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 Micronesia and from Lille.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 London Community Gospel Choir to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Surgeon. All the underground hits.
All Mission of Burma tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Dave Clark Five 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 snare and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Barrington Levy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Spandau Ballet,
Babytalk,
Nico,
Niagra,
Nirvana,
Gastr Del Sol,
Los Fastidios,
Skaos,
The Detroit Cobras,
Al Stewart,
Pantytec,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Barracudas,
Idris Muhammad,
Yellowson,
Massinfluence,
Henry Cow,
Motorama,
Can,
Masters at Work,
Sister Nancy,
Siglo XX,
The Slackers,
China Crisis,
Scratch Acid,
The Toasters,
Livin' Joy,
Cecil Taylor,
The Leaves,
Lakeside,
Severed Heads,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Offenders,
Cal Tjader,
The Invisible,
The Modern Lovers,
the Fania All-Stars,
Susan Cadogan,
Trumans Water,
Infiniti,
Technova,
Donny Hathaway,
Bob Dylan,
Inner City,
Bill Wells,
Roxy Music,
Deakin,
Terry Callier,
The Move,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Avey Tare,
James White and The Blacks,
Gabor Szabo,
Ohio Players,
the Swans,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
the Germs,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Duran Duran,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Fugs,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Ornette Coleman,
Franke, Franke, Franke, Franke.
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.