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"Matte Kudasai"
"Matte Kudasai"
Single by King Crimson
from the album Discipline
B-side	"Elephant Talk"
Released	November 1981
Recorded	1981
Genre	Progressive pop
Length	3:47
Label	Warner Records
Songwriter(s)	Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp, Tony Levin
Producer(s)	King Crimson, Rhett Davies
King Crimson singles chronology

"Matte Kudasai" (Japanese: 待ってください) literally "Wait, Please" in Japanese, is a ballad by the progressive rock band King Crimson. Featuring vocals by Adrian Belew, it was released as the first single from the album Discipline (1981). In the UK, the single just missed the chart.^[2]

"Matte Kudasai" evolved out of a guitar riff played by Robert Fripp during 1980 tour rehearsals for Fripp's short-lived new wave band The League of Gentlemen. That riff, in turn, had similarities to Fripp's song "North Star", which had appeared on his 1979 album Exposure (with vocals, and lyrics, by Daryl Hall). The League of Gentlemen practiced playing along with Fripp; the rehearsal recording was later posted online by Discipline Global Mobile archivist Alex R. "Stormy" Mundy, who dubbed the resulting song "Northa Kudasai" to reflect its intermediate state.^[3]

While Belew was crafting material for Discipline, Fripp presented him with the chord progression to "Matte Kudasai" on guitar. Belew described this as "a breakthrough" moment, as he had previously struggled to craft suitable material for the band. He subsequently created a slide guitar part and some lyrics to accompany the composition.^[4]

For the 1989 Definitive Edition remaster of Discipline, the song was remixed to remove the Frippertronics parts that dotted the original 1981 version. The 30th and 35th anniversary editions, meanwhile, contain both mixes of the song: the 1989 version is kept as track three, while the 1981 version (billed as an "Alternative Version") is featured at the end of the album as a bonus track.^[5]

Personnel

Robert Fripp – Roland G-303 guitar synthesizer controller, Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer
Adrian Belew – guitar, vocals
Tony Levin – Music Man Stingray 4 bass
Bill Bruford – drums

Covers

The short-lived jazz group Crimson Jazz Trio, founded by former King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace to play instrumental jazz versions of King Crimson songs, included "Matte Kudasai" on their first album, The King Crimson Songbook, Volume One (2005).^[6] Kurt Elling covered the song as the opening track of his 2011 album The Gate.^[7]

On 20 April 2011, k.d. lang and her band the Siss Boom Bang covered the song as part of her concert at the BBC Radio Theater. The audio and video of that performance were broadcast on 21 April 2011 on BBC Radio 2. Lang noted in her introduction to the song that it was influential on the sound of her fifth album, Ingenue.^[8]

The Levin Brothers (keyboardist/arranger Pete Levin and King Crimson bassist Tony Levin) included an instrumental version of "Matte Kudasai" on their 2014 album Levin Brothers.^[9]

References

^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 460. ISBN 9780862415419.
^ Laswell, Barry (1989). Rock Movers & Shakers. Billboard. p. 281. ISBN 9780823076086.
^ Mundy, Alex "Stormy". "Northa Kudasai I & II". DGMLive. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^ King, Tyler (29 July 2024). "Interview: Adrian Belew & Tony Levin Talk BEAT And Their Legacy With King Crimson". Retrieved 15 October 2024.
^ Fripp, Robert (9 January 2001). "Chop Em Out Mastering Olympia". Robert Fripp's Diary. DGM Live. Retrieved 29 July 2017. We are listening to the alternative version of "Matte" with RF on sustained guitar lines and solo. This is the version included on the original 1981 "Discipline" release, and was later replaced by the original pre-overdub minimalist mix on releases after 1989. In Island studios, recording and mixing of the album completed, Adrian & I agreed that something more was needed for "Matte". He left it to me to come up with something, flew home, but when he heard my contribution wasn't convinced. I agree. This new re-release gives us the opportunity to include both versions, in accordance with a suggestion made a while ago on the Guestbook.
^ Yanow, Scott. "King Crimson Songbook, Vol. 1". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ Jurek, Thom. "The Gate". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang – Matte Kudasai on the 2011 BBC Radio Theater broadcast on YouTube.
^ "The Levin Brothers Homepage". Thelevinbrothers.com. Retrieved 19 October 2016.