by Stewart MasonProof that the record industry was very different in the late '60s from what it became in later decades is that in 1970, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band were worthy of a cash-in exploitation album! After the hipster buzz that surrounded Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, Kama Sutra Records, for whom the good Captain had recorded Safe as Milk in 1967 with the original Ry Cooder-led Magic Band, reissued the album in Great Britain on their affiliated label Buddah Records. Everything about Safe as Milk and Dropout Boogie is identical except for the differing titles (even the artwork is otherwise unchanged), and the album is unnecessary for everyone but the most ardent completists. However, for several years in the '70s, Dropout Boogie was much easier to find than original copies of Safe as Milk, which gave it some utility at the time; some argue that the sound is a little better than the notoriously muddy original U.S. issue, a virtue obviated by the much superior Buddha CD remaster. Musically, the value of this album, arguably Captain Beefheart's most direct and powerful, is tremendous, but this release is nothing but a curio.