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 Dominican Republic and from Portland.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Rahsaan Roland Kirk to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Black Pus. All the underground hits.
All 48th St. Collective tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gary Puckett & The Union Gap record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yellowson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Detroit Cobras,
Henry Cow,
The Knickerbockers,
Harpers Bizarre,
Rod Modell,
Johnny Clarke,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Basic Channel,
Fela Kuti,
Howard Jones,
Dave Gahan,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Metal Thangz,
The Raincoats,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Graham Central Station,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Derrick May,
The Gladiators,
E-Dancer,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Ultimate Spinach,
Girls At Our Best!,
Skarface,
Royal Trux,
Quantec,
Barrington Levy,
Terrestrial Tones,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Slackers,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
James White and The Blacks,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
The Monochrome Set,
Lou Reed,
Robert Wyatt,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Wings,
Scratch Acid,
Stiv Bators,
Talk Talk,
Popol Vuh,
Boogie Down Productions,
Scrapy,
New York Dolls,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Pylon,
The Stooges,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Angry Samoans,
Schoolly D,
Grandmaster Flash,
Quadrant,
Tres Demented,
The Flesh Eaters,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby.
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.