Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Moldova and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Mandrill to the techno kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Minor Threat. All the underground hits.
All Letta Mbulu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Velvet Underground record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Stiv Bators record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nik Kershaw,
Grandmaster Flash,
Yazoo,
Niagra,
The Fall,
The Sonics,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Lightning Bolt,
Godley & Creme,
DJ Style,
Siglo XX,
Terrestrial Tones,
Visage,
Anthony Braxton,
Adolescents,
The Angels of Light,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Lalann,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Sun City Girls,
The Invisible,
Jeff Lynne,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Joensuu 1685,
Easy Going,
Glambeats Corp.,
Country Teasers,
A Certain Ratio,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Blues Magoos,
The Cowsills,
Mandrill,
Newcleus,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Scratch Acid,
Bootsy Collins,
Eli Mardock,
Pylon,
Don Cherry,
Nico,
The Knickerbockers,
Bobby Byrd,
Con Funk Shun,
Skarface,
The Sound,
Cal Tjader,
Fad Gadget,
Nick Fraelich,
Stereo Dub,
This Heat,
The Remains,
Radiopuhelimet,
the Fania All-Stars,
Tom Boy,
The Searchers,
Quantec,
David McCallum,
Max Romeo,
Moss Icon,
Skriet,
Nils Olav,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.