www.hushmoneyband.com/#about
30) Star Trek: FLINT: Requiem for Methuselah
Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 3: Requiem For Methuselah
Some excellent quotes on the mission of the Enterprise, I will write an article soon. https://www.treknobabble.net/2010/08/original-series-season-3-requiem-for.html
According to his son Tim Daly during an interview on CBS News Sunday Morning, James Daly came out to Tim as gay a decade after divorcing his wife Hope. His struggle to come to terms with his sexual orientation nearly put a rift between him and his family. As homosexuality was still considered a mental illness until the early 1970s, he and his wife tried and failed at "curing" him. After their divorce, Daly decided to limit his contact with his children out of fear that they would end up mentally ill themselves.[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Daly_(actor)
31)Chariots of the Gods, BERLIN He was 90 Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose bestselling books about the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him fame among paranormal enthusiasts and scorn from the scientific community, has died. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2026/jan/12/erich-von-daniken-dies-at-90/?news-world#:~:text=Swiss%20author%20claimed%20aliens%20helped%20to%20build%20pyramids&text=BERLIN%20%2D%2D%20Erich%20von%20D%C3%A4niken,He%20was%2090.
Von Däniken's representatives announced on his website on Sunday that he had died the previous day in a hospital in central Switzerland.
Von Däniken rose to prominence in 1968 with the publication of his first book "Chariots of the Gods," in which he claimed that the Mayans and ancient Egyptians were visited by alien astronauts and instructed in advanced technology that allowed them to build giant pyramids.
32)The Ghost Whisperer
The Ghost Whisperer Season 5 Episode 13 Recap: Living Nightmare
33)The Touch of You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWFcUrU6i7Y
34)Two Lovers Dolly Parton
35 Don't Make Me Over Louise Cordett
36) The Nervous Eaters Just Head
Early on, the band experienced problems holding on to a second guitarist, but Alan Hebditch, a childhood friend of Cataldo’s, became a regular fixture in early 1978. Along with DMZ and the Real Kids, they were considered among the scene’s “punkier” bands. Centered on Cataldo’s “great rock & roll voice” and “jangly guitar”, in the description of AllMusic’s Joe Viglione, they were the “Rolling Stones of Boston…hard-rocking, riff-blasting, tongue-in-cheek”. By 1978, they were one of the most popular acts in the city. Their second Rat single, the new wave–style “Just Head”, appeared in 1979.
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37)Carole Bayer Sager, one of my articles on RollingStone.com
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Popularity of ‘Heated Rivalry’ Has Surprised Even TV Executives
The show, streaming on HBO Max, doesn’t have one of the biggest audiences, but viewership grew very quickly in just a few weeks.
Jan. 10, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
The first season of “Heated Rivalry” on HBO Max may have ended two weeks ago, but that has done little to slow the show’s momentum. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/business/media/heated-rivalry-hbo-max-popularity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVA.GLK2.smKZOpZUnT2t&smid=url-share
On Wednesday afternoon, several dozen people, most of them quite young, gathered around the marquee for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in Midtown Manhattan, ready to shout their lungs out. The throng surprised NBC employees — a security guard likened the crowd to when Harry Styles stopped by “The Tonight Show” at the height of his popularity.
It was all to catch a glimpse of Hudson Williams, one of the stars of “Heated Rivalry,” who was in the building to appear on Mr. Fallon’s show that night.
“Heated Rivalry,” a steamy Canadian series about a pair of closeted gay hockey players, has become one of the television industry’s biggest surprises in recent memory. Not because it is a megahit like “Stranger Things” or “Bridgerton” or even “The White Lotus.” In fact, its viewership barely puts it among the top 15 streaming original series in the United States right now.
@SteveWeaverIvyfield
2 years ago (edited)