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 Burkina and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan to the disco 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 the Fania All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every ABBA record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Hasil Adkins record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soul II Soul,
AZ,
Marc Almond,
Fad Gadget,
Drive Like Jehu,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Grandmaster Flash,
Nils Olav,
Eric Copeland,
The Walker Brothers,
Aaron Thompson,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Byron Stingily,
Marvin Gaye,
Kas Product,
Barry Ungar,
Scott Walker,
Gregory Isaacs,
The Smoke,
Patti Smith,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Nik Kershaw,
The Music Machine,
Eric B and Rakim,
Tubeway Army,
Audionom,
Tropical Tobacco,
Iggy Pop,
Brothers Johnson,
Tres Demented,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Happenings,
Ralphi Rosario,
Flamin' Groovies,
Matthew Halsall,
David McCallum,
Desert Stars,
The Smiths,
Eurythmics,
Aural Exciters,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The Dead C,
Metal Thangz,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Maleditus Sound,
Adolescents,
Lou Christie,
The Fuzztones,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Aswad,
Organ,
Yellowson,
Brick,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Angels of Light,
Radiohead,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Nas,
Subhumans,
Pierre Henry,
Silicon Teens,
Talk Talk, Talk Talk, Talk Talk, Talk Talk.
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.