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 South Sudan and from Jakarta.
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 1963 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Bootsy's Rubber Band to the rock kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. All the underground hits.
All Soft Cell tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Matthew Halsall record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 an oboe and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Wally Richardson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Supertramp,
Easy Going,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Eve St. Jones,
The Litter,
Banda Bassotti,
The Real Kids,
Marine Girls,
Andrew Hill,
New Age Steppers,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Seeds,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
10cc,
Terry Callier,
Mantronix,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Lou Christie,
Marc Almond,
Bang On A Can,
One Last Wish,
Roxette,
Crooked Eye,
Mark Hollis,
Black Flag,
Smog,
A Certain Ratio,
Anakelly,
Theoretical Girls,
Mary Jane Girls,
Parry Music,
Fatback Band,
The Remains,
Yusef Lateef,
Outsiders,
Swell Maps,
Gang Starr,
T. Rex,
Rites of Spring,
Max Romeo,
Soul Sonic Force,
Ten City,
The Tremeloes,
Dorothy Ashby,
Skaos,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Erykah Badu,
Shuggie Otis,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
MC5,
Quando Quango,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Toasters,
The Star Department,
The Names,
Warsaw,
Eddi Front,
Cameo,
Interpol,
Big Daddy Kane,
Minnie Riperton,
Harry Pussy,
Fluxion, Fluxion, Fluxion, Fluxion.
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.