BONZO DOG BAND/LET'S MAKE UP AND BE FRIENDLY UAG/UAS 29288 (-72) UK

Their fifth and last original album before the 2007 reunion. As United Artists took over Liberty label at the time the band was already breaking up, but forced together in the studio by the company for a last contractual obligation. As the story goes the first version was made as an affront to United Artists, consisting of noisemaking for consecutive forty minutes just to fill the space. However in the end they didn't want to disappoint the band's remaining fans, pulled themselves together, wrote fresh material and recorded eleven new cuts. As a fan I wish I could say it was a reignition, but it's more like a faint echo from the past. The form and disposition are still there - a couple of parodic numbers, monologues and simple pop songs mostly with wierd and insipid lyrics. And although it has a few gems - "The Strain" bringing a close veiw into constipation and Stanshall's "Rawlinson End" monologue to a sparkingly odd piano - I hear more routin and less passion. Explainable since the circumstances were stressfull, but to me it also has to do with the mix and sound. While the Liberty issues all had top audio - clear with big base and top separation - this comes through even and weak, sometimes borderline muddy. Maybe if presented with the strength and clarity of their former issues I would have liked it more. US first (UAS 29288) came with same label and sleeve design. UK 1978 reissue on Sunset (SLS 50418). This early UK copy (-1/-1 matrixes and 1R/1A mother/stamper) shows some interesting features. While the sleeve has the expected title and number, the label has "Friends" instead of "Friendly" and UAG prefix. The stamped matrix numbers are corrected with UAG crossed out and replaced by UAS. So one guess is "Let's Make Up And Be Friends" was the original title, or maybe just a misunderstanding. Why they changed the prefix is harder to say. I've been trying to figure it out but got nothing. If anyone reading this knows - please comment and tell! Very first press had label as shown here, thick vinyl and cardboard sleeve with "Bonzo Dog" image glued on front.(BÖGÄ*)