Alex Harvey Presents the Loch Ness Monster

When the late, great Alex Harvey recorded this spoken word collection (for release by the budget K-Tel label), he was at the peak of his commercial fame. "Delilah" and "Boston Tea Party" were both hits, his live shows were absolute sellouts, and he'd even scored a major hit with an album full of outtakes, live cuts, and long-deleted singles. What more could his audience have demanded than...a 40-minute documentary on the life and times of Nessie? It's a fascinating, fabulous piece of work. Harvey ranges across the highlands, interviewing historians, witnesses, and students alike, punctuating their words with his own so-distinctive voice and views, with actor Richard O'Brien stepping in to add the occasional slice of additional narration. Plus, it wraps up with one of the great lost Harvey songs, a simple little jingle called "I Love Monsters, Too." It might not have been the new "Faith Healer," but anybody who appreciated the offbeat likes of "Satchel and the Scalp Hunter" certainly got a kick out of it. Remember that Nessie herself was big news at the time, thanks to the latest in a long range of sightings, and the album leaves you believing almost every word you've ever heard about her existence. And wondering whether Harvey, had he lived, might have carved out another career, fronting TV and radio documentaries with the same swaggering panache. Because he was certainly capable of doing do.